It's time once again for Erin's Playoff Perspectives! My apologies for the delay, but I was too darned happy to sit down and write.
What a beautiful, wonderful, PERFECT way to end this series: a hard-fought game, a glorious play leading to an OT goal, and a SWEEP...
What a beautiful, wonderful, PERFECT way to end this series: a hard-fought game, a glorious play leading to an OT goal, and a SWEEP...
...in a playoff series the Habs were never even expected to make. There is magic in the air, and we all feel it.
In all honesty this was not the best game the Habs played against the Jets. It might even have been the worst in some ways--mistakes were made, there...
In all honesty this was not the best game the Habs played against the Jets. It might even have been the worst in some ways--mistakes were made, there...
...was a little less smoothness and coherence in execution, and it turns out Logan Stanley can shoot the puck (who knew?). But there were reasons for these things, and none of them were like the regular season's various collapses at all. No, this team was facing three...
...disruptive factors at once: a desperate opponent hoping to avoid elimination, the built-up fatigue of going straight from a 7-game series to this one with little rest (and then the back-to-back, too, which was also something the Jets had to deal with), and the...
...loss of Jeff Petry, who doesn't always get the credit for his steadying presence in the lineup. Alexander Romanov seemed to play just fine in his limited minutes. But not getting a chance to practice without Petry might have made things a little...
...unwieldy at times. Nonetheless, our Habs never gave up. There was no "deflate button" pushed when Stanley scored a second time. If anything, there was greater resolve than ever to hold the line and try to take the lead. They didn't manage in regulation, but...
...with two critical playoff overtime wins already it seems clear the Habs no longer fear overtime. Caufield's pass was a thing of beauty and excellence, and Toffoli's snipe to cool the Jets once and for all was glorious.
And now, because Colorado and Vegas will...
And now, because Colorado and Vegas will...
...be playing at least through Thursday (and I think longer if they need a game 7), the Habs will get a much-needed break. Time for both rest and practice will be put to excellent use, and it's a little perk here that the series win happened in Montreal, because...
...the players don't have to add a travel day to their already exhausting schedule. No, time for rest and healing and a little fine-tuning of whatever wizardry Ducharme has been up to will be put to good use by the Habs, who deserve this break.
And then the North Division...
And then the North Division...
...champions will face a new and more daunting battle. Nobody who has watched the American teams play doubts that this is going to take everything our boys are capable of and push them to new limits. But the 3rd round beckons, and if there's one thing I think we...
...are all sure of now, it's that these Habs of ours are ready to rise and answer that call with everything they have, everything they are, and everything they have somehow become as a team. The fight that awaits won't be easy, but they know that, and I think they...
...may still have a few surprises in store for us all.
Until Round 3...and Go Habs Go!
Until Round 3...and Go Habs Go!
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