The Ice Sheet: Habs on Brink

Filed under: Dallas, New York, Philadelphia, General NHL, Flyers, Canadiens, Stars, Sharks, Stanley CupEvery day from Monday to Saturday, The Ice Sheet will take a look at the biggest stories in the league that happened on the ice and elsewhere the night before.Guy Carbonneau took an incredible risk Wednesday night.It was admittedly a risk, even though I felt like it was necessary. Carey Price struggled, and it looked like the confidence was gradually seeping from him. Carbonneau was given almost no choice. Yes, Price was incredible down the stretch after Cristobal Huet was traded to Washington. But he looked to be slipping, and Montreal needed a win Wednesday to keep alive realistic hopes of winning this series.With that in mind, Carbonneau went with fellow youngster Jaroslav Halak, who was asked to make just two third-period saves in relief of Price in Game Three.The Canadiens' hopes are dwindling quickly. A power-play goal by Daniel Briere late in the third period nullified a late Montreal comeback, as the badly-outshot Flyers rode the goaltending of Martin Biron to a 4-2 win over Montreal and a 3-1 series lead.The brilliant WhoWins website reports a probability of over 90 percent that a team up 3-1 in a best-of-seven will win the series. The percentage only falls to 87.5 percent when the team up 3-1 has to play Game Five on the road, as Philadelphia does.This wasn't Halak's fault, however, as the Canadiens' netminder played well, with his highlight coming as he stopped an early breakaway by Jeff Carter. He was just outplayed by Biron, who is out of his head right now and carrying his team. He was also undone by another lackluster effort from Montreal's forwards. Alex Kovalev was practically a no-show, with Tomas Plekanec, the Kostitsyn brothers, Saku Koivu, Chris Higgins, and others taking turns making bad decisions with the puck.Philadelphia isn't necessarily as talented as Montreal, but they're proving the age-old thought in hockey that "will beats skill". The Flyers have more will in their top line than Montreal's entire roster has shown so far.(Still to come: The Stars try to close out Ron Wilson San Jose, Sean Avery's season is over, his teammates should soon follow, and we'll take a random look into the wonderful world of YouTube)Continue reading The Ice Sheet: Habs on BrinkPermalink | Email this | Comments more...