“We have to play better!”
Those words rang out loud and clear Sunday morning, across the Montreal Canadiens dressing room. Said by almost every player, coach and even fan in Habs Nation, it is a given that the pressure is on for the Canadiens.
Having lost the swing game in Boston on Saturday, 4-2. The city of Montreal, and most of Canada cheering for the team, are in a complete panic. With the top line being barely accounted for on the stat sheet this series, players need to play better and they need to stay focused come Monday night.
The series is heading back to The Bell Centre on Monday night, a place the Habs are very comfortable playing. The crowd is pumped, the fans will be energized and every superstition possible will be attempted as this team hopes to stave off elimination.
Not all has been pure bad in Montreal’s play. They’ve had the upper hand most of the series and a few players have really stepped up, including highly criticized, PK Subban, their all-star D-man who is leading the team and 5th in the league with 12 points.
Although Carey Price has been the backbone of this teams run, his opposition is beginning to catch his groove in the series. Tuukka Rask landed a shutout in Game 4, and was very solid Saturday night, surrendering 2 goals on 62 shots in the two contests.
The top line of Krejci, Iginla and Lucic was held back by a stellar Combination of speed and strength, that trend has began to falter, something Montreal needs to regain composure for. A steady performance against those three athletes , can and will result in a game 7. Keeping them off the scoresheet and out of the action will make it that much easier for the Habs to force a seventh and deciding game back at the “Boston” Garden Wednesday night.
