Habs Lapierre can be a real pain when he plays smart

 

The Montreal Canadiens Maxim Lapierre has been a genuine thorn in the side of the Philadelphia Flyers and other playoff opposition in 2010.

To me, Maxim Lapierre has always been the player on the Canadiens roster that has the potential to set the emotional tone of a game. He’s the pesky forward that can draw that advantageous penalty or just frustrate to the point the opponent loses focus on the game plan.

He doesn’t have the shooting skill of a Mike Cammalleri, or stick handling ability of a Brian Gionta, but he does bring the aspects of a solid third line player.

His exceptional speed, ability to deliver a hit and occasional scoring touch (15 goals in 2008-09) is often overlooked by his best talent, chirping the crap out of the opposition. In this year’s playoffs, he’s brought all of that to the table.

Game Three of the Eastern Conference Final against the Philadelphia Flyers was no exception. Granted he’ll never drop the gloves, to the frustration of many, but he can sure get under one’s skin when he needs to. But that’s just what a pest does, ask Dan Carcillo.

 

I first noticed Lapierre’s knack of annoyance while attending a Canadiens/Senators game in March of 2007. There was this rookie getting right in the face of Ray Emery. Still green, he spent the early part of the next season in Hamilton to work on his discipline. It paid off, and he’s been with the Canadiens ever since.

Lapierre’s  one flaw that often exposes him, is getting careless or taking it that one step beyond that usually draws a penalty against him at a bad time in the game.

Lapierre has clearly gained a bit of a reputation of a shit-disturber in his short NHL career. The referees know it, and they are watching him.

His infamous boarding hit on the Sharks’ Scott Nichol, and two arguable diving calls, in one playoff game against the Washington Capitals, are the most recent infractions of notoriety fuelled by his reputation.

Fortunately Lapierre is one of those learning players that can make adjustments to his style without sacrificing much. It’s evident with the fact he has stayed in the 60-80 PIM range in the last few seasons. The discipline is there, it’s just the timing that needs tweaking.

That aside, he has played some of the best defensive hockey of his career this season. If he can continue to curb his mental errors, and  compete and irritate at the level seen in recent weeks, the Canadiens could have a very solid third liner for years to come.

Canadiens/Flyers Game 3: Habs solve the Leighton puzzle

The Montreal Canadiens fired 38 shots at the Philadelphia Flyers goal, put bodies in front of the net and played a solid 60 minute game on Thursday night.

Backed by the loud Bell Centre crowd, the end result was a dominant 5-1 win in Game Three of the Eastern Conference Final.

Montreal finally solved Flyers goalie Michael Leighton’s shutout streak, when Michael Cammalleri banked a rebound off the Flyers netminder’s backside at 7:05 of the first period.

Jaroslav Halak had his easiest night of the series thus far, with a 25-save effort, but came up big on several Flyers scoring chances when called upon.

The Canadiens took a two-goal lead when Chris Pronger coughed up the puck in his own zone. Dominic Moore’s ensuing shot hit the post and bounced off the foot of Tom Pyatt and into the goal at 16:52. The goal was reviewed to clarify whether Pyatt kicked it in.

The home team continued to mount pressure, throughout the second period, and finally found the back of the net again when Moore shot’s beat Leighton five-hole at 11:33.

Brian Gionta added his eighth of the playoffs at 2:00 of the third, slipping past the Flyers defense deking out Leighton to put the Canadiens up by four.

“I thought we played well from the start,” said Gionta. “Obviously we were executing much better than we did in Games 1 and 2.”

Simon Gagne finally got the Flyers on the board at 8:22, when his shot bounced off Canadiens defenceman Hal Gill, and the post before crossing the goal line.

Marc-Andre Bergeron added a fifth goal for the Canadiens, during a 5-on-3 power play, after things got rough between the two teams. A minute earlier, the referees handed out twenty minutes in penalties to the two teams.

"It was a good old-fashioned ass-kicking," Flyers captain Mike Richards said. "They handed it to us right from the get-go.”

It had been clear the Flyers frustrations hand been building throughout the game and ultimately led to the team’s breakdown. The question will be whether coach Peter Laviolette can get his squad back to the disciplinary level they had in the first two games.

