New York 4 - Montreal 1

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Despite paying a hefty fee for the NHL Centre Ice package, Shaw Cable decided to show the game only on their Pay Per View channel today - I was not shelling out an extra $20!

To Shaw’s credit, it seems like they picked a good game to keep from me. The Habs were outshot 41-19 and outscored 4-1 by the New York Rangers, bringing to an end the seven game points streak for Montreal and the five game losing streak for the Rangers. The Canadiens were a lowly 1 for 8 on the powerplay, their only goal coming from Sergei Kostitsyn in the third period. Christobal Huet was pulled after the Rangers went into the second intermission with a 4-0 lead and Halak made 13 saves in the third period to keep New York to only four goals.

All in all not a good showing for the Habs. They’ve been looking great over the past month so I’m not going to worry too much about it - we’ll take avenge crosstown against the Islanders on Tuesday!

January 12 - New York Rangers

The Habs roll into Madison Square Garden in New York City to face the Rangers on the second game of this current four game road trip. The two teams met just before the New Year with the Rangers defeating Montreal in overtime 4-3.

The Rangers are in a hard spot at the moment, sporting a five game losing streak and not showing much improvement. The Canadiens, on the other hand, are flying high; 5-0-2 in their last seven games, on a two game winning streak and very hot on the road.

I’m predicting a 4-1 win for the Habs in this one.

Patrick Roy’s Retirement

A complete video of the presentation given in Colorado to retire Roy’s number 33. Highlights include highlight reels, a speech by Patrick himself and the raising of the ceremonial jersey banner. It may have all taken place in the past but the video can still bring a tear to my eye. Patrick was and will always remain the greatest goaltender to ever don a jersey in the National Hockey League.

Montreal 5 - Boston 2

The Canadiens came out strong in Boston tonight with Huet making a few big saves early and the Habs controlling the puck a great deal of the time. The effort paid off big time midway through the period when Thomas Plekanec and Maxim Lapierre scored 54 seconds apart to put Montreal up 2-0. The Bruins put up little fight for the remainder of the period and the score held going into the intermission.

The second period opened with the same Canadiens domination and Alex Kovalev fired the second Montreal powerplay goal of the night past Bruins goalie Tim Thomas to put the Habs up 3-0. Boston quickly turned things around though, and Kovalev’s goal was answered only a minute later by Boston’s Ward, cutting the lead to 3-1. The Bruins weren’t able to muster another goal in the second period but they did continue to control the play and the Canadiens were very much on their heels heading into the third.

Lucic put the Bruins within a goal by cutting the Habs’ lead to 3-2 only 2:01 into the third period and Boston took advantage of the change in momentum to continue the attack and earn a chance at a powerplay. Zdeno Chara came within inches of tying the game at 3 when he missed a wide open net during that powerplay and the game’s intensity increased even more. An already rough game turned rougher and a few cheap shots were thrown. Mattheiu Dandenault, who had been pointless in his last 13 games, put two quick goals in the net for the Habs towards the end of the third and they secured a 5-2 win over the Bruins to start this road trip.

GAME NOTES: Mike Komisarek played exceptionally well, blocking shots, taking shots, throwing hits and bring an all-around great defensemen. The Habs have beaten the Bruins in their last 8 meetings; the all time record between the clubs is 9.

January 10 - Boston Bruins

The Habs roll into Boston today to start off a 4 game road trip that will take them as far south as Atlanta before returning home to face off against Pittsburgh on January 19th. Montreal has beaten Boston in their last 7 games and the Habs will be looking to continue that streak as they battle for points in the very congested Eastern Conference.

The Habs are 4-0-2 in their last six games with a powerful offense suddenly taking shape; two games against Boston this season resulted in 6 and 7 goals for the Canadiens, including a 7-4 win in which they blasted Bruins goalie Tim Thomas with 52 shots.

With Carey Price playing in Hamilton for the moment Christobal Huet will be starting in net; he had a fairly strong game against Chicago in the Canadiens’ 4-3 overtime win on Tuesday.

I’m predicting a 5-3 win for Montreal ?

Montreal 4 - Chicago 3 (OT)

The Canadiens opened the scoring early with Saku Koivu scoring a beauty from the side of the net early in a first period largely controlled by Montreal. Chicago evened the score little more than a minute later, however, as Jack Skille netted his first career NHL goal for the Blackhawks. Fresh from an 11 game break due to injury, Patrice Brisebois put the Habs back on top with a powerplay goal from the point late in the period.

The Blackhawks stormed back quickly in the second period, scoring goals only 18 seconds apart on Christobal Huet to take a quick 3-2 lead; Robert Lang and Chris Versteeg took the credit. Midway through the period Canadiens All-Star starter Andrei Markov proved that he belonged on the All-Star starting lineup as he nabbed his 11th of the year on a Montreal powerplay from the point, tying the game at 3 going into the second intermission.

The third period saw a lot of grinding along the boards and some fantastic goaltending by both Patrick Lalime and Huet, and neither team was able to score a goal. The game went into overtime, a place the Habs rarely shine.

There were several big chances early in OT including a Blackhawks shot that got away from Huet and sat on an empty crease until Roman Hamrlik was able to deftly clear, saving a goal. Only seconds later Maxim Lapierre flew down the wing and placed a perfect pass onto the stick of a streaking Latendresse. The young Hab was able to tuck the puck past Lalime, giving Montreal only their eighth home win and putting them over .500 at the Bell Centre for the first time this season.

GAME NOTES: Brisebois looked great in his first game back, netting a goal and doing a great job on the blue line. He played well, but Andrei Kostitsyn saw his point streak end tonight; brother Sergei earned as assist on the Koivu goal.

