Blogging About The Montreal Canadiens and Canadiens Hockey

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 Montreal Canadiens hope to extend their two game winning streak when they face the ailing Carolina Hurricanes who are currently last place in the entire league and don’t even have double digit wins.

Jaroslav Halak will get his third straight start after two excellent performances. Halak has only faced the Hurricanes twice in his career recording a loss in one and was pulled in the other. He also has a career .879 save percentage against them.

Benoit Pouliot will make his Canadiens’ debut tonight and will most likely play on a line with Scott Gomez and Sergei Kostitsyn whom, along with his brother Andrei, have been named to the Belarus Olympic team.

You should follow me on twitter here.

(I can just imagine the search traffic I’m going to get from that title)

The Carolina Hurricanes are in Montreal tonight trying to find a way to put together back to back, but the Canadiens look to rebound from a blistering loss in Nashville against the Predators.

Carey Price will be back in net at home which has been a struggling situation for him this year. In his career versus the ‘Canes he has 1 win, 2 losses, and 1 overtime loss which has resulted in a 2.92 goals against average, and a .920 save percentage. The problem is that Price is 0-4 at home this season which he can hopefully turn around against the worst team in the NHL.

Gionta will sit out his second game in a row due to a lower-body (foot) injury that has been ailing him which is seeing Glen Metropolit play on the wing on the top line with Gionta and Cammalleri. If anyone deserves to be promoted it’s Metropolit. He’s been the hardest working player on the ice most nights, and, well, he’s just an all-round nice guy.

Carolina is without top center Eric Staal and starting goaltender Cam Ward for tonights contest so I would expect an easy win for the Bleu, Blanc et Rouge.

It doesn’t look like Ryan O’Byrne will be suiting up for yet another game, but on a bright note he did practice with the team this morning which means he should be back within the next week or so. Thank god.

According to Habs Inside/Out the offensive lines look something like this:

Metropolit-Gomez-Cammalleri
Pacioretty-Plekanec-Kostitsyn
Latendresse-Lapierre-Moen
Stewart-Pyatt-White

Guys who need to step up: Pacioretty, Kostitsyn, Lapierre and Latendresse.

Seriously, I don’t know what to do about Latendresse. He’s been worthless. Trade him? Bench him? Demote him? I don’t know. Just do something Latendresse, please. We can’t have you taking up a roster spot anymore.

You should follow me on twitter here.

Robert Lang and Matt D’Agostini notch goals but it just wasn’t enough as the Hurricanes took this match in overtime. Overall it was a very good game, things are starting to click and things can only get better when our injured are back in the lineup, but one thing is for sure; Matt D’Agostini is a Montreal Canadien and that will change anytime soon.

Goal scorers for Carolina were Eric Staal, Sergei Samsonov, and Tuomo Ruutu. The initial goal by Sergei could have been avoided if just one of the three players currently around him would have taken the body.

The Power play is starting to look good once again as one of our two was on the PP.

Prices first game back since his injury earlier this month and it’s like he never left. He made excellent saves and excellent decisions, kept us in the game when even I thought that we were out. You don’t really miss him till he’s gone and oh my goodness I missed him.

One thing that’s really starting to get to me is the reffing on the National Hockey League. I saw some pretty pathetic calls being made, and not just for Montreal. It really needs to be looked at by the league because it’s getting completely out of hand. Wouldn’t you agree?

Three Stars: 3. Robert Lang 2. Eric Staal 1. Matt D’Agostini

Related Links:
Refs Play Grinch; Habs Lose in OT – AllHabs
Ruutu scores OT winner for Hurricanes – Yahoo!
Hurricanes take down Habs in OT – CBC.ca
Ruutu’s overtime strike helps Hurricanes clip Habs – ESPN
Ruutu’s OT goal gives Hurricanes win over Canadiens – Canoe.ca
Hurricanes have Habs’ number – Globe Sports
Did The Canadiens Get Stiffed? Or Did Carolina Deserve Their 3-2 OT Win? – Dennis-Kane
Hurricanes 3, Canadiens 2, OT – Canadiens.NHL.com
Ruutu rocks Habs with OT goal – NHL.com
Ruutu’s overtime goal gives Hurricanes 3-2 win over Canadiens – NHL.com
Ruutu scores OT winner for Hurricanes – Associated Press
Hurricanes Knock Off Canadiens In Overtime – TSN.ca
Ruutu’s overtime goal gives Hurricanes 3-2 win over Canadiens – The Hockey News
Price wasn’t right for Canadiens – Faceoff.com
About last night … – Habs Inside/Out

You should follow me on twitter here.

