Montreal Canadiens Blog

Heading into Ottawa tonight the Montreal Canadiens look to end their season series against the Sens on a high note, but if the past is any indication it might be a hard fought 60 minutes. The series has been more or less dominated by the skilled play of the Sens with them having won 5 out of the 7 previous games. Although, the last game was won by the Canadiens 7-5 (ironically), after a breakdown in the third period.

With the recent ailments of the Canadiens as of late, which will see Koivu and Komisarek will the rest of the regular season, Carbonneau has shifted the lines up and it seems that Sergei Kostisyn has found his way on to the second line Centering Chris Higgins, and Michael Ryder. We all know how well Higgins plays with S. Kostitsyn, perhaps it would light a fire under Ryder enough to get him scoring some goals on a more regular basis.

As expected Price will get the start, while the Sens have opted for Gerber, even after his not so astounding play in their last meeting. With a win, or even an overtime loss, the Montreal Canadiens would officially clinch the Northeast division.

Ottawa will be missing Cory Stillman who day-to-day with a leg injury, while Saku Koivu (foot), Mike Komisarek (hip), and Francic Bouillon (foot) will all be out for the Canadiens.

Team logos graciously provided by NHL Tournament of Logos.

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Mike Komisarek will return to the ice on Monday as he does some on ice training with the rest of the team before they jump on a bus and head to Ottawa for their game against the Sens tomorrow night.

Komisarek has been a huge player on a blueline, both mentally and physically, and many would argue that without him on the team, the playoffs are going to be a lot more difficult to succeed in.  Luckily, we don’t have to worry about that as Komisarek believes that he should be back to 100% by the playoffs, and that is exactly what I like to hear.

You can check out more on Komisarek here, as he mentions his injury, as well as the injuries of his teammates.

I haven’t done an update on the division clinch in a few days so I jsut thought that I would give you a quick update on that since we only have three games remaining.

As most of you are already aware, our only competition for the division is the Ottawa Senators, who are currently 6 points back, with equal games played. They can get a possible 6 points in their remaining three games which means they if they even lose one game, then we clinch the division. We, on the other hand, only need one point in order to clinch, so it’s almost a guarantee that we’re going to win this.

The Conference is a completely different situation. We’re currently only 1 point up on Pittsburgh who has one game played than we do, and they face the Rangers today which could put them ahead with three games remaining. The only way we can clinch the Eastern Conference at this point is if the Pittsburgh Penguins lose, atleast one game, until then a clinch can’t be achieved.

Clinch Division: 1 Pt
Clinch Conference: Undetermined

Not that we’ve ever done overly well against the Leafs in the ACC, but last night was especially terrible with a 4-2 loss to the Laffs. Our two goals were scored by Dandenault, and Kostopolous. Apparently our first three lines didn’t show up to last nights game. Both Anton Stralman, and Jiri Tlusty scored twice for the Leafs, and Toskala made 21 saves for a .913 save percentage, which slight underperformed that of Jaroslav Halak’s .918 save percentage. If this is a team game then the Habs need to get it together.

Last night’s game was riddled with bad penalty calls in my humble opinion, which included a 5 minute major, and a game misconduct to Ryan O’Byrne for an elbow to a crouching Jeremy Williams, who seemed to cut his face on the boards. The Habs will meet the leafs at Home next Saturday for the regular seasn finale, and let’s just hope that we bring our A-game and get a big win for themselves.

This loss may have also been side-effect of missing some key offensive and defensive players, such as Koivu, Streit, Komisarek, and O’Byrne. Not to mention that our backup goalie was in nets, but actually put down some great saves on bad defensive plays. Let’s hope that this is just an adjustment period for our lines especially our top line of Plekanec, Kostitsyn, and Kovalev who went scoreless.

Although Koivu finished last nights game against the Buffalo Sabres he might be out for a little longer than anyone had hoped, after blocking a shot only a couple of minutes into the first period. There isn’t much known about Koivu’s injury yet, but x-rays are scheduled for tomorrow when the team returns to Montreal.

There has been a lot of speculation regarding Koivu’s injury, but nothing will be known until tomorrow, so let’s not make a mountain out of a mole hill.

With the playoff hopes of the Toronto Maple Leafs officially gone, they’ll look to play spoiler as the Montreal Canadiens head into town for their first of two matchups remaining against these two teams. Game Day Post.

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If last nights game was any indication of how much the Habs really want 1st place in the Eastern Conference, then we truly do not have anything to worry about. Down 3-1 at one point in the third period, Plekanec has two sweet goals to take the game into OT, where Higgins took an excellent pass from Streit and burying it with only 1:22 left to play. Streit with three assists in this game didn’t get a game star but he sure as hell deserved one.

Nothing like a Habs comeback win to make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside. This win also put them back in first place in the East Conference, just one point ahead of the Pittsburgh Penguins with equal games played. Price had some excellent saves in the game, after letting in two in the second that could’ve ended this game for the Habs.

Grabovski is really coming into his own out their, and really finding his part on the ice. He uses his speed to get behind those defenders and make excellent plays in the offensive zone, assisting on the first goal by Kovalev. With only four games left to play we are number one in the East, sitting at 98 points, with one of the youngest teams in the league, how amazing is that.

The Habs may have clenched a playoff berth, but they are looking for something bigger. 1st seed in the Eastern Conference and home ice advantage in the playoffs. So far this year, the Sabres and Habs have split their games 3-3, but the last two were won by us with Huet in goal. Price also has some experience against the Sabres, winning the first game these two teams have played this season.

I won’t be making a normal Game Day Post today as I’ve come down with a wicked bad sickness, and I don’t have it in me.

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If you’re subscribed to the Montreal Canadiens newsletter, you would’ve already seen it, but for those who aren’t, here it is!

As some of you may already know, Guy Carbonneau was invited to a teleconference for North American and International media, talking about the Habs and their success this season. Here the transcript of that interview (Original from Habs Inside/Out).

This is really quite an interesting, but long, interview with Guy getting into some real detail with things such as the key to Habs success, and even his thoughts on the Patrick Roy situation.

THE MODERATOR: Good afternoon, everyone, I’m David Keon of the National Hockey League’s public relations department. Welcome to our call. With us we have Montreal Canadiens head coach, Guy Carbonneau. Thank you to Guy for taking the time to answer your questions.

In his second season as head coach, Guy has guided the Canadiens to the top record in the Eastern Conference with 96 points. With Monday’s 7?5 victory over the Ottawa Senators, Montreal has clinched a Stanley Cup record playoff berth for a record 76 times. He was coaching assistant with the Canadiens in November of 2000.

He served as an assistant manager in Dallas from January 2003 until January 2006 when he returned to Montreal as an associate coach. He spent the first 12 of his 18-year NHL playing career with the Canadiens, capturing two Stanley Cups and three Frank Selke trophies as the National Hockey League’s top defensive forward.

We thank Guy for taking the time today to answer your questions.

Q. Two quick questions: I was wondering if there was any particular game or trip during the season that you really think was essential for the team’s growth where you thought, maybe, this was more than just a playoff team, that they could win the conference?

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