The Week of Dec 21st in Review

Les Canadiens in action for Dec 21st-27th: The week went pretty well for Montreal in terms of wins, albeit they were hardly playing the finest opposition the NHL could offer, or very good hockey for that matter. They're taking part in a 7-game road trip, their longest in seven years and their last road trip ended 0-6-1, so after the Islanders win, they were already doing much better than last time.

Opposition: Atlanta Dec 21st, Carolina Dec. 23rd and Toronto Dec. 26th.

What's been the Canadiens recent story? Their top line, their MVP, highest-apid defencemen and their cheapest defencemen. Oh, and Jaroslav Halak saving the day non-stop.

The return of Andrei Markov: the team's MVP and the reason their scoring has increased by a goal per game on average since his return is a major difference for why Montreal is enjoying a 4-game winning streak right now. Markov just isn't a 25-minute workhouse for the team, his offensive instincts as a defencemen are second to none among nearly all NHL defencemen, he knows when to leave the blue line to rush in on power play goals or make assists and can keep the puck in on a PP like none other. He has 3 goals, 3 assists in his first four games back, for those of you keeping track, that's a 1.5 PPG pace and while that should probably drop off a little, with 42 games remaining in the schedule, a PPG pace would have him at 46 points, which would have him in the general top 20 scorers among NHL defencemen despite missing a huge chunk of the season.

Why Montreal's won since Markov's return:

- Referencing the week before, Markov scored the first two goals against the Islanders last week to give them the game-winner with his first since Halak posted a shutout, then gave them the real psychological edge by scoring the 2nd goal. If you don't think having a defencemen return from lacerated tendons and scoring two goals against an opponent in his first game back doesn't get into the other team's heads, you're kidding yourself. Montreal was outshot, but Markov's offensive prescence sealed the game.

- In Atlanta, Markov maintained the puck prescence and worked the blue line like one of the great PP quarterbacks of the NHL, he took the Plekanec pass to feed Marc-Andre Bergeron perfectly, who sent another laser to the back of the Thrashers net to tie the game. I doubt anyone else could have set up the shot as well as he did, a tied game for OT and the Canadien's usual OT heroics.

- In Carolina, Markov opened the scoring on a perfect feed from Tomas Plekanec with not even a minute and a half passed in the period, giving the team a feel-good moment for the start of the game and offensive confidence, it was all downhill from there in the game for the team, offensive confidence is never to be underestimated, although the team did pretty well on the scoresheet for themselves, especially Glen Metropolit's two goals.

- In Toronto, what more can you say? He fed Cammalleri, who fed Plekanec for the 2nd goal of the game thanks to the brilliant outlet passes only he can manage on almost any given night. His defensive zone coverage was not that strong, but he's still recovering and it's evident, he will get better, than his feed to Andrei Kostitsyn in OT led to his contributing to a pivotal goal for the 4th time in as many games.

Markov's raised the team's offence to a new level with his return as he always does, generally responsible for making a goal happen in each game he plays, if not more than that.

The Plekanec Effect: A 3rd-round pick from 2001, Tomas Plekanec was never figured to make beyond 3rd line, right now he's top 15 in NHL scoring and has 10 points in his last 4 games. His vision is incredible and he has hands to match, he just knows when and where to put a puck on a player's stick to make a goal happen, while his goal-scoring could probably be better, he's added two goals in his last 3 games alone that are as nice as any you might see. His passes won the game in Atlanta by feeding Bergeron for the game-winner, set up the 1st 2nd and 3rd goals in Carolina and then scored the 2nd goal of the Toronto match, making "The Monster" seem quite mortal in the process.

The Reloaded AK46: Andrei Kostitsyn has been panned a few times and by a few I mean on a daily basis on every discussion about the Canadiens in the last 3 years. He was selected 10th in the 2003 entry draft, which saw talents like Ryan Getzlaf, Jeff Carter, Mike Richards and Zach Parise all taken after of him and have all had better seasons than he's had so far. Andrei Kostitsyn arrived as the answer for who will be the next 40-goal scorer in Montreal, he was highly coveted thanks to his play in his time with his country's World Junior Team and with his reflexes, speed and ability to manage the puck, seemed a sure bet. It hasn't gone as well as planned, but it hasn't been as horrible as some say it has been. Andrei Kostitsyn has scored at least 20 goals in each of his last 2 seasons, although he displays the talent for scoring 30, 40 a season with his abilities.

Right now, he's on one of his best career scoring streaks and 2 of his 12 goals so far have been game-winning contributions, nothing less spectacular than the winner in OT with Toronto of course. With Plekanec and Cammalleri, he has found chemistry and his will to play, he can dangle in the offensive zone with the best of them and his backhander on Nicklas Backstrom last week in Minnesota was one of the slickest goals I've seen this season from anyone. Yes he'll need to work hard to get to 30 this season but at his scoring rate right now and the power of the Plekanec/Cammalleri/Kostitsyn line, it doesn't seem impossible, his wrist shot is a howitzer and his slap shot can find the back of the net just as easily, he's enjoying himself on the ice and you can see it when he scores. Andrei is throwing hits that are felt with his great speed and solid 6', 200 pound body while providing traffic in front of the net, his screen of the Atlanta goaltender allowed for the game-tying goal by Bergeron. Sniper meets Power Forward it seems of late.

The Cammalleri Factor: Mike Cammalleri is not known for scoring goals in road games, whether he likes a hometown crowd to boost him, nerves or whatever, he's scored only 4 of his 18 goals on the road this season and he'll likely hit 40 this season, but with about 30-35 of them on home ice, which suits the Canadiens store in the Bell Centre that sells Cammalleri T-shirts and Jerseys just fine. Cammalleri does still offer a potent offensive threat with his speed and ability to control the puck, he's had assists on a number of key goals this season on the road and that can't be undersold. He's a good team man and seems to be helping keep Andrei interested in the game he's playing, his ability to set up Andrei Kostitsyn alone gives reason to keep those two paired up as long as possible. Cammalleri has 4 assists on the road trip so far, but a couple markers would be nice as well.