December 21st @ 7:00pm EST

NHLN-CA, RDS(HD), NHLN-U

vs

NHL Preview: NHL.com
HFBoards GDT: HFBoards.com
Watch it online: ADTHE.Net FREE

Injuries: Mathieu Dandenault (Broken Arm), Chris Higgins (Injured Arm), Saku Koivu (Ankle/Foot), Andrei Kostitsyn (Lower-body)

Oh god, not them again. Last Tuesday night in Raleigh, Carolina the Montreal Canadiens notched 11 penalties in the first two periods of play, inevitably losing that game by a score of 2-1. But the most recent news is quite the opposite and this team is now running on all cylinders with Kovalev leading the way, but he has some help. Sergei Kostitsyn, who had an abysmal start to the year, has 4 points in his last two games including 2 Power play points.

You should follow me on twitter here.

What a pathetic game. The Hurricanes beat the Canadiens with a final score of 3-2. Our goals came Guillaume Latendresse with a penalty shot that he sniped passed Cam Ward, and Alex Kovalev who had a nice wrist shot off the face off to the top corner. Staal had two goals for Carolina on two Power Plays with just about the exact same sequence and shot.

Halak played pretty well and made some absolutely HUGE saves but it just wasn’t enough. He ended with an .888 save percentage so it was nothing special but it could have been a whole heck of a lot worse. An update on Price suggests that he may not be back before the Christmas break, so we may see Marc Denis in nets. A big game for Kovalev as well with his first goal in 20 games, absolutely insane.

Markov had a goal taken away in the third which was questionably a high sticking. I honestly didn’t see a very good angle of it but from what I did see, it was a close one.

The big news of this game was the absolutely ridiculous penalties being called on the Habs which totaled 11, all taken in the first and second periods. Let’s go through the list shall we: Interference, Hooking, Slashing, Tripping, Tripping, Hooking, Boarding, Hooking, Holding the Stick, Tripping, and finally, Slashing. Absolutely freaking ridiculous. I didn’t even see half of these f’ing penalties. It’s amazing, it really is.

Our Power play is still non-existent going 0-2 in this one. I’m starting to realize how much we really need guys like Komisarek, Koivu, and Higgins back in this lineup, and on side note, D’Agostini and Maxwell had some really nice chances but just couldn’t cash in on them.

Links
Canadiens Frustrated In Carolina - CBC Sports
Raft Of Penalties Sinks Canadiens - Pat Hickey, The Gazette
Hurricanes Take Advantage Of Penalty-Prone Canadiens - Tsn.ca
Less Than A Classic - Mike Boone’s Live Blog From The Game, Habs Inside Out

You should follow me on twitter here.

December 16th @ 7:00pm EST

RDS (HD), FS-CR

vs

NHL Preview: NHL.com
HFBoards GDT: HFBoards.com
Watch it online: http://www.justin.tv/mordane2, http://www.justin.tv/bsod404, http://www.justin.tv/mixed_tv FREE

Injuries: Mathieu Dandenault (Broken Arm), Chris Higgins (Injured Arm), Saku Koivu (Ankle/Foot), Carey Price (Flu/Lower-Body), Mike Komisarek (Upper-body), George Laraque (Groin)

Jaroslav Halak will get his fourth straight start as Montreal lands in Carolina for tonights matchup, and Cam Ward will be in nets for the Canes. Montreal has gone 1-6-2 in their last nine starts against Carolina when Ward was in nets so it should be an interesting one. The last time these two teams faced each other Carolina won it 2-1 and frankly, outworked Montreal.

You should follow me on twitter here.

The Ottawa Senators lost last night against the Carolina Hurricanes by a score of 5-1 keeping them in second spot in the Northeast, and giving the Montreal Canadiens a two point lead over the Sens with equal games played. This is the opportunity that Montreal needs to run away with the division, and the next few games for both teams will determine if that will, in fact, be the case.

Montreal plays St. Louis on Tuesday, then plays a home and home series against Boston Thursday, and Saturday which is a potential sure thing if the past reveals anything about the future. Ottawa’s next game is against St. Louis on Thursday, and then plays Toronto on Saturday, which could also be considered a sure thing unless the sharp play of Toronto as of late catches up with the Sens.

You should follow me on twitter here.