Well, this past week has certainly been an improvement over the last few months. I just hope that it keeps up!
Tuesday night against Vancouver was interesting. It was announced that Luongo would start in net, well.. a few hours before the game he gets traded to Florida. Alright, then. I'll take it! I will add, Luongo's twitter account during this time was hilarious! The game felt like it was in slow motion, even Vermette's goal looked as if it was in slow motion. Neither team was playing all that well. Smith looked bored for about 45 minutes of the game. Coyotes win 1-0.
Thursday saw the Habs at jobing.com arena. I really liked the Vrbata, Chipchura and Erat line. I hope they continue to do well and they don't change what's working when Marty "I take stupid penalties" Hanzal comes back. Vrbata had two goals; now we just need to see if those are the start of a new trend or his normal streaky self. We did not let the Habs off that easy, although we did let up a bit in the second. Korpikoski and Doan both had power play goals and OEL contributed a goal. OEL did take the Z penalty while we were on the PK, which lead to a Habs goal. It was bound to happen though. The first shift was out there for about 52 seconds. Schlemko went to block a shot and could barely stand on his leg after. The second shift came out and couldn't get a stoppage or a clear. And they got a goal and Schlemko is now out.
Saturday we traveled to DC to take on the Caps. And it did not go well. We were winning and then we stopped playing and lost. Seems to me this is a very familiar tale. I agree with Tippett (quote below). We do not do this enough.
"To win games in this league you have to pay the price. In the critical times of the game, we don't pay the price to win."
Tuesday and Wednesday were busy with trades. Tuesday saw Rundblad headed to Chicago for a second rounder. I think we won that one. Goodbye dead weight! Late Tuesday we traded Klesla and Brown for Martin Erat and a prospect. That was the big trade for Phoenix. I will say I am fairly happy with the trade. Do I think this is the last piece of the puzzle? Nope. We have some pieces to add in the off season Do I think this will help us get the extra push we need to the playoffs? Maybe.
We seem to be in this never ending cycle of win a few, lose a few. We will see how Gormley and Miele do tonight. This could mean two things: we are trying anything to win or we are giving up on playoffs and "auditioning" the youngsters.
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