Bergeron, the Biggest Steal of Free Agency: Marc-Andre Bergeron is a defencemen who doesn't really know how to play defence beyond the basics and sometimes even those elude the PP specialist, but never say he doesn't make up for that in the other team's end. Bergeron is tied for the goal-scoring lead amongst defencemen with 9 goals and he has 19 points total after missing training camp, pre-season and the first 7 games of Montreal's season. He's scored 4 game-winning goals and his 8th goal of the season directly led to him getting his 9th goal to win the Atlanta game. Simply speaking, he has a laser and knows how to put in the net, playing 4th-line winger and starting the first power play unit with Markov creates one of the most effective one-two punches in the NHL from the blue line, Markov can hit the net from close in on rushing plays, or feed Bergeron for one of his one-time blasts. Montreal has the No. 1 power play in the NHL thanks to that pair and it's easy to see why when they work the back end.

Jaroslav Halak, Starting Goalie?: The goalie debate has raged for years in Montreal, nothing solid since Patrick Roy left town, save Jose Theodore's incredible 2001-2002 season when he won Hart and Vezina, mostly heartbreak. Right now, Jaroslav Halak is playing at his absolute best, he has stopped endless 180 of 186 shots directed on his net, a .968 save percentage that makes just about any other NHL goaltender look bad. Granted, he's not facing the Penguins, Capitals or Blackhawks in these games but that's still a lot of pucks to stop and some of them have been excellent scoring chances he has denied his opposition. Great games for him and he's proving his skill and ability to maintain his team in a game despite all odds.

I don't see Price doing any better than Halak has done in his last 4 games, even at his best, maybe stopping one more goal than Halak perhaps, but four shutouts in the way the team gives the opposition free reign in their own zone? Not likely at all, those allowed goals were nigh-impossible for any goaltender. Halak still gives me fits, I hear the side posts bang too often when he covers against a shot and a few too many rebounds pop loose that have inflated his shot totals and save %. Granted, his rebound control has improved, but a junkyard dog like Mike Knuble, Tomas Holmstrom or similar make their bread and butter on collecting on pucks like that and jamming them in the nets. This road trip is a testament to Halak's skill, he can take the 40+ shot bombardments and keep his team in games while making key saves, but his record against contenders still gives me pause. No convincing wins over a Top 10 NHL team this season and that's a sticky issue, better than he appeared or will better teams home in on the weak spots, collect the rebounds or send that puck in between Halak and the post for a goal?

The 4-game winning streak is clearly in his back pocket and probably earns him this month's Molson Cup for Player of the Month, but Montreal's not facing a top NHL team until January 3rd, Buffalo once more and Halak has but one last chance to purge his demons with that team probably before Jacques Martin decides not to play him against them anymore, if he even sends him out to play them this time. On the 5th, it will be the Washington Capitals and possibly another chance for Jaro to collect some glory against Contenders but again. He will need to be in nets and help form a convincing win to set his status as a team-saver against any opposition in the NHL, right now he's collecting wins for Montreal over weaker teams they should be beating which I am thankful for but I'm not yet sold on him 100%. He's put on same game-saving performances of course, but Andrei Markov playing in November would likely have put Price up 2-4 wins in the column from the games the team just couldn't score any goals in at the same time.

Notable Assistants To the 4-game Streak: Josh Gorges has been his usual warrior self on the Blue Line as has Jaroslav Spacek, Scott Gomez has finally discovered some of his old form, while Sergei Kostitsyn fills in as a great penalty killer when it is asked of him. Travis Moen and Glen Metropolit are stalwart members of the checking lines that always do whatever is needed of them, while Max Pacioretty is continiously frustrated by an inability to hit the net, but tries regardless.

Thoughts going forward: The team has much to cheer about this week for extending themselves to a 4-game streak on the road, but considering how the week could have gone without Halak and Markov in the lineup, it likely would have been much, much worse. Hard work in practice and the rumoured return of both Roman Hamrlik and Brian Gionta to the lineup for Monday's game against the Senators will likely lead to big boosts both offensively and defensively, which will be welcome, Gionta's leadership and offensive skills and Hamrlik's steady hand on the blue line could lead Montreal to their best winning streak of the season really.

The Senators are hardly threatening missing both Captain Alfredsson and Jason Spezza, two of their best players but the way Montreal is playing I wouldn't bet against them either, Florida and Tampa have their own troubles for Montreal later on in the week, as Florida has always been a tricky team for Montreal to beat, while Tampa's Francophone crowd of Lecavalier, St. Louis and Tanguay generally raise their game against Montreal, Steven Stamkos exchanged his sophomore jinx for a rookie jinx apparently with 22 goals this season while Antero Nittymaki is playing a lot better than most of the players against him would prefer. On Sunday, Buffalo and possibly Halak's last chance to prove he can beat the surprising Sabres who finished out of playoff contention last season, although taking Ryan Miller for more than 2 goals this season is a dicey proposal at best so team defence and coordinated offence to break him will require one of Montreal's best games of the season likely.

Eight points are possible, but much depends on Jaroslav Halak, the impact of a returned Hamrlik and Gionta, while the top scoring lines keeps up their pace and above all, Andrei Markov's continual improvement in each game he plays. Tough week, weaker teams but weaker teams that somehow give Montreal much more trouble than they should.

For Your Consideration

Life has been hectic during the Holidays and will likely only be moreso when I move next month so I'll be posting fewer game reports, but a week-in-review for the Canadiens, Capitals and Blackhawks each Sunday will be put up instead and other postings during the week about thoughts I'm having regarding hockey, this week, I'll work to shelve the Price V Halak debate by showing what issue the team is up against.

