2010 NHL Playoffs: The Calm Before The Storm

Two games later and what do we know?

We know that the Canadiens who showed up in the final week of the regular season are gone, and in their place are the Canadiens who have shown up to play, and who have done a darn good job at such. 

The Canadiens won Game One in overtime and had a 4-1 lead in Game Two...before the meltdown. 

The Habs were leading 4-1 and were cruising to a 2-0 series lead bringing the series back to Montreal. 

This would've put the Capitals even more on their heels than they were already, and put the Canadiens in the driver's seat. 

This shifted immediately after Andrei Kostityn's third goal. The Canadiens lifted their foot off the gas and let the Capitals come to them, hoping for them not to score.

A goal late in the second and a 3-1 score favouring the Capitals in the third sent the game to overtime, and a quick goal 31 seconds into the fourth period had the Habs going home with the bare minimum of what they wanted: a 1-1 series split at the Verizon Center. 

This is quite an achievement, considering many had left the Canadiens for dead prior to Game One, but the team's failure to hold a 3-goal lead astounds me. As they were watching Alexander Ovechkin, Nick Backstrom walked in and netted three goals of his own, proving Washington has many potent offensive threats. 

The Capitals are now headed to Montreal having lost home ice advantage, but having gained the most important thing of all: momentum.

After a completely dominant third period, I can assure you the Capitals will be firing from all cylinders in Montreal, and they will be way too much for the Canadiens to handle. 

The Canadiens are going home now with a somewhat shattered confidence and the knowledge that the Capitals are back in this series.

The Habs will now have a day and a half to regroup and tell themselves that they ARE capable of competing with the best, and they would have to utilize home ice to their advantage, since they rightfully earned it in Washington.

Had the Habs gone up 2-0, they would be entering Montreal on a high and I'm sure they would have cruised to victory in Game Three and wrapped up the series on the road in Game Five. 

They would have had a stranglehold on the Washington Capitals and heavy momentum going home. The momentum in the series, I believe, shifted for good on Nick Backstrom's first of three goals Saturday night, and the Capitals will ride their momentum to a seven-game series victory.

Jaroslav Halak was not at his best Saturday night, giving up a weak goal on Ovechkin early in the third to make the game 4-3 and another weak one with a minute and a half to go in the third on Carlson. 

When the Canadiens are playing such a strong offensive team, Halak must be at his best or else his team would lose, and that is exactly what happened last night.  Halak stood on his head in Game One, and good things came of it.

I am a die-hard Habs fan and I am cheering them on 'til the end, and I believe if they grab some valuable momentum at home they have a great chance of beating the President's trophy winner, but I believe grabbing some momentum will be unlikely because once this Washington Capitals team gets going, they are almost impossible to stop.

Once again though: GO HABS GO!

And P.S. : Go Sabres! (I hate the Bruins)