Well, That Sucked

No, I'm not referring to the awful intro before the first game of the Pens - Sens series in Ottawa. Rather, I'm referring to the awfulness that was the Bruins - Habs game tonight. Awful, for a Habs fan.

It wasn't so much the score that was ugly, but it was the way the Bruins played and won. They are playing "ugly" hockey. It's also very efficient hockey.

Claude Julien is a very good coach. Bob Gainey said so. After he fired him.

Julien knows that his team cannot match the Habs' firepower or speed. Their strategy, therefore, has been to play great positional hockey and a very tight checking style. The Habs players usually have a Bruin draped all over them the instant they get control of the puck. With so little time and space, Montreal's speed and creativity (the main reason they were the top scoring team in the NHL) is shut down.

The Habs had been playing patient hockey until tonight and it had served the well. Tonight, they seemed to be overwhelmed by the tight checking and lost focus. A clear sign of frustration on the part of Markov shows that the team was unraveling.

Panic?

I don't think so.

There is a good amount of leadership on the team, most notably behind the bench. I have a feeling that the likes of Carbonneau and Jarvis, who know a thing or two about tight, defensive hockey, should be able to find a way to ply through it.

Then again, I'm the guy who wrote that "this may be over sooner than I thought" four days ago.