The Montreal Canadiens still hold on to a decent season so far. It's good enough for the fifth place in the East, behind Sidney "hat trick" Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins.
There are two ways of looking at their current situation.
The first would be stating that, despite a poor and shaky powerplay, and some scorers having gone totally invisible, the Montreal Canadiens still hold on to a not-that-bad spot.
The second would cite Alexei Kovalev’s sleep addiction, Sergei Kostitsyn’s slashing addiction, and many other ones as inexcusable reasons for this really worrying slow motion performing team, which is the Bleu Blanc Rouge.
Either way, Alexei Kovalev won’t get away with it.
He has 68 shots on goal, which is the highest in the team so far, and only five of them have clinched the red light behind the masked men.
While fans are witnessing the rise of a new hero, in Steve Begin, Kovalev still holds a decent ice time of more than 20 minutes. He still puts on a few stick-handling shows now and then, but what worked last year doesn’t seem to work anymore this season. Opponents are finding ways to adjust.
It doesn’t require a CSI investigation to figure that he needs to come up with something new.
However, isn’t it too easy to spot the former top scorer of the team and blame him for whatever misery the organization is going through?
Aren’t there other individuals in there who have been provided skates and sticks, years of dreams, and tons of practices? It is not because he made a DVD out of it that he has got to do the job by himself.
Still, I will give it to the worried fans: Even though he is not the only one, he is not working. And at times of intense self-seeking periods like this, with a team which has been showing two complete opposite faces night after night, any help is welcomed.
Kovalev didn’t back down from facing the journalists. He discussed his current hum, flop, and simply stated that the last time he had a blank streak, he stopped it with a hat trick.
Is that a hidden promise? Is that good enough to brighten again the eyes of thousands of fans who have been hoping for “the Artist” to recover his “magic touch”?
15 comments Last one added 6 months ago — Leave a Comment
Sebastien Tremblay 7 months ago
Is it me, or were we relying too much on Kovalev's production last year? Guy has to stp shuffling the lines, at this point even the players are confused by the constant changes. They cant build chemistry if they keep changing! Last year, Kovalev's line stayed intact all year, and it worked. Give them time...
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Sebastien Tremblay 7 months ago
by the way. Komisarek looked awesome behind the bench!
They are obviously trying to give him experience.
HE is the next captain in Montreal. And sooner than later!
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Miah D. 7 months ago
i too thought Komo was amazing behind the bench! i didnt realize it was him until i had to take a close look! soooo serious, he does have a lot of leadership!
yeah, the Kovalev thing isnt working. Carbonneau gives the sense that he is panicking a lot lately, it is not a good sign and not the best message for the players.
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Sebastien Tremblay 7 months ago
Kovy is aware he's doing bad. He's not happy about his production and i think pride will kick in. Hopefully the guy we saw 2 years ago is gone forever!
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Daniel Arouchian 7 months ago
Hopefully the sparkle will come back before it gets too late. We need to go back on a winning streak!
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Miah D. 7 months ago
agreed. as carbo says it, this home games streak might be defining for the season itself!
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Daniel Arouchian 7 months ago
There's no better motivation then playing at home for a few games
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Zahir A 7 months ago
It could be worse...you could be an Atlanta Thrasher fan...but the HABS should light it up tonight...otherwise there will be some SERIOUS questioning going on
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Miah D. 7 months ago
I know! lol
although having Kovalchuk in my team isnt that bad of an idea! :p
they did light it up tonight, and then closed the lights in the third period, allowing three goals in just one minute. that was close to the nightmare again!
either way, they still do need some questioning!
thanks for the comment!
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Harani T. 7 months ago
Tonight, they totally blew it! I had no more nail to bite...it was scary! But we came out with the win. Who thought that Lang's empty-netter would be the game-winning goal! A. Kos seems to be getting back on the groove.
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Miah D. 7 months ago
yeah, it is nice for Ak-46! everybody freaked when he got injured and now it seems he is fine!
what did u think of Kovalev?
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Harani T. 7 months ago
I thought Kovy played a good game, a few shots but the positive thing I can think of is the fact that he sin't completely dejected and still tries. Even though not with as much passion, he does realize his under-production and that's actually a plus point!
Also, I wouldn't blame Price at all for today's loss. He could've probably stopped the third goal and the fourth one was a good shot. So, overall, good lesson from this game! On another note, I really think Higgins is not such a good addition to Lang's line specially because Lang isn't one of the fastest and skillfullest player. Two makes it worse than one right? Even though people might say that having Kovy there should be enough to compensate...ummm....not so sure!
And Laraque was useless PERIOD!. We need to start winning more face-offs because they are key. And that first and second PP we had...were horrible. I was thinking that we should just decline the powerplay opportunity and play five-on-five. It was that bad!
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Miah D. 7 months ago
Weber might be the answer u think? personally, i would consider having him with the team. since trying everything, we can try him!
Kovalev is the one that got me the most worried so far, but i guess with a two point night, i cant really blame him.
I actually didnt understand much of Carbo's lines tonight. Kostopoulos with Tanguay ... what????
still, as u say, it is a good lesson for everybody!
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Cody Chenier 6 months ago
Great Read. Though Kovy is in a slump, he still gives players a reason to play. Remember the night in Calgary and this one shift in first perid he flew past every Calgary player on the ice. That play was the inspiration for Montreal to score those four goals. Or when Atlanta almost upset Canadiens by scoring 3 goals in less then a minute. But I remember a play with Kovy and Lang and they just danced around the players. A great sight, i do agree kovy needs to find the back of the net more often but his assists prove vital and his play has been almost the same calibur as last season.
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Miah D. 6 months ago
I too still give Kovy some time for himself, it is not as if he was the only one who wasnt scoring in the team.
I guess he became easier to blame since everybody knows how he can turn a game around just by his razzle dazzles magic puckhandlings!
thanks for commenting,
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