Montreal 6 - Tampa Bay 3

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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.

What Would You Do For Vinny?

Let me start off by saying that this post is full of speculation and wishful thinking! While the Montreal media went through a frenzy when the rumour that Vincent Lecavalier would like to play for the Habs late in 2007, things never went any further and no official talk came from the Habs and the Lightning. Before I commit to calling the dream of Vinny in Montreal wishful thinking, let’s break down the potential specifics.

Would Tampa Bay part with him? Given that Lecavalier is the leading points scorer in the NHL at the moment, one would assume that the Lightning would either be unwilling to trade or would want such a high price tag that we simply wouldn’t bite. But, being that Tampa is floating in last place in the Eastern Conference at the moment, maybe there is a chance that they would trade in order to fix their goaltending woes.

What would we have to trade? Given the goaltending situation in Tampa, Huet would be a good starter. Throw in an all-star forward (Koivu, anyone?) and we may just have a deal. The questions from the Montreal end of things:

- Is Carey Price ready to take over as a true number one? Sometimes he looks like it, other times not so much. Halak has the potential to be a star backup and that is important to remember.

- While we all love Saku, he just hasn’t been living up to expectations lately (save for the past few games). He is a star centre and a great playmaker, but he isn’t the high scoring front man that we need.

The real question for the readers is, assuming Tampa were open to negotiations, who would you trade for Vinny?

Habs All-Star Voting

Just a reminder to all of you Canadiens fans out there that there is still ample time to vote (often!) for the three guys we have in contention at the moment.

Andrei Markov currently leads all defensemen in the Eastern Conference with 282,336 votes, nearly 50,000 votes ahead of second place Zdeno Chara of Boston.

Christobal Huet ranks third for goalies in the East with 154,198 votes, only a few hundred votes from second place Henrik Lundqvist; Martin Brodeur tops the category with just over 185,000 votes.

Finally we have Saku Koivu ranked 8th among forwards with 103,395 and Alex Kovalev, a write-in candidate, in 12th position in the same category with 62,557 votes.

The All-Star game is in less than a month so get those votes in!

January 3 - Tampa Bay Lightning

With the six-game road trip that the Canadiens just finished, they haven’t played at home since December 18th; that was a 3-2 loss to Florida. The Habs are 1-5-2 in their last 8 games at home and, while we remain strong on the road, the Bell Centre streak doesn’t seem to be improving.

Montreal faces Tampa Bay at home on Thursday night. The Lightning have lost 8 of their past 9 games and the Habs are 1-0-1 against them this season. After obtaining 8 of 12 possible points on the road trip, Montreal is flying on a high note right now.

Huet looks to be getting the start (I expect Price will go up against Washington on Saturday night – rumour has it that they will be starting their second line goalie as well) and, while he hasn’t exactly been on fire, he has been solid for the most part in the past few games.

I personally predict a 4-2 Canadiens win

Brisebois Almost Back

With the Habs on a roll through their just-ended 6 game road trip, talk of injuries has been on the backburner. While there are no serious scratches, defensemen Patrice Brisebois has been out since December 10th with a shoulder injury, Bryan Smolinski has been out since December 6th with a knee strain, Steve Begin has been out since December with a shoulder injury and rookie Brian O’Byrne will be out for another two weeks with a broken thumb.

Head coach Guy Carbonneau doesn’t want to rush these players back into the lineup despite Brisebois being at the ready as of this morning. Given the Canadiens recent success, I think he’s making the right move. Expect to see Brisebois back in action on Saturday against the Capitals.

New York 4 - Montreal 3 (OT)

Coming off of two straight big wins isn’t something the Canadiens get to do often and there was much speculation that the Habs would lose their momentum going into New York tonight simply because 3 wins in a row was too much to ask for. Well, while the Canadiens did walk away with a 4-3 loss in overtime, it certainly wasn’t due to lack of effort. After going down 1-0 on a Rangers goal by Daniel Girardi, Andrei Kostitsyn tied things up with a powerplay goal. Jaromir Jagr sent the Rangers up 2-1 before the end of the first.

The second period was all Canadiens with Kostitsyn scoring his second powerplay goal of the game early and Thomas Plekanec firing another in on a delayed Ranger penalty. The Habs proceeded to shut things down, playing a neutral zone trap that kept New York to only one shot in the second.

Things proceeded much the same going into the third with Montreal keeping the Rangers at bay until about 7 minutes left; a bad angle shot that traveled over Huet’s shoulder and hit the crossbar and post was believed to be in only to be called off by the goal judges as the puck never actually went into the net. While the goal didn’t count it did get the Rangers fired up and they scored on a scramble in front of the Montreal net only 2 minutes later to tie things up. The game went to overtime where Brendon Shanahan was able to lift a wrist shot over Huet on a breakaway 66 seconds in.

GAME NOTES: Corey Locke, called up from Hamilton, was caught in traffic and unable to make it to his first career NHL game. Ryder, while not coming up with a point, did look much improved both offensively and defensively. Andrei Kostitsyn scored two goals on the powerplay and added an assist; Thomas Plekanec scored one goal and assisted on two others. Alex Kovalev assisted on both Kostitsyn goals.

Montreal 5 - Florida 1

Playing two games in as many days is not usually something to look forward to and Montreal hasn’t had the best luck against the Panthers as of late. Winning streaks aren’t the norm for the Habs and even two in a row is too much to ask for some of the time. Despite these odds the Canadiens proved the strength that lies beneath their sometimes lackluster play, scoring three goals in the first 5:03 of the first period. First Latendresse tapped a pass from behind the net in; Saku Koivu, suffering from the flu, offered that pass up. Michael Ryder, in a 15 game scoring slump and the current shame of the Montreal media, scored 4:50 in with a beautiful give-and-go with Chris Higgins to end his statistical slump and put his team up 2-0. Only 13 seconds later Higgins flew down the wing to launch a wrist shot over the shoulder of Voukon to make the score 3-0 after only 5 minutes. The Canadiens continued to control play for the most part throughout the first period without scoring another goal on Voukon’s replacement, Craig Anderson.

