WarHero

"I love the habs!"

Ottawa, ON • Canada • 39 Years Old • Male

Game Day - 10/10/09: Mtl - vs - Edm - Let the Battle Begin!

It's Saturday night, my wife is baking Thanksgiving goods and we have another all Canadian match-up between the Edmonton Oilers and the Montreal Canadiens coming up on CBC.

How Canadian!

The Oilers will begin to have a sense of what Montreal is going through after losing Sheldon Souray in the Calgary game. He suffered a mild concussion after an unfortunate incident with Iginla's stick. I don't blame Iggy though, he is to classy for the likes of that. After watching the replay a few times I also took note of how Iggys head went into the boards. Pretty painful looking! Like Markov, Souray is the quarter back of the PP and logs a lot of minutes.

The Hit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvN6TBLy-wQ

Last time out, the Habs got trounced by the Vancouver Canucks. For their efforts, they got treated to an "Old Fashion Bag Skate" as quoted by Mike Cammalleri. Martin had the players skate hard for 10 minutes at the beginning and then do sprints in groups of 5. The catch was that it had to be done in 45 seconds or less or they had to do it again! Ouch! Mind you, I watched the game against Vancouver and agree that the lack of hard skating caused the majority of the goals.

On a side note .... Let's hope Carey's knuckles are as hard as he says they are! He get's the start after punching a hole in the wall of the visitors dressing room at GM place. The BC native was pulled from the game after allowing 7 goals, none of which he is to be blamed for. On a bright note, I was very impressed with how he continued to battle throughout the game. That is a very good sign if you look back to last year. I can only imagine how hard it was for him considering he had a lot of friends and family at the game.

Bold Prediction: Look for Price to rebound and get the win tonight!

Ok, here we go, the anthem is being sung as I type, quite bad I gotta say. I'm a bit disappointed. haha

1st Period:

20:00 - Start of Period
19:40 - Spacek with a good chance, The Bulin wall makes the save
19:00 - Shot by Gill, save and stoppage of play
18:58 - Weber with a shot, save is made by the Wall
18:36 - Icing Edmonton
17:30 - Habs are forechecking well
17:08 - Puck over the glass, faceoff outside of Habs zone
16:52 - Edmoton with a chance, Price with the save
16:32 - O'sullivan with a great chance
16:16 - Plekanec shot on goal, big rebound but no one around
16:02 - Montreal Penalty - D'agostini - Hooking
15:13 - Montreal 2 -1, big save by the Wall on Moen
14:37 - Hamrlik showing some great PK skills
14:02 - End of Penalty
13:51 - Edmonton blast misses the net
13:03 - Edmonton all over the Habs, couple of good chances, Price stands tall
12:28 - Spacek with a blast, Edmonton makes a good block
11:52 - High stick, stoppage of play
11:02 - Habs 1st line with good pressure
10:43 - Latendresse with a good shot block
09:47 - Montreal Penalty - Spacek - Hooking
08:40 - Edmontons PP looking good, Habs defending well
07:47 - End of Penalty, 2 shots
07:03 - Kostitsyn with a good chance, followed by Gomez, the Wall stands tall
06:30 - Habs with more chances, great pressure
06:12 - Georges with a Hip check on Horcoff
05:27 - Edmonton Laying the body
04:02 - Habs fighting down low, great pressure
03:42 - Gomez with a shot, Stopped by the Wall
02:58 - Edmonton with a great chance, Price stands tall
02:06 - Habs all over the Oil, great passing by the 3rd line
01:17 - Edmonton Goal - Mike Comrie - Gagne
00:37 - Hemsky with a great chance, Price stands tall
00:00 - End of Period - Score: 1 - 0 Edmonton

Wow! What a great period! The Habs are flying. If they can get a bounce or two who knows what they could do. Props to Comrie for the nice top shelf goal. Anything else was a save. Overall, I'd give the period to the Habs based on play and chances, but the score board gives it to Edmonton. The second should be a good one ...