“We need to regroup tomorrow and understand that they’re a team that plays a lot different at home,” said Pronger. “They played a lot better and skated a lot harder. We need to be a lot better and understand what it’s going to take to be successful.”

The Canadiens Roman Hamrlik had two assists, with a plus-4 rating, earning the game’s First Star. “In the first two games we didn’t do things as a team,” he said. “We don’t have any superstars, so we have to play as 20 hard-working guys who compete every shift.”

The Flyers now hold a two games to one lead in the series. Game Three goes Saturday afternoon in the Bell Centre at 3pm.

Three Stars: 1. Roman Hamrlik 2. Dominic Moore 3. Tom Pyatt

Game Photo: Allen McInnis (Montreal Gazette)

Canadiens/Flyers Game Two: Didn’t we see this Sunday?

 

Save for the Philadelphia Flyers being short three goals, Game Two of the Eastern Conference Final was essentially a carbon copy of Game One.

The Montreal Canadiens outshot they’re opponents Tuesday night 30-23, but couldn’t solve goaltender Michael Leighton in a 3-0 loss.

It was just the fifth time in Canadiens history that they have been shutout in back-to-back playoff games. The last time came in 1983.

As with Game One, the Canadiens got the first power play of the evening, but found it quickly negated by a Scott Gomez hooking call.

On the ensuing man advantage, the Flyers Daniel Briere cashed his ninth of the playoffs, backing up Hall Gill, then cutting right to beat Jaroslav Halak top-shelf.

Montreal gained a couple more power play chances in the period, but Leighton came up with some big saves, notably off the sticks of Andrei Kostitsyn and Michael Cammalleri.

But as good as the saves were, the Flyers defense gave their goalie a clean line of sight throughout the game to make them.

The Canadiens maintained strong possession throughout the period and held a 16-6 shot advantage, but were still down a goal after the first twenty minutes.

The next forty minutes were very lack-luster for either team.

The Canadiens just seemed unwilling to chase down a puck and create scoring opportunities. Any chances they had were straight into the Flyers defense and quickly turned back.

Simon Gagne scored the lone second period goal, again on the power play, when he snuck in from the side of the net to tap in a loose puck.

Frustration seemed to be the Canadiens motive in the third period, which forced more mental errors and aggravation. The end result of that was Ville Leino’s 3rd of playoffs at 10:24 on a weak shot out of the corner that seemed to mystify Halak.

 

“I thought that we competed good tonight,” Canadiens coach Jacques Martin said. “We played a much better game and our level of competition was better, but we still have to make some changes.”

Those changes could start with playing the more physical Ryan O’Byrne on the Canadiens blue line to thwart the Flyers from screening Halak.

Martin’s strategy to play doghoused Sergei Kostitsyn seemed counter productive. Kostitsyn logged just 4:56 of ice time and had no shots on goal.

Improvement is one thing, but when the primary result of scoring a goal is not yet accomplished, one has to question how “improved” they Canadiens played.

“I thought we did a lot better job, but he(Leighton) has stopped everything,” said Cammalleri. “When a goalie has back-to-back shutouts he’s doing something right.”

Special teams were another area of concern for the Canadiens. While the Flyers have four of their nine goals in the series with the man advantage, the Canadiens have been 0-for-4 in both contests.

“We did some good things, but they had two power play goals,” said Canadiens winger Brian Gionta. “We didn’t capitalize on our chances.”

The Flyers now hold a 2-0 series lead going to Montreal for Game Three on Thursday.

"We gotta find a way at home.” added Gomez. “We gotta find one and keep going at it, even if it’s an ugly one off someone’s ass.”

Leighton now has a shutout streak of 165:60 and also became the first to record back-to-back playoff shutouts for the Flyers since Bernie Parent.

“It’s not over yet,” said Leighton. “I’m happy the way things are going and I hope we keep winning. We’re looking forward to Game Three.”

1. Michael Leighton 2. Simon Gagne 3. Kimmo Timonen

Game photo: Getty Images/Jim McIsaac

Habs system needs a change of direction for Game Two

A failure by the Habs in the direction of their strategy, and they could find themselves at the end of their playoff rope.

Ok, so it’s only Game One. There’s no need to panic. Jaroslav Halak got chased out in Game One against the Pittsburgh Penguins too, don’t forget.

