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Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Habs Limp Towards All-Star Break With Loss in Philly

The Habs have nobody to blame but themselves for last night's 5-2 loss to the Flyers in Philly.

They were playing a good game up until they started falling back into bad habits, namely taking bad penalties. Three penalties in a row and three goals in a 4 minute stretch between the 1st and 2nd periods essentially did them in.

Special teams were the difference. Habs went 0-7 with the extra man, while the Flyers were 3-5. Can't say Bobrovski was peppered or had to be at his best, but he was solid, and got a bit lucky on a few occasions -- but that's what happens when things are going well for a goalie.

Quite a few players didn't have their best games last night, namely Wisniewski and Gomez. It happens. Just make sure it doesn't happen regularly, ok? Right.

The Flyers are a hot team right now and are riding high on a wave of confidence. But the question is, are they peaking too soon? They're now leading the league standings.

Price was solid and can't be blamed for the loss, though I think he needed to be a bit more aggressive on the puck for the 1st goal, where he made the save but the rebound was put home by Jeff Carter. On a 5-on-3, he would (should) know there would be someone alone in front, which should have prompted him to be hard on the rebound. He wasn't. Live and learn. Now he's off to the All-Star game. Let's hope this time around his play doesn't take a nose dive once the season reconvenes like he did back in 2009.

The Canadiens did a good job hanging around in this one, and when Darche scored with a little less than 5 minutes remaining in the game to make it 4-2, the team got a bit of a lift. And with the team's recent comebacks, I'm sure everyone on the bench was feeling they could pull something out of a hat. But they couldn't manage another one, and Briere ended it with an empty netter.

David Desharnais continued to show why he belongs and seems to be getting better and better by the game. I'm really starting to like this kid. He scored his first non-deflection goal for his 3rd of the season. Unfortunately, for some reason, each game he's scored, the Habs have gone on to lose. Coincidence? Must be. Or does this just underscore the lack of production by the top lines, and that Desharnais is not ready yet to assume the role of leading the team in scoring from the 3rd line????

It's not all doom and gloom for the Habs. Though they missed a chance to jump into the 6th spot, they're solidly in 7th in the conference, 2 points behind the Bruins who hold a game in hand.

The Habs, at 59 points after 50 games, are also 9 points better than they were after 50 games last season. And considering their injuries (we thought last year was bad), the Habs and their coaching staff should be commended.

Rest up boys, we expect a lot of good hockey from you in the coming months.

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