How Sweep it is
-- by Mario Perrazzino; GOHABS.com
I must admit, it is months I have circled March 23 & 25th in my calendar as it marked the first time in recent memory that the Canadiens would play two home-home games against their nemesis, the Toronto Maple Leafs. Add to it that both clubs are battling for the final playoff spot, makes it that much more special.
Going into the game, Montreal had lost 4 of their last 5 games, but as Team990’s Tony Marinaro explained to me, “it’s much easier to get up for Toronto, as the Habs have a harder time against the weaker teams”.
So with the streets around the Bell Centre buzzing like it’s a playoffs game, Toronto media and Montreal media in full force, both teams not shying away from feeding the sound bytes, we were in for a treat.
In the first game, the Canadiens jumped to a 4-0 lead after just one period helped by two power play goals. The Leafs didn’t know what him. Leafs netmider Mikael Tellqvist was helpless. As Chris Higgins explained after the game, “we wanted to get a good jump, and play a simple game”. And that they did, on route to a 5-1 victory in the first match.
The game also saw the return of Habs workforce on defense, Andrei Markov, back in the lineup after missing a few games with back spasms. The Canadiens are 3-11-1 without Markov in the lineup. Surprisingly, Markov played 19 minutes, in the game but Bob Gainey admitted after the game that Markov, at times, did not look too comfortable on the ice. But he held his own finishing even on the +/- tally.
There was more riding on Game 2 for Toronto as another loss would almost certainly dampen their chances to make the playoffs this season. After a quick 1-0 lead by Toronto, Montreal went on to score three unanswered goals in the first period on route to a 6-2 victory . In fact, Montreal outscored Toronto a combined 7-1 in the first periods (and 11-3 overall in the two games).
After game one, Alex Kovalev mentioned that “when you move the puck and move your feet, it’s a different game”. But during game 2, Toronto realized the only way to stop Montreal was to rough things up especially after the whistle to slow Montreal’s momentum, as demonstrated in the third period of Game 2. That period was anything but “New NHL” caliber of hockey. Toronto, frustrated, did everything they could to get Montreal off their game. To no avail.
Moving forward, Kovalev, also complained on how the team needs to be more consistent; “we need to remember what we do, and do it again next game”. And surely his teammates listened, capturing a sweep in the home-and-home regular season match-up with Toronto.
Now let’s hope the schedule masters of the NHL repeat this quirk in the schedule again next season.
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