Sunday, March 29, 2009

Morning playoff check-up

Lying on my couch wallowing in the misery of my illness, I was drifting in and out of consciousness as the third period got started in the Habs game against Buffalo last night. I distinctly remember watching the Canadiens dump the puck early on in the period with no intention of trying to recover it and actually score a fourth goal on Ryan Miller. Just as I was on the verge of passing out, I remember thinking this won't end well. I woke up again just as overtime was ending, and I figured this was a pretty good result, based solely on the information I had available to me. Finally, I woke up as RDS was signing off, and I caught the shot of the Sabres bench celebrating. A disappointing loss, especially considering how well Carey Price played (and I didn't even see the whole third period, when he was apparently at his best), but not devastating. The Habs remain a point up on the Panthers with a game in hand plus an extra win, and they pulled to within a point of the Rangers for seventh. But a big challenge remains on the horizon as the Habs finish with four of six on the road, which is the opposite of the Panthers schedule.

Eastern Conference Playoff Race

Philadelphia Flyers - 4th place, 92 points, 41 wins, 6-4-0
8 games remaining - 4 on road, 4 at home, 3 against playoff teams
Last night – Won 4-3 in SO over NY Islanders; next game – Tonight vs. Boston

Carolina Hurricanes - 5th place, 91 points, 42 wins, 7-1-2
5 games remaining - 1 on road, 4 at home, 3 against playoff teams
Last night – Won 2-1 over New Jersey; next game – Thursday vs. NY Rangers

Pittsburgh Penguins - 6th place, 90 points, 41 wins, 7-1-2
6 games remaining - 4 on road, 2 at home, 3 against playoff teams
Last night – Won 4-3 over NY Rangers; next game – Wednesday vs. New Jersey

New York Rangers – 7th place, 87 points, 39 wins, 5-4-1
6 games remaining - 3 on road, 3 at home, 6 against playoff teams
Last night – Lost 4-3 to Pittsburgh; next game – Monday vs. New Jersey

Montreal Canadiens - 8th place, 86 points, 38 wins, 4-3-3
7 games remaining - 4 on road, 3 at home, 4 against playoff teams
Last night – Lost 4-3 in SO to Buffalo; next game – Tuesday vs. Chicago

Florida Panthers - 9th place, 85 points, 37 wins, 3-4-3
6 games remaining - 2 on road, 4 at home, 3 against playoff teams
Last night – Won 6-3 over Dallas; next game – Tuesday vs. Ottawa

Buffalo Sabres - 10th place, 82 points, 37 wins, 4-5-1
7 games remaining, 4 on road, 3 at home, 5 against playoff teams
Last night – Won 4-3 over Montreal; next game – Wednesday @ Atlanta

3 comments:

Mike said...

Is the Barber's Pole jersey coming back Tuesday night?

pmk said...

ya i heard they are back. yuck.

Arjun said...

My kid was screaming "Habs, wake up!" all throughout the third. He was imploring them to wake up. I turned to the guy next to me and said "I can't believe they're going to sit on this." And that's what they tried to do. And the Sabres tied it. The best part of the game was Price. He made at least a half dozen saves that might have been iffy even last week. He looked confident. He attacked the shooter. Even in the shootout, you could see how far he was coming out of the net to challenge the shooter. He made a few glove saves in the game that gave hints of cockiness. And he smashed his stick on the bench after the shootout. He knew he was more comfortable in net. So the loss sucked, big time. But Price's play was definitely something positive.