HabsWorld.net --
To borrow a famous saying, "Do you believe in
miracles? Yes!" The Habs, led by Jaroslav Halak and the block
brigade have ousted the Washington Capitals in 7 games with a 2-1 victory on
Wednesday night. Marc-Andre Bergeron scored a PPG late in the first which
was the only goal until Dominic Moore doubled the lead with less than 4 minutes
left in the 3rd. Washington didn’t go down without a fight though, as
Brooks Laich scored just over a minute later but despite a late PP, were unable
to tie it.
HW 3 Stars of the Night:
1) Jaroslav Halak: I’m running out of
ways to say do I need to explain myself? I found he didn’t play with
the confidence from Game 6 as a lot of moves looked to be in desperation but
hey, does it really matter? I didn’t think so.
Statline: 60:00 TOI, 1 GA, 41 SVS, 1.00
GAA, .976 SV%
2) Hal Gill: It seemed as if every time
there was a shot on goal when he was on the ice, it didn’t get through to the
net. Sure, it’s not entirely accurate, but to say he was a presence out
there would be an understatement.
Statline: 1 assist, even rating, 1 shot,
1 giveaway, 6 blocks (tied team high), 23:35 TOI
3) Dominic Moore: In the first period, I
noted a few times where he simply skated the puck up ice rather than trying the
short passes that inevitably led to turnovers. Oh, and he scored the
series winning goal. Suddenly losing that 2011 2nd rounder doesn’t seem
quite so bad…
Statline: 1 goal, +1 rating, 2 shots, 1
hit, 1 takeaway, 6/13 faceoffs (46%), 15:17 TOI
HM) Josh Gorges: I could just say,
"Ditto Gill’s comment" and I don’t think many would disagree. He didn’t
block as many shots directly but like last game, he made a couple of goal saving
deflections and tips that proved huge.
Statline: 0 points, even rating, 2 PIMS,
1 giveaway, 2 blocks, 23:10 TOI (34 shifts, team high)
Stat of the Night: A trifecta for your
reading enjoyment:
1) Scott Gomez was 50% on faceoffs tonight but
the notable stat is that he actually took over 52% of the team’s total draws
(34/65).
2) Remember the block brigade from the intro?
Washington had 42 shots on goal but the team collectively blocked 41 others.
Only Glen Metropolit, Dominic Moore, and Marc-Andre Bergeron failed to block at
least 1 Washington shot.
3) Remember the whole theme, History will be
made? Indeed, it was in this series. The Habs are the first 8 seed
to come back from a 3-1 deficit to take out a #1 seed.
Round 2 Schedule:
Game 1: @ PIT, April 30, 7 PM
Game 2: @ PIT, May 2, 2 PM
Game 3: @ MTL, May 4, 7 PM
Game 4: @ MTL, May 6, 7 PM
Game 5: @ PIT, May 8, 7 PM*
Game 6: @ MTL, May 10, 7 PM*
Game 7: @ PIT, May 12, 7 PM*
All times EST. * – if necessary. All games are televised in Canada on CBC
and RDS; in the USA: Game 1 plus 3-7 on Versus, Game 2 on NBC.