January 31 - Washington Capitals

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The Habs stroll into DC this afternoon to play the second game of a home-and-home with the Washington Capitals after taking the Caps down 4-0 this past Tuesday. With all four Canadiens lines functioning well and Christobal Huet looking very sharp in goal, Montreal will look to capture a season-high fourth straight win.

Montreal 4 - Washington 0

The Canadiens welcomed the Washington Capitals to the Bell Centre on Tuesday and worked some first period magic that is almost typical of them of late. Mark Streit, Saku Koivu and Sergei Kostitsyn all scored in the first period and Alex Kovalev added another in the third to put the Habs up 4-0 at the end of regulation. Christobal Huet was very sharp and made 35 saves on the way to his second shutout of the season.

January 29 - Washington Capitals

The Canadiens begin the post-All-Star portion of the season in a dead heat in the very crowded Eastern Conference and only six points behind Ottawa - with a game in hand. Every game counts, especially those played against teams with far lower rankings.

The Washington Capitals have other ideas though, and they will be trying mightily to take at least 2 points from this home-and-home series with the Habs. These two games will be the last time the teams meet in the regular season.

Montreal 4 - New Jersey 3

The Habs looked down and out tonight in New Jersey going into the third period with a 3-1 deficit but the squad came through with flying colours to beat the Devils 4-3 in regulation.

Patrik Elias opened the scoring with a powerplay goal 12:18 into the first period to put the Devils up 1-0 going into the intermission; New Jersey outshot Montreal 6-3 in the first 20 minutes.

The second period saw Elias earn his second goal of the night on three and a half minutes into the period to give the Devils 2-0 lead. Bryan Smolinski batted a loose puck in to cut the lead to 2-1 only to have Jamie Langenbruner end the second period with his first of the night to put Jersey up a fairly comfortable 3-1 in the second intermission.

After outshooting the Devils 9-4 in the second period, the Canadiens really came alive in the third. Smolinski netted his second of the game only 29 seconds into the period to cut the lead to 3-2 and the Habs mounted the pressure, completely controlling the flow and leaving the fate of the Devils in the hands of Martin Brodeur. Ten minutes of persistence paid off when Saku Koivu batted a slapshot by Mike Komisarak past Brodeur to tie the game at three goals apiece. The Devils began to fall apart, failing to clear their zone and taking a series of penalties; Chris Higgins scored the game winner only three minutes after Koivu’s tying goal on the powerplay.

GAME NOTES: The Canadiens outshot the Devils 20-3 in the third period and 32-13 overall.

January 24 - New Jersey Devils

With their 8-2 win over Boston on Tuesday night, the Montreal Canadiens continued their complete domination of the Bruins; 6-0-0 this season, nine wins in a row total. The New Jersey Devils are a whole other story though, winning their last nine games against the Habs. Martin Brodeur, who will start tomorrow night, has a 5-0-0 record against Montreal in his past five starts with a – get this – 0.79 goals against average.

Montreal sits only 6 points back of Northeast Division leader Ottawa with a game in hand, so now is the time to break this nasty streak. The Devils are currently leading their division with 59 points and they are coming off of a big win of their own, 7-3 over Philadelpia on Tuesday, so the offensive onslaught is likely to conintue, leaving the game in the hands of Brodeur and Christobal Huet.

Montreal 8 - Boston 2

The absolute dominance of the Montreal Canadiens over the Boston Bruins continued tonight at the Bell Centre as the Habs delivered an 8-2 stomping of their division rivals, extending their overall winning streak against Boston to nine games with a 6-0-0 record against them this season.

The first period opened with a nifty scrum goal by Tom Kostopolous only 14 seconds in and things just got worse for the Bruins from there. Michael Ryder made it 2-0 a few minutes later but Boston looked to keep things close with a goal from Marco Sturm to make it 2-1. Andrei Kostitsyn put the Habs up 3-1 and Maxim Lapierre put a wrist shot into the top corner over Boston starter Alex Auld with 3 seconds left in the first period to put Montreal up 4-1.

Auld was replaced by NHL goals-against-average leader Tim Thomas in the second period but the Habs’ onslaught continued. Bryan Smolinski gave the Habs a 5-1 lead 5:45 into the period and Mike Komisarak put a beautiful snapshot past Thomas less than two minutes later to extend the lead to 6-1 going into the third period.

The Bruins added some pressure coming into the third but Christobal Huet stood strong in his net, turning away several prime opportunities and looking as sharp as ever. Alex Kovalev put a slap shot off of the leg of a Boston defenseman on the powerplay to make it 7-1 before Boston was able to put a powerplay goal of their own home to cut the lead to 7-2. Andrei Kostitsyn took a beautiful pass from brother Sergei with 2:16 remaining to put the Canadiens up 8-2, and that’s where it ended.

GAME NOTES: Lots of notes tonight! 13 different Habs had a point. Andrei Kostitsyn had three points (2G, 1A).  Sergei Kostitsyn had his first NHL fight and added 2 assists. Christobal Huet stopped 29 shots; Boston actually outshot Montreal 31-24. Alex Auld let in 4 goals on only 7 shots in the first period.

With Ottawa’s 5-3 loss to Florida tonight the Habs are within 6 points of them. New Jersey’s win in Philly puts the Canadiens at 5th place in the Eastern Conference. Next game is in New Jersey on Thursday.

Alex Kovalev Warrior Commercial

This promotional shoot for the Warrior brand of hockey stick has Alex Kovalev showing off some unfathomable stickhandling and shooting skills.

Brisebois Sidelined Again

Patrice Brisebois underwent an MRI yesterday that found two breaks in the defenseman’s left foot. Breezer skated with the team this morning but will obviously miss tonight’s game and a few more at the least while he recovers.

The Numbers Game

From Canadiens.com

Here’s a numerical look at the Canadiens-Penguins game on Saturday night at the Bell Centre.

7 - Consecutive number of the games the Canadiens have now allowed under 30 shots. Montreal is 4-2-1 in those games.

5 - Game-high number of blocked shots by Francis Bouillon.

67 - Maxim Lapierre’s faceoff percentage on Saturday night to lead all Habs centers on his way to raising his season average to 50.2 %.

5 - Game-high number of shots registered by Christopher Higgins who continues to lead the team with 148 shots on the season.

26 - Number of candles now birthday boy Mike Komisarek will blow out tonight.

6 - Game-high number of hits thrown by former Penguins forward Tom Kostopoulos, tying him with teammate Komisarek on the night.

14 - Number of games the Canadiens’ second-ranked power-play has failed to score at least one goal in 2007-08. Montreal is 5-6-3 in those contests.

January 22 - Boston Bruins

The Habs may be playing below-par at home in Montreal this season but that doesn’t seem to matter against the Boston Bruins. The Canadiens followed up a successful 3-1 road trip with yet another loss at home on Saturday as they fell to the Pittsburgh Penguins 2-0, dropping them to .500 at the Bell Centre with an 8-8-5 home record – the lowest amount of home wins in the National Hockey League.

The Bruins, on the other hand, have been on quite a streak, going 3-0-1 in their last four games. They’ve been beaten by Montreal in their last 8 meetings though, including 5 games this season, 2 of them in Montreal. There is no telling where this lopsided dominance comes from but it is very apparent as Montreal has outscored Boston 24-8 in their 5 clashes this season, including 8-1 in first period goals.

The Eastern Conference is a tight race and the Canadiens have dropped to 6^th place, 3 points ahead of 7^th place Boston. A win for Montreal and a few necessary losses for Philly, Pittsburgh and New Jersey could put us back in fourth – a loss sets a dangerous tone in this second half of the season.

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