halak

In ESPN fantasy leagues this season, Ovechkin was the overall No. 1 pick in traditional drafts and went for an average of $72 (American, we assume) in auction drafts. Halak didn't register, putting him behind the likes of Ondrej Pavelec and Scott Clemmensen. But coming off 90 saves in the last two games, would you trade Halak for Ovechkin tonight?
I still have to stay with Washington. They did get 54 shots on goal the other night. They will be on home ice. They've lost two games at home in this series, so it might not be that big of an advantage. They need to take the day-to-day with this group and try to catch their breath a little bit. Now is the time for calm and cool leadership. Bruce Boudreau, who's done outstanding with that team over the years, seems too on edge. That kind of stuff on the bench can impact the players in a negative way. I'm looking forward to it. It would be a monumental upset if Montreal can pull it off. In the Ovechkin era of playoff hockey, of their series that have gone seven games, they've won one and lost two.


That's going to be real interesting. These teams don't like each other. This has the makings of a real nasty series of two teams that have a burning desire to win the Cup this year. I didn't have a ton of hope for Vancouver going into the playoffs, but I think something might have clicked for them in the first round. I really think the key will be Luongo. Last year, Chicago was able to get underneath him and score a lot of goals late in the series. This year, Luongo's going to have to be the guy that was in Game 6 against L.A., coming up with timely saves. Right now, I feel like the Canucks might be playing a little bit better. I know it's going to be a lot of fun to watch and it will be an edgy playoff series.

With every game Halak plays very well and he has that effort, you would tend to think that would be the way that they go. Montreal clearly has two talented goaltenders there. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that you'll have to trade one of them down the road. In the last 6-10 months of watching, I really like Halak. Price might be a guy that's more valuable to other teams. I'm sure they're constantly evaluating the situation. You do have to keep in mind that both of these guys will be restricted free agents. That's something that the Canadians will have to worry about. I think they'll try to keep Halak and shop Price.



MONTREAL -- Given the chance to roast his assumed No. 1 goalie, Canadiens coach Jacques Martin not surprisingly chose a different route.

"I don't think it's (a case of) what has gone wrong with him," Martin said Monday night after his team lost Game 3 to Washington, 5-1, and well after he pulled starter Jaroslav Halak before 10 minutes had elapsed in the second period.

Halak gave up three goals on four shots within a span of 7:27 before Martin mercifully pulled the plug on the Slovak's night, replacing him with Carey Price. Eric Fehr's rebound goal at 8:33 was the final straw for Halak, who has yielded nine goals on the last 50 shots he's faced after a sterling 45-save winning performance in Game 1.

There was no way that Martin, mere minutes after Game 3 ended, was going to name a starting goalie for Game 4 on Wednesday. He normally doesn't make those proclamations until the day of the game, so we'll all likely have to wait to find out if he goes back to Halak or sticks with Price, who made 21 saves in less than 32 minutes of relief.

However, you have to wonder if Martin can go back to Halak now.

Halak was caught in a firestorm Sunday after Alex Ovechkin pointed out that a video replay after Washington's first goal Saturday night showed Halak visibly shaking as he squirted water into his mouth. Ovechkin said it showed Halak's nerves, and that was a good thing for the Caps.

Halak was not given the chance to respond later Sunday because the Canadiens did not make him available to the media, saying they didn't want to get into a war of words with Ovechkin and the Capitals.

Judging by his performance in the second period Monday, perhaps Ovechkin was right.

"I don't know about this game," Ovechkin said. "I didn't see a replay if he was shaking or not, but you know, we score three goals and they have to make some changes, the same as we did in the second game. It worked for us but for them it didn't."

Halak received the biggest pre-game ovation from the earsplitting Bell Centre crowd, but after Fehr scored the fans were chanting for Price and cheered when they saw him getting his equipment together to come into the game.

Halak was done after making 10 saves on 13 shots in 28:33.

Price gave up a goal to Ovechkin just over five minutes into his night, but it was a one-timer from inside the right circle that he really had no chance to stop. For some reason the Canadiens left No. 8 wide open within 15 feet of the goal, a bad idea no matter the time.

"It's always tough to jump in in the middle of a game," Price said.

Martin explained that he pulled Halak because he was trying to swing the momentum in the game. Like Ovechkin said, it worked for the Capitals in Game 2 when Bruce Boudreau replaced an ineffective Jose Theodore with Semyon Varlamov.

It did not work for the Canadiens in Game 3.

"If you look at the first goal tonight, it's a shorthanded situation where they get a 2-on-1 and our defenseman backs into him and he doesn't have a chance," Martin said, explaining Boyd Gordon's goal off his own rebound just 1:06 into the second period. "I think he played a strong first game of the series and tonight he made some good saves in the first period when he had to. In the second when we lost our momentum they capitalized."

MONTREAL - Montreal Canadiens goaltender Jaroslav Halak is being depicted as Jesus Christ in one local newspaper, where he's seen sporting a Habs jersey and a goalie mask over flowing white robes.

In another paper, Halak has been drawn as an acrobat from the Cirque du soleil. Those editorial cartoons sum up the sentiments of a hockey-mad city eager for a miracle in the Habs' Game 7 tonight against the heavily favoured Washington Capitals.

Just getting a seat in a bar could be a challenge.

In fact, one pub in the city's trendy Plateau neighbourhood said it was no longer taking reservations for a table.

People with reservations will need to show up an hour before gametime and will lose their seats if they're not there precisely 60 minutes before the puck drops.

Such fanfare for a first-round series would once have been unthinkable in Montreal.

This is a city that celebrated seven Stanley Cup championships in 11 seasons between 1968-69 and 1978-79, but over the last decade-and-a-half it's become a rare occurrence for the Habs to make it past the first round.

Their hopes for advancing this year seemed lost until two outstanding performances from the goalie who started the season as a backup.

Le Journal de Montreal paid tribute to Halak today by superimposing his face, jersey and mask on a painting of Jesus surrounded by adoring apostles straining to touch his robes.

Jose Theodore doesn't appear to be in goal tonight after Semyon Varlamov came off the ice first at Kettler Iceplex during the morning skate. If the Caps lose Game 7 tonight this could be the unrestricted free agent's last night in a Washington uniform. He hasn't played since allowing two goals and two shots in the first period of Game 2. Even though this will be his fourth game on the bench, Theodore has had a pretty good view of Montreal goalie Jaroslav Halak and his 90-of-92 save efforts the past two games. The Caps have to solve him tonight if they are to keep the season alive. Easier said than done against a goalie clearly in a zone.

"Obviously, there's a lot of confidence. That's the first thing," Theodore said. "[Halak is] playing really well. He’s well positioned. And when a goalie is playing that well you just got to make sure you create a lot of traffic and bury those rebounds. There’s no secret. It seems on a clean shot you’re not going to score on him now so put traffic in front of him and usually that’s the winning recipe on any goalie that’s pretty hot."

Montreal goalie Jaroslav Halak faced 54 shots and saved 53 in a performance for the ages.

It was beautiful to watch. At times he faced three or four quick shots as the Caps buzzed around his net. He remained focused and bounced back so quick to get in a position to save the next shot.

Fans in the stands did the Mike Myers ‘we’re not worthy’ salute. Then when Washington finally scored the team’s only goal, fans jumped to their feet to give Halak a standing O.

I hope you watched the game as it will go down as one of the great all-time performances by a goalie. He now joins the likes of Ken Dryden and Patrick Roy.