Montreal 4 - Philadelphia 1

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The Habs looked a little weak starting out in the first period but a few nice saves by Carey Price and an early Philadelphia penalty seemed to give them the boost they needed early. Chris Higgins put the Canadiens up 1-0 on a beautiful pass from Andrei Markov on the powerplay, throwing the puck into an open net. Montreal continued to dominate the Flyers throughout the period, generating several good scoring chances and keeping Philly on the defensive. Another powerplay to close the period saw Markov put a shot from the point off of the post but no goal materialized.

First Period Notes: Carey Price looked even more confident then usual and his puck handling in particular showed a 100% improvement over the clumsy and sometimes dangerous puck plays that he has been making.

Montreal opened the second period with a bang, scoring only 21 seconds in. Thomas Plekanec lead a quick 2-man rush and put an accurate pass onto the stick of Andrei Kostitsyn, who was able to quickly tap the puck into the Flyers net. A couple of Habs’ powerplays followed and Mark Streit was able to capitalize on a pass from Kovalev during the second period to put the Canadiens up 3-0 with a goal that looked very similar to the two that came before it. Only five minutes later Mark Streit put his second goal in the net on another pass to the crease, this time from KOSTOPOLOUS – the Habs found themselves with a four goal lead, a potential shutout and a probable win for the first time in 6 games.

Second Period Notes: Until the double minor late in the period, the Habs were able to keep the Flyers from drawing a penalty. This careful play still allowed them to be aggressive – obviously a preferred style.

The Canadiens luck turned shortly after as the Flyers capitalized on their first powerplay of the game to cut the Habs’ lead to 4-1. An accidental high stick was committed shortly after and a cut on the victim’s nose sent Kyle Chipchurra to the box for 4 minutes with only 3 left in the period. The Habs’ defense and Carey Price (and a goal post) did a good job of killing the penalty for the first two minutes before Roman Hamrlik shoved a Flyer down AFTER a whistle. The referee called the offense immediately and the Flyers had a two-man advantage for the last minute of the second period and nearly another full minute in the third.

A solid presence in the net and some great clearing efforts by Saku Koivu helped the Habs kill off the two-man advantage only to have O’Birn penalized for holding moments after. Price held his ground in net to kill that penalty as well, maintaining the Canadiens’ three goal lead. Philadelphia controlled the majority of the period, keeping the Canadiens on the defensive. The Habs’ looked great on the backcheck though and they held the Flyers at bay with a few solid saves from Price, ending the game with a 4-1 win.

My Thoughts

This is what we know we can play like in Montreal. Carey Price was able to shine with some help in front and huge efforts from Markov, Streit and Kovalev made all the difference for offense. If the Habs played this well every night they would not lose often. Price sets a nice tone after suffering some shaky goals during the Canadiens recent run and with Huet on his way back, there is obviously an expectation in Montreal that both goaltenders perform to the absolute best of their abilities. There are trade rumors in Montreal that mention names like Koivu and Huet himself so expect Christobal to be strong in the net if he starts against Toronto on Saturday.