HW Recap: Domination over Boston continues

[Habsfan84]

The week that was for the Habs could essentially be summed up as follows - "sweep", and no, I don't mean the curling variety. In Hamilton, the team's worst losing streak continued, 9 games and counting now. Fortunately, all is not lost for them, as discussed in the Final Thought segment. The stat of the week looks at plus/minus, plus as always, the weekly grades, in the Recap.

Player Grades

The ratings:
8.5 - 10: Player has exceeded expectations for the week, very strong contributions.
6.5 - 8: Player has met expectations for the week, play has helped or at worse, not hurt the lineup.
5 - 6: Player has performed below expectations for the week, play has at best not hurt the team, but likely has had a negative affect.
Under 4.5: Player has had a week to forget, questions should soon be arising about his future with the organization.

Goalies:

#31 - Carey Price: 8.5 There were a couple of "hold your breath" moments, but aside from that, another solid week. (Season Average: 7.71)

#41 - Jaroslav Halak: 8.0 He showed at times the rust that everyone expected, but suffice it to say, it was a pretty good performance for a backup vs St. Louis. (Season Average: 7.90)

Defence:

#26 - Josh Gorges: 8.0 Seeing his ice time practically double didn't hurt him, in fact, it seemed to help his play. (Season Average: 6.96)

#79 - Andrei Markov: 8.0 With Komisarek going down, his minutes are going to be through the roof, so far he's yet to have any issues with the extra time. (Season Average: 7.46)

#44 - Roman Hamrlik: 7.5 Considering he had a different guy with him each game, I was pretty impressed with his adaptability. (Season Average: 7.35)

#32 - Mark Streit: 7.5 Had no issues switching positions in mid game, and we finally saw some jump in his play. (Season Average: 7.06)

#8 - Mike Komisarek: 7.0 Hopefully, the time off will do him some good to get him back to his early-season form. (Season Average: 7.48)

#51 - Francis Bouillon: 7.0 Nothing wrong overall with his play, but a big message was sent when he was not one of the defencemen used in overtime against Boston. (Season Average: 7.00)

#3 - Ryan O'Byrne: 7.0 Given Boston's physical style, I was hoping he'd make a couple more hits, but that's really the only issue I had. (Season Average: 6.70)

#71 - Patrice Brisebois: 6.0 Some good, some bad, a little more of the latter over the former though. (Season Average: 6.61)

Forwards:

#27 - Alexei Kovalev: 8.5 Sure, there were those 2 wonderful moves, but what about the penalties he took? Those need to be mentioned as well. (Season Average: 7.92)

#46 - Andrei Kostitsyn: 8.0 In a week where Kovalev got all the hype, guess who had the exact same production? (Season Average: 7.46)

#11 - Saku Koivu: 7.5 Missed a couple of golden opportunities, but you can't argue with his passing abilities at the moment. (Season Average: 7.30)

#14 - Tomas Plekanec: 7.5 All but invisible on the point sheet, but the line produced, which counts for a lot. (Season Average: 7.72)

#73 - Michael Ryder: 7.5 He's starting to assert himself more out there, commanding the puck and at least trying to get the shot off...it's about time. (Season Average: 6.84)

#74 - Sergei Kostitsyn: 7.5 Really stood out in the St. Louis game, but tailed off a little after that. (Season Average: 7.27)

#54 - Mikhail Grabovski: 7.0 Scored a key goal vs the Blues, it'd be nice to see him shoot more, his shot appears to be underrated. (Season Average: 6.77)

#21 - Chris Higgins: 7.0 Needs to be a little more selective with his shots, too often are the pucks just going straight at the goalie with no screen/deflection. (Season Average: 7.48)

#6 - Tom Kostopoulos: 7.0 He may have lost his fight, but he at least stood up for his teammates, unlike some others. (Season Average: 6.81)

#22 - Steve Begin: 7.0 Needs to keep that energy level up, but does anyone think that if he does, he'll still be healthy for the playoffs?' (Season Average: 7.18)
#20 - Bryan Smolinski: 6.5 Good vs Boston, awful vs St. Louis, a good example of one extreme to the next. (Season Average: 6.88)

#84 - Guillaume Latendresse: 6.5 With Begin healthy now, I'd be getting a little concerned about having a locked-in lineup spot for the playoffs. (Season Average: 6.74)

#40 - Maxim Lapierre: 6.5 Saturday night, scrum in the boards. Begin is fighting, Kostopoulos is trying to stand up for his teammate (actually here, Lapierre), while Lapierre...does next to nothing until he's pushed away - he then mouths off to the Bruins player and laughs at him. One thing's for sure, that's not his job, and if you're an energy player not willing to stand up for yourself, you will go nowhere in this league. I will say this much though, he was at least doing well on the PK, otherwise, this grade would be much lower. (Season Average: 6.75)

Week's Average: 7.33
Season Average: 7.20

Final Thought

As much as the past few weeks have been exciting in Montreal, the same can't be said for the Hamilton Bulldogs, who haven't won in over 3 weeks now. As much as I may sound condescending and sarcastic in my small weekly blurbs about the team, their struggles have taken away from my enjoying the success that the Habs have had this season. But, all is not lost for the team. Mercifully, the division that the 'Dogs are in is so weak that it makes the NHL's Southeast Division look like a perennial powerhouse, meaning that despite a 9-game losing streak, they still hold down a playoff spot somehow. So, provided that the team can eke out a few wins between now and mid-April, the playoffs will be returning to Hamilton once more. Although they'll inevitably be eliminated by powerhouse Toronto, at least the full-timers (Locke, Ferland, Milroy, and the like) will be able to avoid total embarrassment by not becoming one of the few AHL teams to win the title one year, and miss the playoffs the next.