Monday, April 12, 2004
2-0...again... and other Game 3 notes
I wrote earlier today that I thought it would be Patrick Lalime's night. Although he was mostly (I'll get back to that in a minute) very good , it was his counterpart down the ice, Eddie Belfour, who stole the show. Belfour turned aside 37 shots for his second consecutive 2-0 win. While the Eagle made a number of tricky stops, mostly he spent the night humming "I Can See Clearly Now" ala Johnny Nash. Many of the Sens shots were from outside and clearly visible. The Sens need to create a lot more traffic if they're going to be successful against Belfour.
At the other end Lalime was solid, even spectacular by times, for most of the night. He had no chance on the Leafs' first goal, a bullet one timer from the top of the slot by a wide open Joe Nieuwendyk. The second goal however, was another story. At 14:16, with the crowd on its feet screaming for the tying goal, Lalime had a Mats Sundin shot trickle through the wickets. That is a stop he has to make. At 1-0, anything can happen. All it takes is one shot, one funny bounce, and it's a new game. A 2 goal lead is all but insurmountable at that point. Lalime has to make that stop.
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The crowd: As I had hoped, the Leafs contingent was relatively small, and for most of the night, easily drowned out. Attempts to boo Alfie were soon turned to cheers. Go Leafs Go chants were quickly drowned out by Go Sens Go chants. An so on. Unfortunately the crowd faded as the game wore on and the seemingly inevitable Sens goal never came. After the Sundin goal, the Parking Lot Bolters (don't get me started) made their move. The goal also seemed to knock the final wind out of the Sens fans. Leaf Nation began celebrating, making for an annoying walk to the car.
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The Catalyst gets the call: After all the hype about the Spezza scratch, he was a non-factor in his debut. The only times he was noticeable was on a couple of occasions when he coughed up the puck (unsuccessfully trying the patented inside-out move for the 1,247,512th time) or failed to clear the puck in the defensive zone. Ahhh, so *that's* why he hadn't been playing.
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Didn't we trade for Peter Bondra? Was he playing tonight?
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Although he didn't finish, Hossa was a monster tonight with 10 shots. He was ohh, so close on a couple of chances.
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At the other end Lalime was solid, even spectacular by times, for most of the night. He had no chance on the Leafs' first goal, a bullet one timer from the top of the slot by a wide open Joe Nieuwendyk. The second goal however, was another story. At 14:16, with the crowd on its feet screaming for the tying goal, Lalime had a Mats Sundin shot trickle through the wickets. That is a stop he has to make. At 1-0, anything can happen. All it takes is one shot, one funny bounce, and it's a new game. A 2 goal lead is all but insurmountable at that point. Lalime has to make that stop.
---
The crowd: As I had hoped, the Leafs contingent was relatively small, and for most of the night, easily drowned out. Attempts to boo Alfie were soon turned to cheers. Go Leafs Go chants were quickly drowned out by Go Sens Go chants. An so on. Unfortunately the crowd faded as the game wore on and the seemingly inevitable Sens goal never came. After the Sundin goal, the Parking Lot Bolters (don't get me started) made their move. The goal also seemed to knock the final wind out of the Sens fans. Leaf Nation began celebrating, making for an annoying walk to the car.
---
The Catalyst gets the call: After all the hype about the Spezza scratch, he was a non-factor in his debut. The only times he was noticeable was on a couple of occasions when he coughed up the puck (unsuccessfully trying the patented inside-out move for the 1,247,512th time) or failed to clear the puck in the defensive zone. Ahhh, so *that's* why he hadn't been playing.
---
Didn't we trade for Peter Bondra? Was he playing tonight?
---
Although he didn't finish, Hossa was a monster tonight with 10 shots. He was ohh, so close on a couple of chances.
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