Goal Scoring:

When it comes to the goalies, we can all throw the numbers around as much as we like and I'm sure there's enough numbers to make either goalie seem like the Legit, No. 1 man for the next ten years in Montreal but I'm considering this.

It's a team game and the team has let down the goalies a lot more than the goalies have let down the team, considering the amount of 1-goal losses this team suffered when either goalie needed to manage a shutout or 1.00 GAA to get the win. Right now, let's examine Montreal's ability to fill the net with some rubber and in front of which netminders they did it.

By the Numbers in Team Scoring and Goals Against:

October: discounting the OT shootout winning goals, the team was at 2.5 goals per game, while allowing 3.21 goals against them, not a happy number and a serious strike against the offence when the GA was that high.

Goals Scored, Goals Against with Carey Price in October: 14 Goals scored, 24 goals against. 2 wins in 7 games, pulled in Vancouver after 6 goals against and put in the final period of the Montreal-Pittsburgh match when 2 more goals were scored, so if you count that as his missing period from the Vancouver pull, the team scored a flat 2.00 Goals Per Game (GPG) in front of him with 3.43 GA. That's a mountain for any goalie when you're giving up 1.43 GA on average in a month.

Goals Scored, Goals Against with Jaroslav Halak in October: 22 goals scored, 20 goals scored against, 5 wins in 7 games, was in nets for the final goal in Vancouver but was pulled after 4 goals against in Pittsburgh. Balancing the numbers, counting his 3rd period in Vancouver and his missing period from Pittsburgh, the team scored 3.14 GPG with him in nets and 2.86 GA. Not hard for a goalie to build a winning record if the team is scoring more than they're being scored on.

What it Shows: Evidently, Price would had to have been absolutely heroic to turn some of his games into wins with 14 goals scored over 7 games, especially since 10 of those goals came from 3 games alone! That's a scoring problem, not a goalie problem especially with his theft in Toronto and Buffalo. Jaroslav Halak enjoyed an average of

November: It got worse in scoring, 2.16 goals per game for Montreal, but the numbers against went down, 2.41 Goals against them for the month, thanks to some nifty netminding by Carey Price, that number could have been a couple tenths higher alone if not for his magic in Nashville.

Goals Scored, Goals Against with Carey Price in November: 23 goals scored, 29 goals against, 5 wins in 11 games played, with a rate of 2.09 GPG, with 2.63 GA. His best stretch came from his 53-save performance in Nashville that he built on, exhaustion caught up with him by the end of the month though. Still, the opposition was outscoring his team, not as bad as last month but almost every point collected in his starts was due to his heroics in nets.

Goals Scored, Goals Against with Jaroslav Halak in November: One lonely start, 1 loss, 0.00 GPG with 1.00 GA for the Calgary start, other than that, riding the pine as it were. Calgary wasn't his fault, but it certainly blew a hole in the "Team plays more confidently in front of Halak" argument.

December: Montreal is scoring 2.77 Goals per game, and if you call the Centennial Game the "Turning Point" of sorts, we're at 3.09 Goals per game which is a winning goal-scoring number in today's NHL. Montreal is averaging 2.29 Goals against this month, Post-Centennial? An impressive 1.92, which means we are scoring on average more than a goal than our opponents are per game in the last 12 games, thanks to recent offensive outbursts by a certain gentlemen called Tomas Plekanec to create an elite scoring line.

Carey Price, Goals Scored, Goals Against in December: 19 goals scored, 18 goals against, 3 wins in eight games played. That's an improvement in GPG, with 2.38 GPG with 2.25 GA. He didn't have that good a night against Toronto, but like Jaro against Calgary, the team was shut out so they were no help to anything. He had a flat 1.00 GAA for 3 straight games, then ran into some glove trouble, which shook him up a little in Pittsburgh, leading to the last 4 losses of the month. Albeit, 15 goals scored were in 4 of his eight starts and that's , 3 goals left over to win 4 games, statistically impossible. He wasn't that good following the Pittsburgh game flubbing Dupuis's shot for the GWG, but the team didn't exactly have a barn-burner of goal-scoring against Toronto, Minnesota or New Jersey either.

Carey's "Turning Point" Numbers: 19 goals scored, 15 goals against, 3 wins in 7 games played. GPG improves to 2.71 and GA goes to 2.14. Winning record for GPG to GA and a couple of games do fall on his shoulders, but again, 1 goal in each the Minnesota and New Jersey games do not help matters, not saying he didn't make mistakes but again, scoring is key to wins.

Jaroslav Halak, Goals Scored, Goals Against in December: 14 goals scored, 14 goals against in 5 games played, 2.8 GPG with an identical 2.8 GA for the month. However, his Save % over his last three games is an astonishing .970, with 133 saves on 137 shots against with a 1.33 GAA!

Jaro's "Turning Point" Numbers: Fantastic, 12 goals scored, 8 goals against in 4 games, an exact 3 GPG with a flat 2.00 GAA, that is a winning record by far, he's entered the benefit of the Habs discovering their scoring and the return of Andrei Markov while playing his best games.

Basic Fact: Goalies have been left hung out to dry too often by this team, but the rise in scoring will mean more wins for either goalie, whether playing to their best or not as goalies can't always be at their best, but teams scoring 3 goals a game at least? That means there's a lot more wiggle room for goalies to get wins and not be worn out from having to save the tame with a 2.00 GAA or less.

Myth to Dispel: "The team plays more confidently in front of Halak", they were shut out against Calgary at home, then were beaten twice by the Buffalo Sabres with Halak in nets, a lax performance in the first game but Halak did not play well and the second game really ended no better. The Dec. 21st win over the Thrashers was a result of Halak's brilliance and Plekanec's Heroics, not a confident team really, the Dec. 19th Islanders win could have gone the other way as well if not for the return of Andrei Markov. That's 5 games where the team didn't seem to display much confidence in the goalie they apparently are so confident in. 5 games of his 14 starts this season, just over one-third, where the team played without confidence in their netminder.

