Yes, you can all point to my prediction that the Capitals will win this series in 5, maybe 6 games.
I still believe it will happen.
But the key in reversing that belief lies in the Montreal Canadiens playing as hard as they did tonight, if not harder, for every single remaining game in the series.
Can Halak stop them all?
No, not likely. But, if the team keeps the Caps on the perimeter and denies or blocks as many opportunities in close as possible, such as they did in Game 1, then he’s certainly got a good head start.
Obviously, I have been the writer for the Washington Capitals here at Hockeybuzz for the last 3 seasons, but as a native Montrealer and someone who has sat through more Habs games over the last 25 years than I can remember, you could say I just might understand these two teams a little better than most.
The Canadiens aren’t expected to win. We all know that.
But, as with every other year when the Habs enter the playoffs, I am always sceptical that Montreal will pull off the great upset and go all the way.
After having the privilege to witness every single home game in the 93 Cup run, I know what kind of magic it takes for a team to come together for that magnitude of a run.
But can these Habs do it?
Absolutely. They are professional atheletes playing at the top level of their sport. If it can’t be said that there is the possibility for them to overcome the odds and beat the Washington Capitals, then there is absolutely no reason for them to be here.
But, thanks to Bob Gainey’s master plan of less than 11 months ago, the Montreal Canadiens can actually say they boast a roster with experience.
As a matter of fact, the Habs have the most experienced defense core in the Eastern Conference entering tonight’s game, having played a combined 4000 + games among Montreal’s top 6.
On top of the game experience, Gainey made sure to not make the mistake of missing out on bringing in some winning players. Gomez., Gionta, Gill and Moen have all contributed heavily to Stanley Cup championships within the last 7 years and clearly have what it takes to win in big game situations as all 4 of them played terrific games tonight.
Jacques Martin’s system is suspect at times, but as Elliote Friedman pointed out some time ago, when the Habs do play his system, they play it to a T and they WIN.
It took a lot out of them tonight to beat Washington, perhaps more than it took out of the Caps, but that is the sort of effort it is going to take to beat the most offensively dynamic team in the NHL.
The key element in the Habs victory, especially in contrasting it to why the Capitals lost, is the fact that their KEY players, their big money guys, chipped in when necessary and played big roles at the right times. The Gomez/Gionta goal in the 3rd was sheer brilliance and something that can serve as extremely powerful motivation for a team that is hinging on the guidance of these two leaders.
Apart from the contributions of Gomer and Gio, it was the reawakening of Michael Cammalleri and the continued dominance of Tomas Plekanec over the Washington Capitals this year.
Cammy snapped his 12 game goal-less drought with a beauty of a goal on the power play to open up the scoring and was a constant threat and worry to the Caps blue line all night.
Plekanec served in every possible capacity, doing everything in his power to erase the statement he made last post-season, when he admitted to us all that he felt like “he was playing like a little girl.”
Well, with Tomas’ strong two-way performance shadowing all top 6 players on Washington’s top two lines, not to mention notching the overtime game winner, Pleky is clearly doing everything within his power to improve his post-season image and to set him up for a much deserved pay day this summer.
Finally, before giving the credit away to all of the forwards, the Habs and Gomez, Gionta, Cammy, Pleks and Halak would not have been able to have even remotely as close to this successful of a game, were it not for the masterful efforts of the Canadiens 2nd and 3rd defensive pairings.
Jaroslav Spacek and Roman Hamrlik held Ovechkin from taking not one single shot on Halak. I will have to check the stats from the season, but I cannot remember the last time Alex Ovechkin did not even register a shot on goal while playing a full game.
On top of the dynamic Czech duo’s incredible shutdown performance, the quiet beasts of the evening were Josh Gorges and, most especially, Hal Gill. Gill was a towering shot blocking machine tonight as he blocked an astronomical 9 shots on net.
Finally, the Habs top defensive duo of Andrei Markov and Marc-Andre Bergeron, the pairing I feared the most for on the night because of Bergeron’ tendency to be a defensive liability, but they proved me wrong(MAB most notably) as the duo averaged nearly the same amount of ice(Markov:27:38/Bergeron: 27:37) and played a major factor in the Habs offense from the point.
Habs 3 – Caps 2 – Highlights
The Canadiens are a more “realistic” team than many of the versions I have seen in the last 10 seasons.
These guys seem to have more of a legitimate shot because I tend to believe that they are actually hard-workers and a group of guys who care about playing for each other, their coach, but most especially their team and fans.
This is the first step in the right direction towards an improbable destiny challenging run, but we’ve seen it happen before in this fair city of ours.
With ideas of the Ghosts from the Montreal Forum making their way down to the Bell Centre to help these captain-less Habs pull off the insanely unexpected, the only real thing these Montreal Canadiens can do is take it one game at a time, one period at a time, one small puck battle at a time.
They can only control what is in front of them at any given moment, so they must make every second of ice-time count.
If not, the sleeping giant that they may have very likely awoken in Alex Ovechkin and an often frightening offensive ensemble of the Washington Capitals could turn around and smack them back to reality in Game 2.
But, for the time being, savour the victory, let the feeling of winning sink in, and then go out ever hungrier on Saturday night.
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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