Dust Off the Panic Button
Ottawa Senators goalie Craig Anderson illustrated himself early on, and his performance would be the story of game 5. Staying true to his tendency through 3 games, he somehow struggled with controlling his rebounds throughout the first 15 minutes of the game, but managed nonetheless to rob the Canadiens of any momentum and kept the puck out of his net, making 45 saves en route to a 5-1 victory for the visiting team. Unfortunately, the Canadiens did not manage to bury any of their numerous chances, with a powerplay that has once again been inefficient, as the Bleu Blanc Rouge went 0-for-3 with the man advantage. This marked the first time that the Habs were down 2 goals after 20 minutes since March 16th, with goals coming from Bobby Ryan (2 goals) and Patrick Wiercioch’s sticks.
The second period was marked by a complete and utter lack of discipline by the Montreal Canadiens, and the Senators made them pay the price by adding a goal on the powerplay. Once again, the Habs lacked much-needed finish, even as Michel Therrien tried to whip his players into generating a hint of offense by shuffling his lines to no avail. While the fourth line continued to display the kind of energy and determination that should earn them significantly more ice time, it was Lars Eller’s new trio that put the Canadiens within a 2-goal reach of tying the game and sending it into overtime for the third time during the series. Tom Gilbert fired a precise shot that beat Craig Anderson right below the glove, as Dale Weise blocked the goalie’s vision.
Carey Price was left out to dry, being unable to make his typical game-stealing saves and the Sens scored 4 of their goals by getting a ton of traffic in front of Price. Mika Zibanejad, Bobby Ryan and Mike Hoffman each finished the night with 2 points, and the Sens and Habs will meet again for Game 6 on Sunday evening.
Alex Galchenyuk earned himself third star honors, deservedly so, but his lack of experience is starting to rear its ugly head. I had expected him to be significantly more impactful as the games went on, but the 21-year old needs to learn to finish his plays. He had three scoring chances on the night, and could have very well been the difference in game 5.
Am I the only one who thinks the Markov-Subban pairing has been this team’s worst since the start of the series? Markov looks tired out there, and Subban is continuously overcompensating and trying to do too much on his own. He holds onto the puck for extended periods, often leading to mindless giveaways and therefore easy transitions for a Senators team whose speed has been grossly under evaluated. I liked Greg Pateryn, Jeff Petry and Tom Gilbert tonight- the latter two being the Canadiens’ most steady and reliable defensemen since the start of the 2014-2015 playoffs. Kudos to Alexei Emelin, who flew under the radar but steadily held his own in a game where the Senators dominated the Habs.
I knew that secondary scoring would be essential in this series, but I did not realize that the top 6 forwards were going to be as invisible as they have been as of late. Max Pacioretty is clearly not ready to perform up to his or anyone’s standards, Tomas Plekanec is gripping his stick too tightly, and Brendan Gallagher looks gassed. I suspect he’s playing through an injury of sorts; maybe all of the crosschecks into his ribs after scrums in front of the net have caught up to him?
Right now, a very admirable and classy leader in Dave Cameron is outcoaching the Habs. His confidence shines through the pain he’s surely hiding at the loss of his good friend Mark Reeds. He’s found a way to rally his troops and give them a reason worth fighting for, and the media is appreciating his high spirits and sense of humor. Michel Therrien should take a page out of Cameron’s book. There’s a glaring lack of heart and devotion in the Habs’ play; an arrogance that can easily cost them the series if they do not cease from taking their 3-2 series lead for granted.