Regarding Carey Price: Price is still just 22 years old, he has 50 career wins faster than Patrick Roy did in his youth when Roy had a far superior defensive corps to protect him. He has been brilliant this season in key games and while he has struggled, he played basically the entire month of November when the team was barely managing 2 GPG on average and kept the team's head above water, but he still wasn't ready for a grinding pace like that. Price is young and needs breaks to keep that mental focus that lets him play like he did in Nashville or his game-theft work in Buffalo, Toronto or Phoenix. He's stolen key games, OT points and kept the team alive through tough times. The team hasn't thanked him in return nearly enough by having many games where they overcame his mistakes in nets to seal the deal and earn a regulation win. His 9 wins came because he was brilliant in nets and his OT losses? Much the same case, his losses came from some bad performances but also a team that has rarely found the net in front of him. The team scored 56 goals in his 26 appearances this season so on average, 2.15 goals scored with him in nets this season, while he posts a 2.75 GAA. For the record, Patrick Roy's career GAA was 2.78 in Montreal, Jacques Plante was 2.23 and Ken Dryden's was 2.24, so really, are we expecting Price to be better than those guys in his 3rd career year when he doesn't have a Dynasty team in front of him like Dryden and Plante or in Roy's case, some Selke and Norris winners?

Price needs some glove-side work, although someone's number crunching showed that it's not in fact that weak and plenty of goalies let in glove-side goals more than anywhere else, Henrik Lundqvist is a notoriously weak glove for an elite goalie for example. Price's main roadblock it's more his mental focus that needs adjustment, he is highly athletic and his 6'3" frame gives him advantages, but while he rarely collapses after a bad goal these days in the same game, he tends to take that bad goal around with him from start to start when it does happen. He's corrected one issue by not letting the bad goal really interfere with the game he's playing at the time, but he needs to purge that goal from his mind altogether for his next game and the game after that if he wants to be a top goalie. He plays the puck well and while he's a bit reckless with it, he'll learn with time when not to play the puck and honestly, the way the team handles the puck in their own end sometime, can you really fault Price for wanting to manage the puck himself? Granted he needs better judgement, but that comes with time and above all, he needs to stay mentally sharp against everything, that will come but right now, it's risky putting him in for more than 5 games in a row, especially if a softie goes by him in game 2.

Regarding Jaroslav Halak: Yes he's been good this season, he was good last season and the whenever he was used the season before that. However, he's not faced the No. 1 job in name, only in duty from time to time. Being the Starting goaltender in Montreal is the most stressful and hardest position in the NHL and it has crushed many a goalie long before Halak ever heard his draft number called. Halak however showed weakness last season when he played long stretches of starts, much like Carey Price has as well. They're young goalies so they find it difficult to maintain that mental focus a goaltender needs over long periods and both of them can only get it from getting many consecutive starts in a row. However Halak has not outdone Price when the two of them have a lot of starts, both decline the same amount over time I find. Halak's also had the advantage of padding his record on weaker teams this season compared to a lot of the teams Price has had to face and Halak's not done that well against Contender teams, so it's hard to say Halak could be No. 1 when he hasn't really beaten a contender team by himself yet, save maybe Atlanta. Jaro is at 2.57 GAA this season, better than Price but I don't see how he could have saved a few games that Price lost in to be honest, even as well as he's playing now, Price was just as good if not better in November and his 3-game streak in December was no accident on his part. The team scored 36 goals in his 15 games, 2.4 GPG average and with a .17 difference, it's easy to see why he's a bit ahead of the standings, easier teams to beat, a team with scoring troubles will score more often and be scored against less.

Halak's rebound control and ability to play the puck is not something you'd say he has on equal with elite goaltenders, he is certainly a battling goalie who hates to let the puck in the net when he's 'on', but those rebounds are a problem and too often, I hear the goalpost ring when he's in nets. These are things that can be corrected with time of course, much as Price is facing his own issues, but Halak does have his weak points, his playing the puck isn't reckless like Price's at times, it's just not good, Price can generally put the puck where he wants it, Halak seems to have trouble with the initial handling of it. Price gives up rebounds of course, but so does Halak and in front of just about everyone, which is partly why I suspect he's not done well against the better teams, stronger teams know how to take advantage of the boune, the rebounding puck better than weaker teams and it leads to more goals. Halak obviously deserve more puck-clearing assistance from his teamamtes but Halak's rebounds have inflated the shot count against him in his last 3 starts I find, more than he stopped 40+ top quality shots. His style as a battling goalie has him fighting against those rebounds, but I find he should work to make sure they just don't rebound as often. The goalpost ringing, I'm not sure if it is a bias of mine, but it just seems we hear those posts ringing more with Halak than Price, does he cover the space between himself and the post not as well as Price, or is it just he doesn't give the opposition anything but the posts and himself to shoot at? I don't think he's that good at positioning myself to force that kind of shooting and no goalie really likes to offer the inside of a goalpost, since the bounce can go against them. I suspect it is partly that he needs to work on his positioning, because better scorers will find a way between him and the post to score that goal rather than be hounded by a ringing goal post.

For Consideration:

In October, A 3 GPG minimum would've meant as many as four more overtimes rather than regulation losses and possibly as much as 4-8 more points, but let's say 6 going on the team's OT Record.

In November, 3 GPG for the month would have meant at least 2 more overtimes and two other wins from Nashville and Detroit alone, plus with the team's OT record, at least one of those OTs would've been ours, adding 3 points from that and another 3 points from the Nashville game and the win point from the Detroit game that went to shootout, 6 extra points.