The second period saw the Panthers come out with a renewed fury, peppering Christobal Huet with shot after shot. Huet came up big in the net, holding Florida off long enough to see Tom Kostopolous slide a backhander through the legs of Voukon, who had returned for the beginning of the second period. That period ended with the Habs up 4-0.

Florida continued to test Huet in the third, adding some over-aggressive play into the mix. In between fights Ollie Jokinen beat Huet late in the third, ruining the well-deserved shutout, but Mark Streit got that one back on the powerplay shortly after. The game ended at 5-1; the Canadiens now have 44 points and sit at second in their division and fourth in the Eastern Conference.

GAME NOTES: Chris Higgins finished with 3 points (1 goal, 2 assists). Michael Ryder ended his scoring slump with a first period goal. Francis Boullion left in the second period after blocking a shot with his upper chest. Huet finished the game with a very impressive 40 saves on 41 shots.

Montreal 5 - Tampa Bay 2

The Canadiens came out looking like the team they did in October, shrugging off their last game loss to Dallas and storming over the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-2 on the road tonight. Montreal opened the scoring with a 2-on-1 goal from Lapierre followed by a goal following a strong rush from Latendresse; both first period goals were at even strength. Christobal Huet wasn’t challenged often in the first but he held the game scoreless when the Lightning opened the game by virtually controlling the first six minutes.

Alex Kovalev scored a goal only ten seconds into the second period to put the Habs up 3-0 and Tampa coach John Tortorella immediately pulled Johan Holmqvist from the Lightning net and replaced him with Finnish up-and-comer Karri Ramo; the pull was Holmquist’s fourth in his last five starts. Ramo looked good as he guided the Lightning out of the second period, making several key saves to keep the score 3-0.

The Canadiens continued their offensive rampage in the third with Andrei Markov netting a powerplay goal from the blue line with Andrei Kostitsyn following up with another 2-on-1 goal only 24 seconds later to put Montreal up 5-0. Vinny Prospal ruined Huet’s shutout bid about halfway through the third and Jan Hlavac netted another with one minute remaining the further cut the lead but Montreal walked out of the building with a seemingly easy win.

GAME NOTES: While he wasn’t tested often Huet looked strong throughout the game, continuing the raise the question of who the number one goalie in Montreal really is. Lapierre’s goal tonight was his first of the season. With losses for many mid-range Eastern Conference contenders over the past couple of days Montreal has moved up to the 4th spot.

Atlanta 3 - Montreal 2 (SO)

The Habs actually came out looking like they wanted to win for once, badly outshooting Atlanta most of the game and notching a couple of key goals. The Thrashers lost a 1-0 lead in the first and a 2-1 lead in the third with Sergei Kostitsyn and Alex Kovalev notching the Canadiens goals.

The game went to a scoreless overtime followed by the Habs attempting to steal the extra point with Huet in nets during a shootout. While he looked mostly solid throughout the game Huet expectedly looked very bad during the shootout, letting in both of the first two shots and dropping the game 3-2 to Atlanta.

Obviously Huet isn’t to take 100% of the blame for the loss but I’ll say this: I’m confident that we would have walked away from that game with 2 points if Carey Price had have started. Here’s hoping he gets the start in Dallas tomorrow.

Montreal 5 - Washington 2

The Habs got off to their typical slow start in Washington tonight, being outshot badly through the first few minutes of the game. On only their third shot and with only a few minutes remaining in the first, Saku Koivu put a perfect pass onto the blade of Latendresse from behind the net of Olie Kolzig to put the Canadiens up 1-0 going into the first intermission.

The second period didn’t look much better from Montreal’s bench with the Capitals continuing to dominate time on the attack and shots on goal, but Huet stood very strong in his injury return, maintaining the Montreal lead throughout the first half of the period. An odd-man rush lead by Alex Kovalev at about the 10 minutes mark saw him put a crisp pass to Plekanec who was left with a wide open net. Despite the state of the net, Plekanec missed the net entirely and had a prayer answered when goaltender Olie Kolzig turned to have the badly aimed shot redirect into the net and the Habs had a 2-0 lead. Youngster Nicholas Sundstrom put a puck over Huet during a Washington powerplay only a couple of minutes later to cut the lead to 2-1. Latendresse put a beautifully aimed wrist shot past Kolzig with only 2 minutes left in the second, grabbing his second goal of the game and giving the Habs a 3-1 lead with the third period looming.

Despite the scoring of the previous two periods, the Habs looked much more lively in the third. They took a 4-1 lead on the powerplay about midway through when Sergei Kostsitsyn tapped in his first ever NHL goal off of another great Kovalev pass. Washington responded only 34 seconds later when Alexander Semin ripped a wrist shot high over Huet’s shoulder but Mark Streit gave the Habs a three goal lead once again when he finished a Kyle Chipchura shot to put Montreal all up 5-2 and helping the Canadiens to their third win in four games.

GAME NOTES: The Habs were great on the powerplay and even scored a couple of goals at even-strength but they were still badly outshot, 37-21 in this case. Huet played wonderfully in his first game back since suffering a back pull and made several key saves throughout the game. Segei Kostsitsyn notched his first NHL goal and brother Andrei earned an assist on Plekanec’s goal.

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