Game 2: Even in NDG the Canadiens still can’t score
Mike Cammalleri is scoreless, even in NDG
This isn’t looking good.
Game 2 was no different than game 1. No goals. The Flyers in their home rink of Wachovia arena are fierce and dirty. So are the fans as they beat hard and holler on the Plexiglas. It’s getting really intimidating and I think for the first time, the Montreal Canadiens are playing like the 8th seed that they are.
No amount of Jesus talk or sacrificial pleas can help. Not even a bar shift to NDG.
Yes, I went to NDG for game 2 as someone noted in the blogs that I tend to stay downtown and the Plateau for games. NDG is more in my hood and yet I dare not go there. So by consensus, I went to Next Door on Sherbrooke near Vendome.
I was thinking Maz’s but I think I’ve had enough of my share of sketchy bars.
Game 2: At Next Door, a tiny yet friendly bar on the corner of the good and the bad of NDG. The first period was mainly of the chickie hockey crowd, all my guy friends were either late or douched out.
By the way, when you text “cool”, it’s assumed that you’re coming. Take a hint!
The Canadiens have been having a hard time on penalty kills as of late. Halak let in one by Briere, power play. Flyer goals have been scored by either him, Giroux or Gagne.
Then Hockey Night in Canada caught on to the francophone guys who the Habs could have acquired doing all the goal scoring. I figured that out a long time ago. Well, duh!
The scene in NDG was a lot louder than on the Plateau, mainly because of the guys screaming across from me. Well, well. If it’s isn’t the guys formally known as the “Dancing Cock Brothers”. Always beer and hockey with these guys.
We all were frustrated by one goalie: Michael Leighton. The Habs were all over him, pushing and prodding into the net and yet, nothing was going in. There was a moment where even Andrei Kostitsyn looked brilliant on a breakaway and was walled by this 2nd rate, 3rd string goalie.
And how often does Andrei Kostitsyn look brilliant. Hell, out of desperation, we let brother Sergei play again. Yep, really desperate in what he can do with 4 minutes of ice time. Oooooooh.
Scott Gomez has been taking a lot of penalties, in part when Chris Pronger is around. The Latin in him is fuming as Flyer players are ganging up on the small squad. Even the fans in Wachovia were ganging up on the struggling Habs chanting “ole ole” in their house.
That’s OUR chant! In OUR house!
The feeling was mutual in NDG as all we wanted was a goal, one goal. A flukey, let in bounce in the net by freak of nature goal.
And it happened, when Halak let in one. It was out of character for him to do that.
On the projector at the bar, a moth decided to fly into the game. I figure that moth could help out on penalty kills, an unofficial 6th man. But then we would get another “too many men” on the ice. So it goes.
Halak skates over to Carey Price, wondering what that conversation would be about: “So is this what it’s like to suck? Carey, take the fall for me.” Is Jaroslav Halak starting to become human, losing confidence. We did the same to Carey Price, both are naturally good goalies however as the series progresses we’re running out of options.
Do we go with a goalie slowly unhinging or take a risk?
The players left with their heads down and Flyer fans screaming and throwing things at them. Hockey Night in Canada pans to a shot of the area where former general manager Bob Gainey was watching, all stoic and sad looking.
He was the one who constructed this team, with his free agency signings and all. Where everyone thought this team was a failure, he knew that this would work. He even stepped down for the sake of this team at it’s low point. We always see him making that face, now it’s heartbreaking as the team of destiny is down 2-0.
The Canadiens are going to need more than a regroup and line changes in order to survive. They did work hard, however so did the Flyers. Like I said, no amount of Jesus talk or sacrificial pleas will help. If they want it that bad, they have to do whatever it takes. We knocked out the top two teams, there’s no turning back, we got to finish what we started.
After the game, we decided to explore the confines of NDG, the night was young and in search of a pick me up. We stumbled onto a Trivia night at Honey Martins. My crew and myself were a team of three, each question we knew or had an idea what the answer would be. Anything sports related I simply knew. The 1st round was a four way tie breaker.
This was as exciting as a playoff game, I really wanted the win.
No one got the bonus question, but there was a second one where my friend ran over and I was waving the answer! Yes! Free beer! Someone wins tonight!
We did it again in the next round. This was a Hell of a lot better than playoff hockey. For one thing, we were 2-0 in trivia and won back to back beer.
Ah yes, I love NDG.
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