Montreal out shot Philadelphia by more than 2-1 but for the most part in the game they seemed disinterested and not willing to pay the price by going to the “dirty” areas of the ice to make the play. They had lots of shots on Marty Biron but he could see most of them coming and made an easy save. At the other end Carey Price was having a difficult time seeing the put and looked a little rattled by the flyers charging his net. He let in three goals on twelve shots, which was a pretty poor save percentage. The goals though were screened and to give him some benefit of doubt he did not see them cleanly.
Darian Hatcher gave Montreal some life in the third period by taking a stupid five minute major penalty for boarding. Montreal scored twice on the power play and was right back in the game. If you’re winning 3-0 the last thing you want to do is give the opposition a chance to get back into it. You a bend but don’t break game and even at times avoid the big hit just in case you get called for something.
Montreal needs to play their skating, puck movement game on Philly but they also have to battle in the corners and in front of the net to get the loose pucks. Something they did not do tonight. They have to make sure Biron can’t see the shots or get in front to deflect them. These are the areas of the ice referred to as the “dirty “areas. If Montreal does this, they will still win the series because they have more depth and team speed than the Flyers even though they are down 2-1 now in the series.
On another note I finished 5 of 8 in the first round on my predictions. It just goes to show how much parity there is in the league and how little difference there is between winning and going home.
Sincerely Walt Webb
http://successblognet.com/sportsontheweb
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