Blogging About The Montreal Canadiens and Canadiens Hockey

It’s safe to say that Andrei Markov is the biggest impact player on this team. Since his return the Canadiens have lost just one game and he’s averaging just over a point per game with 3 goals and 8 assists in 8 games. Three of those assists came in last nights 5-4 win over the Florida Panthers.

Goals in the win came from Hal Gill, Mike Cammalleri, Tomas Plekanec, Marc-Andre Bergeron and Benoit Pouliot.

Halak managed 32 of 36 saves for an .888 save percentage.

You should follow me on twitter here.

As we’ve seen in the past games between these two teams are generally close, and tonight was no exception with the Montreal Canadiens winning in overtime with a score of 3-2.

Goals came from Scott Gomez, Tomas Plekanec and Andrei Kostitsyn with the OT winner. Andrei Markov had two assists while Mike Cammalleri added one assist of his own.

Jaroslav Halak had yet another outstanding outing stopping 47 of 49 shots to give him a .959 save percentage. This records Halak’s 4th win in a row and gives the Canadiens the 2 points that they needed to spring ahead of both the Atlanta Thrashers and New York Rangers who both have 40 points.

With the assist tonight, Andrei Markov has 6 points in the 5 games that he has played this season. Just imagine if he didn’t get injured…The sky is the limit.

Three Stars: 3. Mike Komisarek 2. Andrei Kostitsyn 1. Jaroslav Halak

Game Highlights

You should follow me on twitter here.

Now that is how you need to be playing against the last place team in the league, not barely win in overtime as the Canadiens did the last time these two teams met. Goals from Glen Metropolit, Andrei Kostitsyn, Sergei Kostitsyn and Andrei Markov lead to a 5-1 win over the Carolina Hurricanes in last nights game.

Halak had his third straight outstanding performance stopping 46 of the 47 shots that he faced giving him a .978 save percentage. Halak’s value is rising quicker then ever these days, but does anyone want to see him traded? I don’t really think that we could get a better goalie tandem right now.

Benoit Pouliot played his first game as a Canadien last night amassing 13 minutes of ice time with no points and 2 shots on goal.

Three Stars: 3. Glen Metropolit 2. Jaroslav Halak 1. Tomas Plekanec

Game Highlights

You should follow me on twitter here.

The Canadiens were able to make it to Atlanta after being storm stayed in New York so we’ll see another great game against the Atlanta Thrashers.

Jaroslav Halak will get the start tonight due to his 40 save shutout performance on Saturday against the Islanders. Halak as 1 win and 2 losses in his career versus Atlanta recording an .827 save percentage averaging 4.67 goals against. Not exactly the best stats but we can only hope that he’ll be feeling good after coming off of a shutout.

Andrei Kostitsyn appears to be unstoppable in in the month of December notching 7 goals and 4 assists in 10 games including 2 goals against the Atlanta Thrashers in their last meeting.

Andrei Markov will definitely be a factor as well, especially on the power play where he made a huge splash on Saturday night.

Benoit Pouliot has been called up but will not be in the lineup tonight. Pouliot has a goal and 2 assists in 3 games with the Hamilton Bulldogs during his reconditioning assignment.

Streaming Links: Montreal Canadiens vs Atlanta Thrashers
- http://www.justin.tv/nad_et_pic_4

You should follow me on twitter here.

If it wasn’t obvious how much of a difference that Andrei Markov makes to this team after last nights win then I don’t know what to tell you. His first game back, Andrei Markov notched two power play goals with a +2 defensive rating. Glen Metropolit also added a power play goal as the Montreal Canadiens broke their losing stream with a 3-0 win over the New York Islanders.

Halak made some incredible saves in this one and absolutely deserved the shutout. He must have denied Matt Moulson at least 7 times in this one, just ridiculous. He finished with a 40 save performance and his first shutout of the year.

I really hope that with the return of Markov that our luck will turn around because we really need it. After this goals I think the team in general got better just knowing he was on the ice because some nice passing lead to some nice goal chances.

Game Stars: 3. Marc-Andre Bergeron 2. Andrei Markov 1. Jaroslav Halak

Game Highlights

You should follow me on twitter here.

The Canadiens hope to break the five game losing streak that they are currently on and it might be a little easier with their defensive star, Andrei Markov, returning to the lineup.

Brian Gionta also traveled with the team but hasn’t been cleared to play so don’t expect him to make an appearance. It is nice to see him with the team though. It’s a good indication that he’s getting closer and closer to a return.

Andrei Kostitsyn has been a one man wrecking crew lately scoring 7 goals and 3 assists in his last 9 games.

Carey Price is expected to get the start tonight against the New York Islanders. Price has 1 win and 2 overtime losses in his career against the Islanders with a .904 save percentage.

Streaming Links
- http://www.justin.tv/btw8892 (PW: nhlhockey)

You should follow me on twitter here.

Yannick Weber and Tom Pyatt have both been reassigned to the Hamilton Bulldogs. Tom Pyatt has played 19 games with the Canadiens this season registering no points and a -9 defensive rating with 6 penalty minutes.

Yannick Weber has played just 3 games with the team this year registering 0 points and a -4 defensive rating.

Andrei Markov has done so well in his treatment that he may be back as early as next week! I don’t even care what I get for Christmas if Andrei Markov comes back. He’s probably the biggest impact for this team when he’s in or out.

You should follow me on twitter here.

The Sabres visit the Canadiens in this Monday night match-up and the Canadiens will hope to redeem themselves after their previous bout with the Sabres that saw them lose 6-2 after getting badly outplayed.

Jaroslav Halak will get his chance to get back at the Sabres tonight as he will be the starting goaltender. Halak is 2-1 in his career against the Sabres recording an .875 save percentage and averaging 3.90 goals against. In his last start against the Sabres earlier this year he allowed 6 goals.

The Canadiens are 7 points behind the North-East division leading Sabres so a win here would make huge progress for the Habs.

No new faces in tonights lineup for the Habs, but Markov is getting closer and closer to a return. Andrei Kostitsyn will be the player to watch for the Canadiens after coming off of a 2 goal performance Saturday night against the Atlanta Thrashers.

Live Stream Links for Buffalo Sabres vs Montreal Canadiens
- http://www.ndsportstalk.com/sop2.html (Internet Explorer Required)

You should follow me on twitter here.

It’s been so long I nearly forgot that Andrei Markov was still on this team.

Habs Inside/Out posted some audio from today’s practice in which Markov talks about his injury, when he may or may not return. He talks about wanting to be with the team before going to the Olympics.

My favourite part of this interview is at the very end when he’s told he’s going to need to snow boots soon and he asks, “for what?”. Ah Markov, I love you.

You should follow me on twitter here.

NHL.com has released it’s Top 10 Russian Players list with Alexander Ovechkin leading the way. Andrei Markov does indeed make an appearance at no. 6 just behind Sergei Gonchar, which I think is ridiculous. Here is what the list looks like:

1. Alexander Ovechkin
2. Pavel Datsyuk
3. Evgeni Malkin
4. Ilya Kovalchuk
5. Sergei Gonchar
6. Andrei Markov
7. Nikolai Khabibulin
8. Alexander Semin
9. Evgeni Nabokov
10. Alexei Kovalev

It’s nice to see that Kovalev made the list, but I’m surprised that Khabibulin made it, especially ahead of Nabokov who I believe is a better goaltender.

You should follow me on twitter here.