What 3 GPG would have meant for the season: 12 points to add to the current 39, Montreal would be at 51 points in the League. A winning record, secure place in the Conference, that's what a proper goal-scoring average does, it prevents it from being all about which goalie is white-hot this week to keep us in games we should be losing because we can't find the opposing team's twine.

Right now, we have the tools for 3 Goals per game and should enjoy that while we can, Gionta's return can up that average further, an average like that is what got the Capitals to the top 4 of the Conference. We have an elite scoring line, an All-Star Defencemen, a PP specialist in Bergeron and a shiny new toy in Benoit Pouliot with the Triple-M line always being a scoring threat in a pinch, with two solid young goalies in nets, we can ride that 3 GPG average to a Playoff spot and maybe the 2nd or 3rd round of the playoffs.

Definition of a Good Team: Good teams play well enough to give each other a break, goalies will post 50-save performances to deliver a game, then forwards score 6 goals in a game to overcome failures that led to 4 goals against the goalie by the defence. Or the forwards kick in two goals to create a padded 5-2 win when the goalie allows two soft goals in the third and the team needs insurance, or the defence and goalie just play heroically as the forwards are frustrated by a hot goalie on the other end. Everyone has to help everyone else out, it's hard for a team to have confidence in a goalie that allows a soft goal now and then, but how hard it is for a goalie to hold themselves in a tight mental focus to maintain to a strict 1.00 or 2.00 GAA when they have no confidence the forwards can score better than 2 goals per game on average or the defence to leave them hanging helplessly for 2 goals against them? It's got to be a team game at the end of the day.

Montreal Visits Ottawa, Refs have bets on Ottawa

I normally don't criticize officiating too much, but tonight was a pretty sad event.

Montreal had lost their first game of the six they will take against their division rival Ottawa this season, but this is a new century for the Habs team and a much more competitive, coordinated squad than the one that Ottawa faced in October.

The Roster: Some juggling involved, Matt D'Agostini was scratched, Tom Pyatt and Ryan White were back in to the lineup and Bergeron took over on Defence, with the upper-body injury to Mara. To start the match, Pyatt would take D'Agostini's place on the 2nd line with Gomez and SK74, White would suit up with Lapierre/Laraque to start the match, but that wouldn't last, but more later. Jaroslav Halak would get the call to start in nets, allowing Price, who had started in nets so often you sometimes wondered who the guy sitting on the end of the bench was.

The Opponent: Ottawa was having a better season than Montreal so far and hold two games in hand against Montreal although tonight's win would draw the team even in points if Montreal won. However, they had a scoring defiency in their elite players, high-flying Jason Spezza has only 3 goals this season, Alex Kovalev has 4, Cheechoo 3 as well. Mike Fischer had been putting up impressive numbers compared to last season, but he's been a lone bright spot. Ottawa backup goalie Brian Elliot had not been dominant as a goalie and Ottawa's D has been questionable for years. Factor in only 1 win in their last five games, the Senators looked good for a team to pounce on.

The First Period: Montreal would continue their trend of being outshot in the first period, which would have been trouble had Jaroslav Halak not shaken off the rust.

A period that would be dominated by Ottawa's offence, no penalties were drawn by either side in the game, Montreal would have few offensive chances, while Halak kept the Senators off the score sheet with some good saves, albeit his rebound control continues to be frustating at times.

Late in the 3rd, a Tomas Plekanec play that would see him steal the puck and race through the neutral zone, a deft play that would force Ottawa netminder to commit to him, then a quick saucer pass to Mike Cammalleri to slip a puck in and put Montreal up 1-0.

Jaroslav Spacek would take a puck off the side of his knee and left the ice limping, he would not return to the game. Ryan White also had to leave the game, apparently a miscommunication between the Canadiens organization and the League about bringing White up and putting him back on the Montreal roster, seems someone screwed up down the line. Montreal would be at 16 skaters to start the 2nd period.

The period would end 1-0, Montreal would be outshot 13-5 by the Senators during the first period.

The Second Period: The start of the officiating showing that they had money on Ottawa winning the game.

Mike Fisher would collect a goal, after blown defensive coverage in front of the Montreal net left him open with a sprawling Jaroslav Halak in front of him to lift the puck high and tie the match. Ottawa would soon get many chances to take the lead in the match.

George Laraque would get caught on the first penalty and it was a fair call, Laraque was an idiot and he was trying to give Kovalev a bear hug apparently on the play. Montreal's penalty kill unit went to work once more, Halak would make the right stops and Montreal would limit their opportunities.

Four minutes later, Travis Moen would violate the little-known Wearing the Montreal Canadiens Sweater Rule, which has been a common penalty for Montreal to take this season. A key penalty kill member was off the ice, but Montreal's PK unit, working with Jaroslav Halak would deny any glory to the Ottawa PP unit, including a heroic unit during the Moen penalty that held for over a minute with no change. Moen would be slipped the puck when he got out of the box and would make a breakaway attempt, but chasing Ottawa Ds would tackle him down in front of the net, which looked like an interference penalty from where I sat.

After several ignored infractions by the Senators, Ottawa's Erik Carlsson would be cited for an interference penalty, giving Montreal their first power play of the game. With a pass from Roman Hamrlik, Marc-Andre Bergeron would release another one of his lasers from the point, an Ottawa stick would deflect the puck down to knuckle through the Ottawa goalie's 5-hole, Tomas Plekanec would also collect an assist on the play, his 2nd on the night. Montreal takes a 2-1 lead in the game.

Not long after the goal, Hal Gill would get caught on a tripping penalty, another key Montreal penalty killer off the ice, but Montreal would not give an inch. Saves by Halak, shot-blocks and keeping the shots to the outside, Ottawa's PP unit continued to be rather unimpressive for the most part.

