Montreal 6 - Tampa Bay 3
January 3, 2008
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I have to open this recap with the fact that Michael Ryder scored two goals and added an assist to make it a three point night! After such a terrible streak and the loss of confidence that followed, it’s good to see my favorite Newfoundland born Hab get back on track.
The Canadiens took a 1-0 lead midway through the first on a powerplay goal by Chris Higgins and made it 2-0 before the end of the period on yet another powerplay goal by Alex Kovalev. Tampa looked strong however, and Kari Ramo made several key saves to keep the lead at only 2 goals.
The second period opened with Vincent Lecavilier coming in on a breakaway and Huet turning to stone as Vinny put the biscuit between his legs. To his credit Huet looked very sharp for the remainder of the game but this lack of confidence on breakaways and shootouts needs to change! Michael Ryder came in on a wing and put a nice wrist shot into the net to put the Habs up 3-1 before Martin St. Louis put a powerplay goal home minutes later to cut the lead back to a single goal. Only two minutes after that Vincent Prospel put another one in the net for Tampa to tie the game 3-3 going into the third.
After playing nearly eight minutes with very little on-the-net action in the third Andrei Kostitsyn flew down the left wing on Kari Ramo and rocketed a slapshot into his shoulder and into the net to put Montreal up by a goal. This time, rather than blow the lead for the third time, Kyle Chipchura put the puck in an empty net after Tomas Plekanec fired a crisp pass onto his stick across the crease. Ryder sealed the deal with just under 3 minutes on another beautiful feed from Chris Higgins, scoring his second and putting the Habs up 6-3 to end the game.
GAME NOTES: Ryder again! 4 points in the last two games including three goals after going 15 games without a goal and 13 without a point. Huet, beyond the sloppy breakaway goal, was sharp throughout, making 30 saves.
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