Kamal Panesar

Montreal, QC • Canada • 35 Years Old • Male

Post Game Quick Hits: Habs 5 - Leafs 4 (SO)

Wow. What a game. The usual hype of a Saturday night tilt between the Habs and the Leafs played out, in all its spendor last night. While Montreal should probably have won this game in regulation, going to a shoot out made the end all that much more exciting for the 21,000+ fans in attendance - of which I was one!

A few things I noticed/enjoyed about the game:
1 - Loved the hate that was heaped upon Komisarek. Although it was predictable, it was still enjoyable to watch Habs nation vent their anger towards Komi for his betrayal.
2 - Loved that Komisarek was -3 for the night and is -9 for the season. He is among the worst in that group. I wonder whether this is an adjustment period for him or whether not having Markov as his D partner is exposing his weakness in his own zone.
3 - Metro and Moen continue to contribute and what a pleasant surprise it is!
4 - Habs are getting some secondary scoring. Since, with the exception of Plekanec, the second line is basically not scoring, it is nice to see the Moen's, Metropolit's, and Latendresse's of the world scoring and help get the wins.
5 - Overall, Montreal is NOT a very good team. There is just no depth on this team and the 'secondary' cast is largely underachieving or invisible. Sure, MaxPac will be good in a few years, and so will D'Agostini, but right now they should probably BOTH be back in Hamilton - at Least MaxPac should be.
6 - Hal Gil and Marc-Andre Bergeron are defensive liabilities. Both players are turnover machines and often cause scoring chances and goals against with their glaring mistakes.
7 - Plekanec is a man possessed. Since the beginning of the season, Tomas Plekanec has got to be the hardest working most consistent player on this team. He is playing tough, aggressive and is reaping the benefits. Let's hope that Gainey has learned his lesson from last season and signs Plek to an extension DURING the season!

While Montreal can be fun to watch, at least at home where they have the last line change and can put the top line out against whoever they please, they are not a team that will win a ton of games on the road. Granted, they are missing Markov and O'Byrne - both of which cannot come back soon enough - but even with them, this team does not have enough meat to be much of a threat in the playoffs. Until Gainey does something to address the lack of depth on this team, they will continue to be a number 6, 7, or 8th place team at best.

So what about you? Did you watch the game? What did you like the most about it? What did you dislike the most about it?

Thoughts?

K.

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