Another year, another disappointment.
Montreal had one of its best seasons in six years, but was quickly extinguished in the second round of the playoffs.
From the first series you could tell that they were falling apart, fast. Montreal was favored to win the series and although they did win, it didn't come easy.
Coming off a first-place Eastern Conference win, they were to take Boston out easily. Seeing as they beat Boston in their season series 8-0, some even thought they might sweep.
That wasn't the case.
Montreal easily took Game 1, and won Game 2 thanks from the heroics of Alex Kovalev in overtime.
Then came Game 3, Boston's first home game. It was a close, hard fought game, but the overtime heroics were in Savard's favour. Montreal looked at this loss as a wake-up call, and won Game 4 with Carey Price shutting out Boston.
It looked as if Montreal had a stranglehold on the series.
Habs fans were proved wrong once again.
With Game 5 coming back to Montreal, it seemed like a gimme. Montreal ended up losing 5-1 and then losing Game 6, 5-4. Game 7 was back in Montreal, and they needed to win.
Carey Price made up for his not-so-stellar performance in Game 5 by shutting them out once again, the first goalie since Patrick Roy to record two shutouts in one series.
With the Game 7 win, the Canadiens were off to play Philadelphia in the second round.
In Game 1 it didn't look as if Montreal really had a chance, but yet again Kovalev pulled through and with 28 seconds left in the game, scored the tying goal. Another game was going to overtime. With just over a minute in, Kostopolous came in on Biron and picked up his own rebound to win the game.
That was the last game Montreal would win in the 2008 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The next four games all went to Philly, stunning the Habs and raining on the fans' parade.
The drive for 25 that was once alive, was now dead.
So what did these two series have in common for Montreal to lose?
Two words: power play.
Montreal had a stellar power play in the regular season, finishing first in the league with a 22.4 percent average.
But the Habs' playoff power play unit was just a little over a disappointing three percent.
Montreal didn't look like a playoff team at all. It just looked they didn't want to win it.
Montreal needs to get their special teams units back into shape if they want to have the same run they did last year.
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5 months ago
Good read! For sure the Habs did not look like a playoff team this season. Now that they've got that experience under their belts, players like Sergei Kostitsyn, Andrei Kostitsyn, Tomas Plekanec, Carey Price, and others will be able to carry the team farther in the future.
5 months ago
The Habs have a lot to look forward to. Carbo really drove the team forward and there's a lot to be proud of. Make no mistake - any team that has Gainey in the front office will get better with time.
from 5 months ago
Agreed completely, Montreal's rookies and even some of their veteran players have improved ten fold this season. I think next year is going to be a season to look forward to.
5 months ago
they learnt, and they know what is it like. the days to come look bright, it should be interesting.
the regular season has been amazing in a lot of points, but it has been a lot to take for the rookies during the playoffs, well for the whole team actually.
great article
5 months ago
i think they focused to much on carey price. they expected him to be the next patrick roy, and to the have the kinda of great season that even theodore did when he won the hart, but carey price is still too inexperienced as far as making the right plays. i think he was just fed to the wolves and montreal didn't really consider what carey price would be up against. he made many rookie mistakes...sure, he can learn from them, and that's the whole point...but they expected him to stop everything.
i think the habs need to focus more on the stay at home, shut down defensemen that they really lack. sure their defense is great, but they are moreso offensive defensemen.
they still have a great team. maybe one or two pick-ups in the off season, and they will be fighting for the cup in the finals very soon.
5 months ago
I don't agree 100% with this, although yes, the power play wasn't there. I think it is a mix of many things. Goaltending was so so, the team (Habs) were unable to capitalize on their chances but most of all, everybody MUST give credit the Flyers. They worked hard to take that series and, unfortunately for the Canadiens, Biron was on top of his game.
Umberger scored 8 goals in that series, and I am sorry, you don't allow a player like that to score that many goals in 5 games.
5 months ago
A Huet, Price combination would have been lethal, big mistake.....
5 months ago
I think only recently are Habs fans realizing that we were basically a 7th place team that got lucky towards the end of the season. Once the playoffs started, our true colours showed and our lack of finish was brutally apparent. Many got sucked into the hype of 16 for 25 (I was not one of them), I knew this was a young team, still making mistakes and learning. I was please with their 1st place finish but not fooled either. Looking at the teams still around in the playoffs, Detroit, Pittsburgh, you can really see how we were not ready this year to be contenders.
Having said that, I believe with a power center acquisition this summer, we should look much better for next year. I would also like to see Dandenault, Latendresse and Smolinski traded away with Ryder and hopefully get some offense that is more consistent.
5 months ago
I agree. I knew that the Canadiens weren't going to win the cup this year or in the next couple years for that matter. They are a new team who has a lot of potential and they will grow in the next few seasons and maybe have a better run at the cup. I'm not saying that they will win the cup, but they will have their chances.
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