Flying High. Habs win game 1 in dramatic fashion.

What a roller coaster! Last night the Habs won game 1 of their Eastern conference semi-final on a Tom Kostopoulos goal less than a minute into the first overtime period. The Flyers played well and held the lead for much of the game, though a late 3rd period penalty on the Flyers opened the door for Alex Kovalev to snipe the game tying goal with about 30 seconds left in regulation.

It turned out to be a pretty odd game with all sorts of crazy goals and bounces, though in the end Montreal somehow found a way to win. Let's not get too far ahead of ourselves though, as if it wasn't for a Flyers penalty with just over a minute to go in the game the Habs most likely would have lost the game 3-2.

Quick Hits:

This series should be ours for the taking. While Philly has more speed and talent than the Boston Bruins, they certainly don't play as physical a brand of hockey as the Bruins did against us. If the Flyers are going to continue let us use our speed and not rough up our star forwards, we should have a great chance in this series. I believe it all comes down to effort and determination as it often does when you have the superior team. I think the Habs have a better team from top to bottom, and if we are willing to give 100% every night then the Flyers shouldn't pose too much of a problem.

It's time to bench the Breezer. Poor Patrice Brisebois. Not only did he score Philadelphia's first goal for them, but he was also directly responsible for Philly's second goal. To be fair, I think Brisebois has been an asset to our team so far this postseason, but last night it looked like he needs a rest. Breezy has been playing too soft, and it looks like he still doubts himself too much out there. Against a team like the Flyers I think we might be better off with O'Byrne in the lineup instead of Brisebois. It's worth a shot.

Same goes for Dandenault. Sorry Dandy, but you just don't bring much to the table. I think Dandy has been in the lineup because of his experience and maybe he offers some leadership in the dressing room, but he hasn't been doing much for us on the ice. I like Dandenault, and would feel bad for him if he was a healthy scratch in the playoffs but at this point I really don't see the benefit of having him on the ice right now. I would consider giving his spot to Latendresse or Gregory Stewart for at least a game and see if it helps the team.

The breaks of the game. After the game was over I watched the highlights on TSN and Sportsnet and also managed to catch some of John Stevens' (Flyers head coach) post game press conference. Most of what I saw really pissed me off. The 'experts' on the pro Toronto sports networks (TSN/Sportsnet) only wanted to talk about how all the breaks and bounces went the Canadiens way. Flyers coach John Stevens had much of the same to say in his press conference. It was absolutely ridiculous! Did these people not watch the game? Did they not see Brisebois score the first goal for the Flyers? Did they miss Philly's second goal which was a real fluker that went off Joffrey Lupul's foot and trickled into the net? I felt that the Flyers got all the bounces and lucky goals, so all of this really confused me. Granted we were lucky to get a power-play with a minute left in the game, but it was on a completely legitimate call!