Anatomy of a collapse
April 20th, 2008 by wrightThe Habs came into the series against the Bruins as prohibitive favorites, and now face a do or die seventh game Monday night at the Bell Center. A combination of factors have occured to push the Habs to the brink of elimination. Primarily, the Habs core players have underperformed in this series. Claude Julien has out coached Carbonneau at every turn through out the first round matchup. The lack of obstruction fouls called in the playoffs has become a decided advantage for the slower, less skilled Bruins. The officials more liberal allowance of interference has enabled the Bruins to negate the Habs biggest advantage: team speed.
Make no mistake, the Bruins are full value for pushing the series to a seventh game. In essence since game two of the series they have been the better team. They have out hustled, out worked and played with a far greater intensity than the Canadiens. The Canadiens have had no answer for an aggressive Bruin two man forecheck on the Canadiens defense. Time and time again the Boston forwards have won the majority of the races for loose pucks in all three zones of the ice surface. The Bruin defense has done an effective job of boxing out the Montreal forwards in the slot area in front of Thomas. Seldom in this series has Thomas had to pay for allowing big rebounds, because Habs forwards have often had a phobia about positioning in the 20 foot zone in front of the Bruin net. In essence, many Montreal forwards have become physically intimidated in this series. In game 6, Andrei Kostitsyn, in an attempt to retreive a loose puck, was thumped by Chara deep in the Bruin zone. Moments later a similar play was evolving, but Kostitsyn pulled up when he saw a hard charging Chara.The result, Bruins easily recovered puck possession and wheeled out of their zone unimpeded. Bruin physicality is dominating in this series.
The Canadiens powerplay, the most explosive aspect of their game during the regular season, has gone into hibernation in this round of the playoffs. the reason: Bruins are keying on Kovalev. The Bruins send two defenders on Kovalev, not allowing him any time or space to make a play. At every opportunity they are making Kovalev pay a physical price for puck possession. The Bruin containment has frustrated Kovalev and thrown him off his game. The Habs have made no adjustments to offset the Bruin strategy, with the result an ineffective powerplay, providing Boston with a big advantage.
Perhaps most dismaying about the Canadiens play in this series has been the persistent defensive zone coverage breakdowns. Far too frequently the Bruins have effectively cycled the puck down low for extended periods of time, with the end result a Bruin forward breaking free of coverage having wide open ice to get a quality shot on Price.
With out question, some of Carbonneau’s personnel decisions in round one have bordered on the mystifing, if not the absurd. Inexpliciably, in game 6, he opts to put in a “small” lineup, despite the fact the team has been physically harassed through out the series. So no O’byrne, Ryder or Latendresse. Instead, the tin man Briesbois who is late to every loose puck in the Canadiens zone for fear of actually having to endure some physical discomfort, gets to play and becomes a major defensive liability. Dandenault who justifiably could not get any consistent ice time during the regular season, continues to get a regular shift come playoff time, and contributes very little.
For the Canadiens to prevail in game 7, Markov, Kovalev and Price are going to have to substantially upgrade their performances. Less likely to happen, but as necessary, the Habs need to become stronger on the puck, use their team speed to put pressure on a vulnerable Bruin defense. Additionally, the Canadiens need to break down the Bruin two man forecheck deep in the Canadiens zone. The Habs centermen need to be more disciplined circling back deep into the defensive zone to provide additional support to the Habs defensemen who are being constantly pressured. Carbonneau has the advantage of last line change, at this point he needs to have either the Smolinski line or the Koivu line up against the Savard line. The Plekanec’s forward unit is being demolished by Axelsson upfront and Chara on defense. Carbo needs to be innovative to try and get his number one offensive line more favorable match ups against the less distinguished Bruin personnel. Do the aforementioned issues resolve themselves in the Canadiens favour….game 7 will provide the answer.
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