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Showing posts with label Travis Moen. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Travis Moen. Show all posts

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Conference Finals- Game 3 Preview: We Need Goals!

Offence: Michael Leighton has a .969 SV% and a 0.87 GAA in these playoffs, and 2 shutouts against Montreal.  The Canadiens forwards have to find a way to disrupt Leighton's stellar play and put some pucks by him.  In order to overcome the 2-0 series deficit, the Habs have to get in Philadelphia's crease, screen Leighton, and beat the Flyers defence to rebounds.

Defence: Montreal has to get back to what made the successful in the first two rounds, that is blocking shots.  The Canadiens have blocked 355 shots in this postseason, over 100 more than any other team.  But after frustrating Ovechkin and then Crosby, the Habs only got in the way of 35 shots through two games against Philadelphia.
Why isn't Ryan O'Byrne playing?  He played over 18 minutes a game towards the end of the first round, is a +1, and has 25 shot blocks.  And he could keep the Flyers forwards from feeling at home in Jaroslav Halak's crease.  Compare that to Marc-Andre Bergeron's -11, 1 goal and inability to play defence in general, and it seems like a no brainer.  Bergeron could be put on the 4th line and used on the PP where his shot would still garner attention from Flyer penalty killers.

Goal: Halak can't be blamed for any losses where the team in front of him fails to score a single goal, but one has to wonder if back to back losses and a couple weak goals are starting to wear on him.  Another concern is the ridiculous workload Halak has had.  After coming back from the Olympics where he started for Slovakia, he got the majority of starts down the stretch.  In the first two rounds of the playoffs he saw a load of shots from Washington and Pittsburgh.  That's a lot of work for a goalie who wasn't a regular starter until 3 months ago.

Quote: “We’ve got to do it, we can’t just sit around and talk about it.” -Travis Moen

Saturday, May 15, 2010

Round 3- Game 1 Preview: Who's Got Richards?

Key matchup: Mike Richards vs. Anybody
Will the Canadiens be able to match up anybody effectively against Mike Richards? During the Boston series Richards contained Marc Savard, took out David Krejci, and frustrated Zdeno Chara.  If Montreal can find someone to keep Richards busy, will Daniel Briere, Simon Gagne or Claude Giroux bust loose?

Key Stats:  1.55 GAA, .943 SV%
Michael Leighton hasn't had anyhere close to the workload that Jaroslav Halak has, but his average numbers are actually better when compared with Halak's 2.42 GAA and .930 SV%.

Injuries:
Canadiens: D Andrei Markov (knee), D Paul Mara (shoulder)
Flyers: G Brian Boucher (knee), C Jeff Carter (foot), G Ray Emery (hip), RW Ian Laperriere (conncussion)

Notable:
Bob Gainey's plan to put together a team that knows how to win in the playoffs could become even more apparent in this series.  The Habs have a combined 5 cup rings on their roster (Scott Gomez (2), Brian Gionta, Travis Moen, Hal Gill) compared to only Chris Pronger's ring for the Flyers.

Quote:
"In your face, ugly and obnoxious" – Gill on the Flyers.