Ryan O'Byrne would get caught next, because as he discovered, backchecking and playing your position is also a penalty when you play for Montreal, but another strong penalty kill and strong saves by Jaroslav Halak would keep the score 2-1 for Montreal while the clock winded down on the period, leaving about 25 seconds left in the O'Byrne penalty for the start of the 3rd period. Montreal would have 13 shots this period, but Ottawa now held a 31-18 shot advantage.

The Third Period:

Ottawa came out with a power play, but it ended quickly and Montreal didn't allow any chances as back-and-forth offence continued.

More Ottawa infractions that went unnoticed, but Bergeron and Gill were caught about five minutes apart one apparent penalties that were questionable at best, Montreal's penalty killers had to go to work once more, again missing one of their best PK men in Gill on his 2nd penalty on the night, but the hard work of the PK unit and Halak eliminated both chances for Ottawa.

Former Hab Alex Kovalev, near toward the end of the Gill penalty would get caught for a slashing penalty on Bergeron's stick, but Montreal was held off during their power play after brief 4-on-4 action and would collect no goal.

Max Pacioretty would then get caught for a tripping penalty, again after Ottawa penalties were ignored, which would lead to one last Ottawa power play, a heroic PK unit would do all they needed and Jaroslav Halak would do all he needed to do.

A foolish, boneheaded Too Many Men penalty would sink Ottawa's hopes of closing the gap, with six Ottawa skaters clearly on the ice and the goalie in nets with just less than 3 minutes left. Montreal would take their third power play of the game and seal the deal.

A Marc-Andre Bergeron end-to-end rush which produced a shot and rebound off of Ottawa goalie Elliott, Andrei Kostitsyn would pounce on it and put it in the back of the net to give Montreal a 3-1 lead. Tomas Plekanec would get his 3rd assist of the night and restore himself to point-per-game numbers for his season.

Just over a minute later, an aggressive Scott Gomez forecheck would give him the puck and after a weak shot bounced off the goalpost, Gomez would force his way in to tap in an empty-net goal as Ottawa had pulled their goalie for a 6th attacker with a minute and a half left.

Montreal would pick up their 3rd straight win, after being outshot 47-26 over three periods, however quality of the shots ruled the day and superb penalty killing and goaltending lifted Montreal over a division rival for two key points in the standings.

The Offence: Tomas Plekanec, Mike Cammalleri and Andrei Kostitsyn continue to be Montreal's best line, offensive creativity, speed and smooth stickhandling that challenges any line that goes up against them. 27 goals so far between the three with 17 by Cammalleri, but you can tell a lot more are going to be generated pretty soon.

Gomez/Pyatt/Sergei Kostitsyn, didn't last long as Max Pacioretty would earn a promotion later on so the line could generate more offence, but Sergei's great moves in the offensive zone, in additional to his penalty killing abilities make for a great player, Gomez showed much more commitment than he has in previous games without his buddy Gionta in the lineup, his hard work gave him that EN goal. Pyatt's okay, but I get the feeling he's better off on the farm for development.

Metropolit/Moen/Pacioretty, they will bring the playoffs as I've said before, they haven't scored in the last two games, but they've looked pretty close to scoring and you can't say they've allowed even half the number of the scoring chances they generate. Metropolit defines being an MVP for his pay grade, creativity, faceoff skills and a relentless attitude that puts games in Montreal's hands because nothing happens on his shift unless he lets it happen.

Lapierre/Laraque/White, this didn't last long, Laraque rode the bench in the 3rd period, White had to leave the game, which meant Lapierre would be rotated through the other three lines through the course of the 3rd period and really denied Lapierre any chance to generate anything. He's having to work his way up into Martin's good graces after a sad effort through his first 25 games or so, he'll have to keep working hard but tonight sort of worked against him for having a regular line.

Defence: Is it possible to say too much about these guys? They're heroes as always.

Spacek did an admirable job as long as he was in the game as per usual, I really hope he comes out of his latest injury pretty quickly and it's not serious, he and Hamrlik have been such a great top pair while Markov is out.

Hamrlik had 28:11 of ice time, after putting in just short of 24 minutes the night before, not bad for the 35 year old former first overall pick of the Tampa Bay Lightning, he's playing some of the best hockey of his career with smart defensive hockey and good stick handling, he does all the team needs him to do and never complains. A team player in every sense of the word, elevating himself when he has to, filling in while Markov is gone to form a solid Top D-Man for his team.

Ryan O'Byrne is continuing to be an impressive defensive defencemen, coming back from a disasterous partial season in Montreal last season, he has made smart plays, used his body well and helped cover his goaltender, his contributions to a shorthanded rush during the game nearly gave Montreal a shorthanded goal, as he nearly almost got one against Pittsburgh a few nights ago. He and Bergeron played a solid amount of time together, although since defensive assignments were moved around and many pairings occured for all situations, solid work for him and Bergeron even out of their usual assignments. Bergeron had another goal and set up the rebound that allowed AK46 to get his 4th of the season, for 750,000$ this season and 7 goals, I'd say he was a pretty good late addition to the team.

Josh Gorges and Hal Gill continue to be that pair I favour for hard work, they cover their goalie and make smart, safe defensive plays for the most part, provide shot blocks and do what is needed to keep the defensive end of Montreal's game solid. Team men and good guys all around.

Goaltending: A good comeback game for Halak after an ugly loss in Buffalo, he shook off the rust and delivered one of those big games he's capable of putting up when he has to and the team needs it. The only goal against him was not his fault and I doubt Price on his best net would have prevented it, nothing to be ashamed of, everything to be proud of. Halak continues to be one of the best backup goalies in the NHL, in terms of salary cap and ability.

Three Stars

1. Jaroslav Spacek, a 45-save evening? What more do you want from the guy? Great performance for a goalie who's barely seen action since the middle of November.

