Montreal 3 - New York 1

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The Habs came into Uniondale having lost its first regulation game in a long while to the Rangers and they were out for blood. Or they should have been.

The first period was pretty low energy from both teams but the Habs held the edge and Thomas Plekanec gave Montreal a 1-0 lead on a wrist shot over the shoulder of DiPietro in the Islanders net. The Islanders were badly outshot in the first period, not managing one shot for the last 15 minutes of the period.

New York came on with a little more strength in the second period but Christobal Huet shut the door when necessary, keeping the game scoreless. Thomas Plekanec netted his second goal of the game while the Islanders were on a powerplay looking to even the score, throwing another wrist shot on a great fake move.

The Islanders continued their mediocre pressure and did finally manage a goal when New York’s Park managed to stuff a rebound past Huet. That’s as far as the Islanders would get though as Alex Kovalev scored a late empty netter to seal the deal for the Habs.

GAME NOTES: Carey Price let in 7 goals on 31 shots in Hamilton on Tuesday, continuing his very shaky run.

New York 4 - Montreal 1

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!

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.

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.

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.

Montreal 6 - Tampa Bay 3

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.

Toronto 4 - Atlanta 0

The surprises continue out of Toronto as the Maple Leafs won a commanding shutout victory over the Atlanta Thrashers in Georgia tonight. The Leafs peppered the Atlanta net with 35 shots and Toronto goaltender Vesa Toskala made numerous key saves, earning a well deserved 2 points for his time and shutout for himself.

The Maples Leafs head into Montreal tomorrow night with a rare two game winning streak on the go.

Calgary 4 - Carolina 3

The Flames and ‘Canes traded goals back and forth before Calgary was able to nab the game winning goal as Phaneuf scored at even strength at 11:48 in the third period. Phaneuf grabbed an assist and Jerome Iginla scored his 21st goal of the season.

Buffalo 5 - Washington 3

Oleg Kolzig and the Caps put up a valient effort but the Buffalo Sabres were able to score with five minutes remaining in the third to take a 4-3 lead over Washington before adding an empty netter to seal the deal.

The Sabres have won their last two and are 6-4-0 in their last 10 while the Capitals are 5-4-1.

Carolina 4 - New York Rangers 0

Cam Ward notched his second shutout of the season as Corey Stillman recorded two goals to help the Carolina Hurricanes defeat the New York Ranger 4-0. This win comes only two days after a brutal 8-1 loss to Buffalo on Saturday night, the beginning of what looked to be a very long 5-game road trip.

The Rangers looked sleepy through this one, nothing at all like the team who beat the Eastern Conference leading Ottawa Senators 5-2 on Saturday. With this loss the Rangers continue to lag 2 points behind the Sens in the standings.

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