2nd Period:

20:00 - Start of Period
18:35 - Kostitsyn showing some great defensive work
18:21 - Edmonton with a couple chances, nothing gives
17:34 - Puck over the glass, faceoff outside Habs zone
16:50 - Hamrlik with a good shot, The Wall looks over his shoulder but makes the save
16:34 - Edmonton shot, Price makes the save, no rebound
16:29 - Edmonton Goal - JF Jacques - Smid & Hemsky - Score: 2 - 0 Edmonton
15:15 - Dags with a great chance in the slot but misses the net
14:16 - Great chance for the Habs, can't get it upstairs
13:49 - Pacorietty robbed by the Wall
12:54 - The puck is playing hot potato
12:25 - Edmonton with great pressure
11:55 - Habs making some terrible passes
11:52 - Edmonton Goal - Patrick O'Sullivan - Stone - Score: 3 - 0 Edmonton
10:39 - Mara -vs- Brule: Mara wins the fight and avenges the big hit Brule put on Chipchura
10:39 - Both get 5 mins for fighting and Mara gets 2 more for instigating. PP Edmonton
08:45 - Lapierre with a shot after Edmonton rings both posts
08:39 - End of Penalty
07:39 - Habs applying good pressure, getting chances, just no luck
06:27 - Edmonton with a great chance but Montreal blocks the shot
06:04 - Edmonton Swarming the Habs zone creating chances
05:27 - Edmonton Penalty - O'Sullivan - Tripping
04:46 - Montreal PP looking dis-organized
04:21 - Weber just missed with a bullet
03:42 - Weber's shot get's blocked
03:27 - End of Penalty, no shots on goal
02:57 - O'Sullivan with a shot, Price makes the save with no rebound, stoppage of play
02:37 - Habs with a couple chances, nothing to show
01:45 - Latendresse with a wrap around, almost, but the Wall stands tall
01:10 - Couple Hab icings
00:47 - Montreal Goal - Brian Gionta - Gomez - Score 3 - 1 Edmonton
00:27 - Habs swarm the net and almost get another
00:00 - End of Period - Score 3 - 1 Edmonton

Another great Period! The Habs get a late goal from Gionta after Edmonton pushed the score to 3 - 0. Both teams had some great chances but the hockey gods seem to be favouring Edmonton tonight. Let's see if the Habs can continue to build on Gionta's late goal ...

3rd Period:

20:00 - Start of Period
19:45 - Habs with a great chance but miss the pass
18:25 - Penner nails Dags and steals the puck
18:00 - Dags into the Edmonton zone but misses the shot
17:18 - Both teams with good end to end rushes
16:40 - Gionta with a fantastic chance but puts it over the net
16:32 - Edmonton with a good chance, Price makes the
16:12 - Icing Montreal
15:49 - Price makes the save on a 1 timer by Gagne
15:15 - Spacek with a shot, easilty handled by the Wall
14:52 - Latendresse with an amazing chance but misses the net
14:29 - Edmonton swarming the Habs zone
13:19 - Wrist shot by Edmonton, save by Price
12:20 - Hemsky blocks a slapper by Gill
11:22 - Habs working the Oil zone, no shots though
10:45 - Latendresse give away in Oil zone
10:29 - The wall makes a good shoulder save
09:24- Edmonton Penalty - Hemsky - Holding - Habs need to score on this one
08:12 - Habs PP looking good, Edmonton defending well
07:24 - End of Penalty
07:18 - Cammalleri with a shot bobbled by the Wall, nothing comes out of it
06:43 - Puck over the glass
06:15 - Edmonton doing a great job clogging the shooting lanes
05:50 - Puck over the Oiler bench
05:24 - Cammy is robbed by the Wall
04:35 - Icing against Montreal
03:29 - Montreal thought they had a goal, but no go
03:27 - Montreal Goal - Roman Hamrlik - Cammalleri - Score 3 -2 Edmonton
02:17 - Great chance Edmonton but shot is blocked
01:10 - Habs swarming, getting chances
00:30 - Habs trying, but nothing gives
00:00 - End of Game - Final Score: 3 - 2 Edmonton

Not a bad game folks. However, once again though the Habs gave up a big lead and just couldn't come back. Mind you the first 2 Edmonton Goals were just beautiful, Can't blame Price for those. That finally ends the 5 game road trip were the Habs posted a 2 - 3 - 0 record. While there has been flashes of brilliance through the first 5 games there is still much work to do for the Habs. I would estimate that it is going to take about 20 games for this club to find their identity and start playing a full 60 minutes of cohesive hockey. The next Habs game is Thursday, October 15th at home versus the Colorado Avalanche.

Props to the Oilers for getting the win after two difficult losses to the Flames. The Bulin wall was fantastic all night! If they can play smarter defense and get consistent scoring look for Edmonton to have a great year under Quinn ....

That's it for me folks, have a great night and Keep Shooting!