2. Tomas Plekanec, he set up the Cammalleri goal and was instrumental in the cycles that set up the Bergeron and Kostitsyn goals, he continues to be the best centre in Montreal, over 6 minutes of PK time speaks to his strength at that position.

3. Roman Hamrlik, he sets up the Bergeron goal and plays an inhuman number of minutes for a Defencemen in Montreal whose name is not Markov. A career year for an aging defencemen who will pass over 1200 GP in January.

Thoughts:

Three wins in a row. Three regulation wins, three wins where Montreal outscored the opposition 5-1, 3-1 and 4-1, they scored twelve goals and only allowed three, Cammalleri scored five times and now has 17 goals this season. I'd say Montreal took the Centennial game to heart based on their current play, they don't give up, their forwards strike with lethal precision these days when scoring chances occur and defensively, the PK unit and goaltending has been a black hole for teams going against it with the man advantage.

That's the start of a good December and a consistent winning record that will help Montreal get in playoff position for April, any ground gained now while Markov is out is one less game we must hope Markov can help deliver later when the MVP Defencemen returns.

Andrei Kostitsyn has two goals in his last two games, which could indicate with the net prescence he has shown in his last two matches that many more could come from the gifted sniper who's had a hard time finding the net this season. His linemates Plekanec and Cammalleri seem to be the right fit for the young Belarusian forward.

Halak showed he doesn't take long to throw off the rust and played a strong game, he'll be a key backup for Price in a month of 17 games for the team, I imagine he'll have 3-4 more games this month depending upon Price's play and the schedule. He's good enough for it and is probably good enough to be a starting man in half the NHL, but that will come later for the Slovak netminder, he'll need the practice to first cover his National Team at the Olympics in February.

Montreal faces Pittsburgh on Thursday, so they can only hope Spacek is ready for that match, otherwise it will be a much more difficult time of things with Mara already out with an upper-body injury, a body will have to be called up from the farm likely. Pittsburgh caught a rather uncoordinated Canadiens squad when they pounded them 6-1, then later 3-1 when Montreal was composed of half an AHL team on their second straight game and still stood up to them remarkably well. This time, five of Montreal's top 6 forwards will be ready to go, the Metropolit/Moen/Pacioretty line will shut down Pittsburgh offence, while Hal Gill and Josh Gorges will give the Penguins Deja Vu of their own Scuderi/Gill line from the Playoffs last season. It's a winnable game for Montreal with their current work ethic, special teams work and available players, the Penguins are a tough team with way too much talent they picked up from being bottom-feeders, but I think Montreal as they are right now has a good chance to extend the streak to four games.

Ex-Habs Recognition:

- Saku Koivu assisted on the 2nd Anaheim goal of the game against the Dallas Stars and the first goal on the 2nd game of rookie call-up Dan Sexton's NHL career. Koivu would later mark the OT winner for Anaheim for his 4th goal of the season.
- Alex Kovalev was held without a point against his former club Montreal, one of those nights he decided not to work.
- Former dimunitive D-man Francis Boullion assisted on the 2nd goal of the Nashville-Vancouver game, setting up the second of Martin Erat's hat trick.

Juniors Habs Recognition:

Nothing much from the kids, the week's generally quiet for days at a time for prospects.

Montreal-Buffalo, The League's running a memo on Montreal's D...

All it reads is "Montreal can't handle a rebound in front of the net, just crowd it and you will get goals". That's how Goals 2, 3, 4 occurred, Goal 5 came off of a huge screen, Goal 6 a defensive breakdown and No. 1 was Halak's trademark weakness, rebound control.

The First Period: Unmitigated disaster, Halak's rebound control problems emerge and goal #1 comes off his not handling the initial shot, then his teammates failing to clear. Goals 2 and 3 come off of the team's inability to make a rebound, Halak makes the initial save, but again the rebound kills the team, Buffalo's up 3-0 by the end with a 15-3 shot advantage. The team had about two minutes of good offensive pressure total, even our top centre through most of the season, Tomas Plekanec had a tough time getting anything going. Scott Gomez played with a bit more jump in his game than his first game back fortunately. Referees left the game wide open, both teams had one blatant penalty that should have been called, but quiet generally.

The Second Period: Didn't get much better, defensive miscues around the net give Buffalo their 4th on the night. At this point in the game, the patience of the Refs was tested a lot more, Buffalo got away with three pretty blatant tripping minors, Ryan O'Byrne got caught giving a bear hug to a Buffalo player to give Buffalo the first PP of the game, Montreal played their best hockey of the game in those two minutes really, following that, a neutral zone play gave Montreal a spark of hope. A breakout play by Sergei Kostitsyn started in the neutral zone with Gomez with him, Sergei fed a pass to Gomez who steadied it on his stick to give Montreal their first goal of the game. Sergei's ability to be a set-up man was evidenced once more as they scored with just over 3 minutes left in the period. Things had a tinge of hope and Montreal avoided playing five entire periods of NHL hockey with no goals. Montreal managed five shots on net that period, Buffalo got another 14.

The Third Period: The refs were garbage, absolute 100%, knuckle-dragging, Milbury-ite jerks who handed Buffalo the period, Montreal's players were tripped at least a half-dozen times during the period and denied them vital PPs that would have allowed a comeback. Montreal got one power play off a holding penalty and got close, although I imagine they would have gotten a lot closer had they recieved the PP opportunities Buffalo would have recieved had the situations been reversed I imagine. They would press on offensively and a great rushing play by the Lapierre line, with a shot by Lapierre then the rebound picked up by a streaking Gorges would make the game 4-2, granted there were less than nine minutes left but Montreal had been managing the offence for nearly the entire period, they had twice almost collected shorthanded goals on the Tom Pyatt penalty that was taken earlier in the period, Sergei gave Gomez a chance to get his 2nd of the game, but Gomez shot high, showing he's got a lot to work on when it comes to shooting. Buffalo would then exploit the Montreal D-zone vulnerabilities, a screen prevented Halak from seeing the 5th goal, a slapshot from the point and the 6th came from a neutral zone giveaway that set up a classic two-on-one breakaway that couldn't have been set up better in a team practice for Buffalo. Halak is good, but his first start in 10 games and he doesn't have Price's brilliance for that astounding save, he'll battle to make saves but he doesn't have that extra level I see in Price's game. Montreal would have fifteen shots on net in the third period, after managing a mere eight in the previous two periods, leaving them 23-37 against Buffalo's final shot total.