But to lose 6-0 to the Philadelphia Flyers with Michael Leighton in goal, was clearly the Montreal Canadiens worse game of the playoffs.

There were several costly mistakes across the board. Foolish penalties, bad defensive plays and sloppy point play, especially with the man advantage, were the biggest of them.

The most concerning issue though might be the style the Canadiens are trying to play against the Flyers.

An east-west/dump and chase style is not going to work against a Flyers defensive quartet led by Chris Pronger, plain and simple. It didn’t work in 2008 either without Pronger, you think it will work now?

The Philadelphia defense clogged up lanes. blocked shots and had an easy time fetching pucks out of their own zone. The Canadiens 11 giveaways and Flyers 12 takeaways reflects that.

In essence, the Canadiens made it too easy for the Flyers, and their goaltender who had no problems seeing the puck Sunday night.

The Canadiens attackers also have to be patient and not try to do it alone. Many a time, the Flyers forwards would wait, circle back inside the blueline and allow their teammates to attack the net. We basically saw a clinic on that.

A key example of how not to do it came on the sixth Flyers goal. P.K. Subban attempted a one-man rush and got shut down, leaving Maxim Lapierre to play defense and hung out to dry.

It was interesting too, on Coaches Corner, how they centered on Subban and how he’s been playing the same way since Bantam. You think Flyers scouts figured that out, or noticed it in the playoffs?

Philadelphia knows how to shut down a team’s offense if they come right at them, the Boston Bruins will tell you that. Leighton does have to come up with some big saves, but he’s not stealing games like Halak has in the first two rounds.

To be effective against the larger Flyers defense, the Canadiens have to play more north-south against the Flyers, playing them off the boards to open those scoring lanes. Do that and they wear the defense down and expose the weaker pairs.

If they don’t and continue with the Game One offensive strategy, this could be a quick series. You can expect Jacques Martin and Kirk Muller make the adjustments required on Tuesday.

The Canadiens other problem lies in the size department in their own end.

Of the four Flyers’ goals that beat him, how many clean shots did Halak actually see? Hal Gill and company were blocking their share of shots (20 in total) but they have to get the bodies out of Halak’s way. It wouldn’t be surprising to see Ryan O’Byrne back in the lineup for Game Two to help nullify this problem.

Failure to get the Flyers behemoths out of their own crease will make it a shooting gallery for Danny Briere and the like, and a Sunday afternoon tee time at Le Club Laval Sur-le-lac for the Habs.

Markov skating lightly, Sergei K off to the Worlds?

News via CKAC that defenseman Andrei Markov was skating Sunday afternoon at the Montreal Canadiens training facility in Brossard.

Markov apprently skated lightly in a track suit along with Paul Mara, who continues to recover from shoulder surgery. The session consisted primarily of light acceleration drills and a few shots on goal.

According to CKAC's Martin McGuire, Markov was "going to do anything" to get back into the playoffs.

There had been specualtion that Markov might have played on Saturday night, after making the trip to Pittsburgh. It was later clarified that the Canadiens' medical staff was also travelling. It was easier for Markov to continue treatment and be evaluated ove the weekend.

According to head coach Jacques Martin, Markov will be re-evaluated by doctors from the skate.

The club held a team metting this morning, and only a handful of skaters (Ben Maxwell. Jaroslav Spacek, Carey Price, Maxim Lapierre and Sergei Kostitsyn) took to the ice.

Spacek has reportedley been given the green-light by team doctors to resume playing, but the decision will ultimately fall on the defenseman and coach Martin.

Meanwhile defenseman Hal Gill says his leg, that was accidentally stepped on by Chris Kunitz in Game Five, suffered "just a cut." The veteran defenseman says he hopes to be ready for Game Six.

There is also a report that benched forward Sergei Kostitsyn has requested to be allowed to play for Belarus at the World Hockey Championships, currently under way in Germany.

In a tweet by Sov Sport's Genadi Boguslavski, Belarus head coach Eduard Zenkevich stated that Kostitsyn made the request several days ago.

No confirmation from the Canadiens has been made, so for now the report will have to lie along the lines of the first five letters in the initiating tweeter's last name.