Markov Voted All-Star Starter

The starting lines for the 2008 NHL All-Star Game in Atlanta have been announced that out very own breakout defensemen Andrei Markov will be starting for the Eastern Conference! Markov is the only first-time All-Star on the roster this year, making his 316,136 votes a major achievement. Only Sidney Crosby amassed more votes in the East with 507,274.

The 2008 NHL All-Star game takes place in Atlanta, Georgia on January 27th at 6 PM EST.

January 8 - Chicago Blackhawks

As part of the advance celebrations marking the Montreal Canadiens’ centennial on December 4, 2009, a commemorative pre-game ceremony will be held at the Bell Centre on Tuesday, January 8 to salute 82 seasons of rivalry between the Habs and the Chicago Blackhawks.

For this occasion, several of the greatest players who ever wore Canadiens and Hawks jerseys, and who were at the heart of the notorious confrontations between both clubs, will be invited to centre ice, where a video montage showing the most memorable moments during the two teams’ match-ups will be shown on the central scoreboard screen. All fans attending the Bell Centre game will receive a free souvenir program highlighting the greatest moments of this exciting rivalry and its unforgettable participants.

Former Blackhawks legends who have confirmed their presence at this historic evening include: the spectacular Bobby Hull (1957-1972), better known as the Golden Jet, who had five NHL seasons in which he scored 50 goals or more, totaled 1,170 points, including 610 goals; Tony Esposito (1969-1984), winner of the Calder and Vezina trophies and still the only NHL goalie to record 15 shutouts in one season (1969-1970), and Stan Mikita (1958-1980), a five-time All-Star team member, a four-time NHL scoring leader and two-time winner of the Hart Trophy.

Meanwhile, among the Canadiens legends attending the event are Guy Lafleur (1971-1984), five-time winner of the Stanley Cup and author of 1,246 points, including 518 goals and a host of individual honors, Henri Richard (1955-1975), one the 12 former Habs to have won the Stanley Cup for five straight seasons and responsible for the famous goal that allowed Montreal to win the Stanley Cup during the seventh game of the final against Chicago in 1971, and Yvan Cournoyer (1963-1979), Canadiens captain from 1975 to 1979 and 1973 Stanley Cup hero, scoring the winning goal against Chicago, two-time winner of the Conn Smythe Trophy with 25 points including 15 playoff goals.

Next season, to mark the 100th season of the Montreal Canadiens, the New York Rangers and the Toronto Maple Leafs will be part of commemorative ceremonies to celebrate the greatest moments of their rivalries with the Canadiens and other NHL’s original six teams.

Washington 5 - Montreal 4 (OT)

The Canadiens met the Washington Capitals for the first time since beating them 5-2 in DC on December 20th and they came prepared for Ovechkin and company. The Habs opened scoring the first with a powerplay goal by Tomas Plekanec off of a crisp pass from Alexi Kovalev and continued to skate hard for the rest of the period. Oleg Kolzig played well, keeping the score at 1-0 going into the first intermission.

The Habs’ newest young superstar, Andrei Kostitsyn, buried his fourth goal in three games after dancing around three Caps defensemen to launch a snapshot over the blocker of Kolzig, putting the Canadiens up 2-0 only minutes into the second period. Only minutes later Alex Ovechkin ripped a wrist shot off of a clean faceoff win in the Canadiens zone over the shoulder of Carey Price, who appeared to be screened. Niklas Backstrom added another Caps goal only 3 minutes and 22 seconds later, beating Price on a 2-on-1 and evening the score at 2 goals apiece.

To Price’s credit he made a few big saves before and after the second Washington goal, taking the Habs safely through their third and fourth penalty kill of the game to keep the game tied; standout defensemen Mike Komisarek threw all the right hits to keep the Caps shotless during the latter. Only seconds later though, the Caps’ Gordon blasted a long slapshot past Carey Price on his glove side, putting Washington up 3-2 with their three unanswered second period goals.

Roman Hamrlik answered the Caps early in the third period on a deflection from the boards, tying the game at 3 goals for each side. The Habs went to the powerplay early, setting up a few decent chances but not putting it home. Ovechkin, the penalized player, jumped out of the box to put his second goal past Carey Price, putting the Caps up 4-3 with 13 minutes left to play in the third period. The Canadiens upped the pressure until 8:34 in the period when Alex Kovalev walked over the blue line and fired a wrist shot past Kolzig to tie the game at 4.

Into overtime we went and it wasn’t a minute and a half in before Washington’s Mike Green finished the game, giving the Caps the win 5-4.

GAME NOTES: I love Carey Price, but he looked soft on at least 3 of the goals in regulation. I’ll be looking forward to seeing Huet against Chicago on Tuesday. Andrei Kostitsyn scored another goal, continuing his three game scoring streak by making it 4 goals in his last three games.

January 5 - Washington Capitals

We’ve been horrible at home this year and, especially considering the renewed offensive effort of late, you can bet that the Montreal Canadiens are hoping for better things to come at the Bell Centre after a 6-3 pounding of the Tampa Bay Lightning there this past Thursday.

The Habs have been hot lately, coming off of a very successful road trip and following that up with the win at home. Christobal Huet has been playing well, Michael Ryder has broken his scoring slump and Andrei Kostitsyn is suddenly a powerhouse on the wing. While Ovechkin and company looked very good in their 4 point home-and-home roll over the Eastern Conference leading Ottawa Senators, they have lost their last four meetings against the Habs.

Guy Carbonneau hasn’t made the goaltending start public yet and my original prediction that Carey Price would get the start tonight could be off given Huet’s hot streak – he is 4-0-3 in his last 7 starts.

The Caps are going to be hungry for goals after being shutout against Boston on Friday night but I think they Habs have what it takes to power over them once again. I predict a 5-3 Canadiens win with Huet in the net, 5-2 with Price

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