Thoughts: Buffalo would have won 9-2 had some of their players connected better on some of te near-goals against Montreal. The team is missing Gionta badly, he was often the one that sparked the team to come back after bad periods, scoring or assisting on that goal that helped turn things around or talked the locker room up to get them going. Mike Cammalleri gives a good interview and seems to be a good team guy, but is not that strong of a leader I believe and his status as a streaky scorer (His 39 goals came in 29 games last season) means he's less able to score the opportunistic goal and get the team going. Gionta's excellent work ethic and relentless play with Montreal this season gives a better on-ice leadership example than Cammalleri too. The Defence needs to work on clearing the rebound, or Montreal is doomed for the next while because the opposition is pressing around the net and getting far too many opportunistic goals with pressure around the goal crease.

Offence: Sergei Kostitsyn shows why he should be wearing the Bleu-Blanc-Rouge, he set up the Gomez goal and nearly gave Gomez a shorthanded marker during the Pyatt penalty. Top line work for him for now, the people who can use his brilliant offensive zone passes do not have names ending in Pyatt, White or Moen for that matter. Max Pacioretty, he's got to strap that helmet of his own tighter, it came off twice during the game and the kid's going to get hurt one of these days playing like that, he made some good moves tonight and is improving. Cammalleri seems to have lost his scoring touch for the moment, I'm sure it will be back but that's the nature of Cammalleri, he is a streaky goal scorer. Tomas Plekanec didn't play well until the third, on the whole, Gomez was a much better forward than he was tonight. Andrei Kostitsyn, he keeps making the right moves, nearly dangled himself to a goal at least twice but couldn't quite finish it off. Nice offensive zone work, but his inability along with the rest of his line to prevent goals didn't help him. Moen, Metropolit make all the right moves generally, but they're low-scoring checking forwards and shouldn't be counted on for more than the odd goal now and then, this team needs them for regular scoring they're in more trouble than they thought. Pyatt and White are good kids, but they don't have the stickhandling ability to handle a puck and release a shot in an NHL-pace game right now for any kind of reliable scoring. Mad Max? A pleasure to watch in action towards the end of the game, his shot set up the Gorges rebound goal and he even played PK minutes, he's getting himself back together.

Defence: O'Byrne is a godsend to return, he's the only truly reliable big-body D, but his inexperience showed when his drop to prevent the cross-crease pass for the Buffalo goal did nothing, he'd have been better off covering the man who came in to put the puck in the net. Bergeron made some mistakes, but his offensive zone assistance was a major help. Hamrlik and Spacek worked their asses off, but they've been doing that nonstop since the season started and it's already cutting into their performance at times. Gorges was a champ and got the 2nd goal, which gave the team the spirit to keep trying for more goals and maybe tie it up and push it to overtime, he made good defensive plays and kept it from getting worse. Mara was a good guy to teach that little bastard Kaleta a lesson, but it would've been much more welcome towards the start of the game, get the team fired up then, rather than the dying minutes of a lost game. Mara had a better night tonight, but not that good considering the score, his D-zone coverage makes me shake my head at times, he forgets the basics too much.

Goaltending: Not going to dump on Halak, he should have controlled the rebound better on the 1st goal, but the other 5 were much more on the team than he was, he hadn't been in nets since November 10th and it showed as well, he would have had to make at least 4 game-changing saves to deliver this for Montreal and he didn't have it in him.

Ex-Habs Recognition:
- Saku Koivu scored the opening goal of the Anaheim-Dallas Game, but they lost 3-1 off of two bad goals and an EN shot.
- Komisarek managed to not be a boat anchor for Toronto since he returned from injury, he might have learned to finally stop overplaying his position and trying to be Chris Pronger.
- Gui Latendresse has 2 goals and 1 assist since being traded to the Wild, although I doubt his streak will last, he rarely finds the inspiration to play well for very long.

Washington Capitals Report:

They've actually done well this season when Ovechkin has been injured or away (currently on a two-game suspension, which is just as well since he hurt his knee in the Gleason incident), which is good but at the same time the moment he's back they seem to step back and wait for him to deliver each game for them, they need to keep up their efforts more often when Ovechkin is playing. Recently returned sniper Alex Semin had a 4-point night, 2 goals, 2 assists on his first game back from having wrist problems for the Capitals, his wrist seems to be working fine now to deliver a 6-2 win over the Florida Panthers.

Special Note: Semyon Varlamov is a brilliant goalie when it comes to low shots and goalmouth jamming, he's been notably a bit weak on his glove side at times but teams that rely upon dirty goals don't get much with him at all. He gets his glove in strong condition, the Capitals could win a Cup with him.

Chicago Blackhawks Report:

Toews, Kane and Keith were all signed to long-term deals, 6.3 million for five years was given to Toews and Kane each, Keith signed a longer deal, 72 million over 13 years with the team with a no-trade clause attached. The talk now is that Chicago must deal away something immediately to be cap-compliant, as teams must have a salary cap situation that is within bounds for the following season, not just the current one. Brent Sopel and Thomas Kopecky are two players on the team with low salaries that can moved to cover this, I expect an exchange for a pick or prospect to solidify Chicago's future.