Habs and 'Canes, Game 2

7:15 pm - After a false start, being interrupted by a doorbell and a Montreal goal, we are almost live with the blogging. (Blogger is down for maintenance right now - it should be up at 7:45pm) Nice goal by Bulis and a nice play by Kovalev to get the puck to Bulis.

7:20 pm - Montreal has gotten two chances where they have gotten two really good chances where they got behind Carolina. Carolina has the better defensive core, so this is a bit of a surprise.

7:22 pm - Buffalo is winning 2-0. I really want to see teams who play an offense oriented style to make it far in the playoffs. Maybe it will encourage some teams (*cough*Calgary*cough*) to play a more entertaining style of hockey.

7:24 pm - As much as I like the Habs, that hit on Williams was very cringe-worthy.

7:25 pm - New Jersey winning 1-0. As much as New Jersey is the king of the trap, they have a lot of guys who are very skilled.

7:30 pm - Selley and Benjamin have to be loving this game - good flow to it, with hitting. (Good to see Williams back on the ice as well.)

7:32 pm - Stupid penalty on Boullion - never leave your feet to make a hit, especially when you're taking more than three steps. This could be what Carolina needs to get back on track, because so far they've looked not so good.

7:34 pm - Maybe Boullion was trying to get revenge for the Weight/Recchi double team. Also, nice play by Souray to break up a nice pass to Staal.

7:36 pm - Williams with a not so good penalty to even things up, but bigger news is Souray on the bench hurting. (Related note - is Andrei Markov playing? Because he's been the most invisible player for the Habs.)

7:39 pm - Ribeiro is turning into quite the shit disturber. His little shot at Gerber was kinda funny.

7:41 pm - Another power play for the Canadiens. And Ryder scores to bring the momentum full swing back to the Habs.

7:46 pm - Yikes, Gerber let a questionable one in and we have a goalie change. It wasn't completely his fault - the initial shot got tipped, but Gerber hasn't looked good at all. Too many rebounds. Hopefully this doesn't swing the momentum to Carolina.

7:51 pm - It doesn't matter how Cam Ward plays if his teammates refuse to play like a playoff team.

7:55 pm - Don Cherry is relating Rose stories and now explaining how Gerber was showing that he had no confidence. He doesn't like Weight's complaining either.

(5-0 Buffalo? Madden with his second goal? Wow.)

8:05 pm - I never noticed the end to the "touching" A&W commercial before. It actually makes it almost amusing.

(And correction: Madden only has one goal - Gionta has the other.)

8:12 pm - Lucky bounce for Carolina and they are back into the game. Up to this point, Huet looked really good, but that was a bad goal.

8:16 pm - Well, that's one way to kill any momentum. After a hectic 5 minutes of action, Carolina puts the Habs back on the power play. A goal here probably ends the game.

8:17 pm - Hey, Markov showed up! Nice save by Ward after a blown 4 on 2 by the Habs. (And Aaron Ward is now hurt, putting both teams at 5 defensemen each.)

8:18 pm - How nice of Kovalev to give Carolina a power play. Very sporting of him to give them a chance to come back. *rolls eyes*

8:21 pm - Speaking of sporting, the ref gave Carolina a 5 on 3 on a horrible tripping call on Rivet. Last time I checked, playing the puck is legal.

8:23 pm - Sure enough, there's the goal. Time to buckle down for the Habs.

8:26 pm - #$%^%$^$%^$%^%$

8:31 pm - I take my 8:26 pm comment back.

8:32 pm - Craig Adams is having a bad night - gets cut on the high stick and now he's left because of an apparent leg injury.

8:36 pm - Hey look, Buffalo isn't letting up. Why did I change my Buffalo players to Tampa players?

8:37 pm - Montreal gets another shot on the power play, with a 4 on 3 power play. and Aaron Ward is back.

8:39 pm - So much for that power play.

8:44 pm - Jebus. Bouillon out because he cleared the puck over the glass. 5 on 3 for 1:50. Give me a break.

9:00 pm - I guess I'm just psychic - Madden now has 2 goals.

9:05 pm - Geez, who's the team that was down 3-0 again? Horrible, horrible play from the Habs, and they need their asses kicked in a major way right now.

9:06 pm - My laptop battery is dying - I'll be back in a few minutes.

9:20 pm - I'm sorry I ever doubted you Montreal.

(I'm back, BTW.)

9:23 pm - Random things you find when doing a search for your blog:
Apparently my blog lings are worth $183 on the blog fantasy stock market.

9:30 pm - Montreal is on the 5 minute penalty kill, but Doug Weight says "I don't think so! You must go on the power play!"

9:37 pm - Though Gainey should have had another centre out there, blame also falls on the defensemen who chose to leave 2 guys in front of Huet to screen him. Ah well, off to overtime we go!

10:06 pm - Overtime is on, and Carolina looks like they have a lot more life. They have been dominating the play.

10:07 pm - And now that I've said that, Montreal gets a power play on a questionable call. (Though they could have called a penalty on a couple of other occasions before.

10:12 pm - The same theme of the game is occuring in overtime - hectic back and forth play.

Random aside - Carolina apparently have a Storm Squad. This Storm Squad is apparently a bunch of attractive females and a guy named Mike. Words fail me.

(And yes, if you are wondering, I am trying to avoid what is going on right now.)

10:24 pm - After a Carolina rush which failed, Jim Hughson said "Almost a great defensive play to hook the puck away." As opposed to a mediocre defensive play that did the job?

10:41 pm - 2nd overtime starts the same as it ended - with Carolina in Montreal's end.

10:42 pm - Alexei Kovalev springs Ribeiro for another chance. Without a doubt, Kovalev has been Montreal's best player tonight. Maybe he wants to keep his streak of not losing a first round series in tact?

10:44 pm - LES HABITANTS GAGNEZ! RYDER AVEC LE BUT! WHAT ELSE CAN I SAY IN HORRIBLE FRENCH?!?!?!?!

11:06 pm - Bob Gainey's press conference is going on right now, and let me tell you Bob Gainey + measured, well thought out meaningless responses = non-stop excitement.

11:10 pm - Watching the highlights of the game again, I can not emphasize how great a player Alexei Kovalev is. And Michael Ryder's goal was very pretty, though helped by 5 Hurricanes who thought that Koivu was the only player on the ice.

That's it. See you guys on Wednesday!