If last night’s game is an indication of how things will go – Carey Price might want to consider dressing up as Jaroslav Halak for Hallowe’en because the way he is starting the season, he’ll be way to scary to hand out candy to all the little Habs fans that come ringing at his door.
The Bruins potted three goals on their first six shots as Boston beat Montreal 4 -2 .Two of those shots should have been stopped by a number one goalie in the NHL – especially if that goalie just inked a two year deal worth more than a Stanley Cup winning Antti Niemi did.
Sure it is pre -season and Price did not have the best team in front of him but an alarming trend appears to be repeating itself…The Montreal Canadiens sag when their goalie sags and they elevate their game when someone is in between the pipes that makes more than three saves in a row. We saw it last season with Halak and last night – American League net minder Curtis Sanford continued that pattern.
Curtis relieved Price half way through the second period and did not allow a goal in the six shots that he faced.This gave the Habs enough motivation to pot two goals and bring the team within a respectable earshot of a 4 – 0 Bruins lead.
Nathan Horton, in his first pre – season game as a Bruin, opened the scoring just 1: 33 seconds in on a shot that ticked Spacek’s stick and had enough knuckle on it to fool Price on the short side. Knuckle-ball or not, Carey was back in his crease and was not challenging the shooter which is a sure sign of no confidence or not being prepared. Either way it is a slap on the wrist for Price and the many wrists that pay out good money to see quality goal-tending.
Boston’s second marker was tallied by Johnny Boychuk on a slapshot from the point. Price was screened on the play but appeared to be lost. Goaltender’s who own their game are down and in position for those type of shots and more re times than not, these type of shots hit them regardless of their sight lines. The goal also provided the first point registered by Tyler Seguin in the NHL pre – season and the rookie showed good patience before feeding the puck to Bartkowski who in turn fed to the waiting Boychuk.
The Habs had many rookies in the line-up and a few – including Louis LeBlanc, found out first hand that NHL Hockey is far removed from College and Junior. Jarred Tinordi played well and almost scored himself a goal with a slapshot from the left point that came close to eluding Bruin goalie Tuukka Rask.
Aaron Palushaj continued his fine play and did not look out of place as on a few occasions he easily out skated the Bruins defenders and had two quality chances to score. Palushaj is making it increasingly difficult for Martin to cut him and he looked very good alongside Cammalleri and Plekanec. The veteran duo were involved in the Habs scoring along with Maxime Lapierre who tipped a beautiful cross ice feed from Plekanec into what became an empty short side. Plekanec himself roofed an in close shot as Rask double stacked his pads in an attempt to cease the flying Czech as Tomas came streaking in from the left side.
One goal that Price could not be blamed for was Patrice Bergeron’s breakaway goal late in the first period. The Habs defence went the way of the Do-Do and once Bergeron was in free, he showed why he is considered amongst the elite of the NHL as far as goal scorers go. Patrice made Price appear foolish as he faked inside then quickly used his magic hands to bring the disc back right and slip the puck rather easily into the net. Not much chance for Price on that one.
Josh Gorges – a future Captain somewhere, again showed that he is the type of player that does not rest on his laurels and continues to improve year after year. Gorges picked up two assists and was the most dependable player on the ice for both teams.
The Montreal Canadiens play their next game Friday night against an Ottawa team that will probably ice Daniel Alfredson and Alexei Kovalev. If Kovalev shows up then that could be a scary night if Price does not get into the game quicker.