The good news is that the Habs put forth one of their better efforts of the
postseason. The bad news? It wasn’t enough as the Habs are facing
elimination for the 4th time in these playoffs after dropping a 2-1 decision in
Game 5. The Penguins, with a full roster for the first time this series,
had goals from Kris Letang and Sergei Gonchar, while the Habs, who lost yet
another defenceman as Hal Gill left early in the 3rd, had their goal tallied by
Mike Cammalleri.
HW 3 Stars of the Night:
1) Mike Cammalleri: Pretty easy here as he scored the team’s lone goal
and was firing from all angles tonight. After being silenced for a few
games, he took some solid steps towards regaining his form; he’ll need to be
even better on Monday night.
Statline: 1 goal, -1 rating, 9 shots, 1/1 faceoffs, 22:49 TOI (forward
high)
2) Josh Gorges: He was logging major minutes early on in the game and
then had even more thrust upon him when Gill went down. He was even
pressed into PP action and keeps playing steady regardless of the situation.
On the downside, his penalty led to Letang’s PPG.
Statline: 0 points, -1 rating, 2 PIMS, 3 hits (tied team high), 4
blocks, 25:27 TOI (team high)
3) Tomas Plekanec: For the first time this series, I noticed him on
more than one occasion in the offensive zone, he’s slowly starting to come
around in that department. Defensively, no qualms as always, steady as she
goes in that department.
Statline: 1 assist, -1 rating, 5 shots, 16/23 faceoffs (70% – team
high), 19:57 TOI
HM) Jaroslav Halak: Generally when you cough up 2 goals, you give your
team a good chance to win and that’s exactly what he did tonight. Both
goals beat him clean up high through screens, hard to fault him on either one.
Statline: 2 GA, 23 saves, 58:04 TOI, 2.07 GAA, .920 SV%
Stat of the Night: In a series where it’s usually one of Gill, Gorges,
or Ryan O’Byrne leading the way in the blocks department, it was P.K. Subban who had
the most tonight with 6, a positive factor in a game where he once again
struggled at times. Of course being a rookie, you can’t fault him too
much.