Oh Captain! My Captain!

The remedy is rather simple: Play 60 minutes.
In these fragile times, that’s all you can really ask for.

Or maybe not.

Play 55 minutes in regulation, give up two goals in the five you fall asleep, and then play 5 minutes overtime? That equals 60, right? I was never very good at math…

Tuesday night it was Carey vs. Kari (Lehtonen). In this round two of Carey vs. Karri (Ramo) it was only made interesting in the last five minutes, when the Habs decided it might be more fun to play an extra five, after holding Tampa to 19 shots (the fewest shots allowed by an opponent for the first time this season... thats 74 games in...)

Building off the win on Tuesday night, the Habs seemed to have regained focus, and remembered that hockey is a team sport. Not an individual effort. The first half of the first period, you may as well have sold seats on Carey Price’s side of the ice. It certainly wasn’t being used for a hockey game. Tampa Bay was completely dominated by the Habs, something that hasn’t been seen in a while. Total domination by the Habs? Who knew it was possible.

Just as fragile as the team is, so are the fans. I don’t know about you, but whenever the games are as close as they were tonight, I’m just waiting for the breaking point. You know, the Komisarek slap shot from the point, that’s blocked two feet away from him, and turns into a break-away going the other way. Or perhaps the nifty move Kovalev will pull through five guys that will inevitably end in a turnover. Or perhaps even an own-goal on a delayed penalty. If you wait for it… it will come.

And it came.

It came in the monster form of Evgeni Artyukin.
Two all, five minutes to go. Who’s surprised?


Here’s the deal. When you have eight power-play’s to the opponents ONE, the score should not be 2-0. Not when you’ve had an advantage the whole game. Eight powerplays compared to Tampa’s one, 57% of faceoff won, and the game is tied at two? Against Tampa? The only thing I took solace in knowing was that Price had already let in his SGPG (soft goal per game), so chances are another one wasn’t coming.

Blow and two goal lead and lose in overtime? Not on my Centennial.

Not on Saku’s either.

Stop his shot once, shame on him. Stop his shot twice, I don’t think so. Backhand, narrow angle, melee in front of the net? No problem. Make no mistake, this is Saku Koivu’s team. Oh captain, our captain, thank you for (another) season saving goal.

Say hello to a well-earned “W.”

It’s been a while.