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Game 64: Canadiens romp over Thrashers
posted by Dave Stubbs at 22h59 EST on Feb 26
Montreal outshot their visitors 33-27.
Canadiens forward Maxim Lapierre, rumoured to be part of a package that was offered to/demanded by Atlanta earlier in the day for their coveted star Marian Hossa, put Montreal on the scoreboard with his fifth of the season at 10:18 of the first period. Foiled first by Thrashers goalie Kari Lehtonen at the side of the net, Lapierre dug the puck out and scored on a nice second-effort backhand.
Price was very steady in goal, making 11 saves to the nine made by Lehtonen through the first 20 minutes.
Thrashers’ Ilya Kovalchuk tied the game at 1-1 on the power play at 2:04 of the second, for all intents and purposes a 5-on-3 with Andrei Markov in the penalty box and defender Steve Bégin having lost his stick. Kovalchuk whipped home his 41st of the season from just inside the faceoff circle, using Canadiens defenceman Mike Komisarek to partially screen Price.
The Thrashers outshot Montreal 10-8 in the second to hold a 21-18 lead through two.
The Canadiens jumped back into the lead on the power play at 2:10 of the third period, Higgins scoring his 20th of the season on a beautiful cross-crease pass from still-here Michael Ryder, who’d been set up by captain Saku Koivu. It was the 200th NHL point registered by Ryder, who’d been the centre of virtually every Habs trade rumour the past month.
Higgins added his 21st – Koivu did a nice bit of stickhandling, which led to an attempted shot by Markov that finally Higgins corralled and shovelled in from just in front of Lehtonen.
Higgins then engineered a perfect cross-ice pass to Markov, who pinched in for his 13th of the season at 8:17, once again on the power play.
Sergei Kostitsyn closed out the scoring when he bagged his seventh on a bullet wrist shot at 9:04, fed from the Canadiens zone by Guillaume Latendresse.
The Canadiens improved their season record to 34-21-9, while the Thrashers dropped to 29-31-4. It was the first of four games between the teams this year that didn’t go to a shootout, Atlanta having won two of those.
The Habs are in Buffalo on Friday to take on the Sabres before returning home Saturday to host the New Jersey Devils.
Share the agony and ecstasy of Habs fandom and read live blogs from every game with Gazette columnist Mike Boone.
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stanley cup here we come baby!!!!ok there is not a team in the nhl that can keep up to the habs ,to young to fast ,,and a smoking hot power play ,,,,
Does anybody in Bulldog country know why Matt D'Agostini wasn't in uniform tonight. Chicago's Marty Havlet was hurt once again and it's the shoulder again and sounds serious.
oh my, the belly aching!
On Hossa:
Bob is good but it was unrealistic for us to think he could secure Hossa for Ryder and a bucket of pucks. Yeah sure, I was disappointed, but what an ugly hangover it would have been to wake up this morning if BG had succumbed to the temptation to sell our future for, as our friend Bill put it, a "scoring threat" who (as many of us seem to agree) will probably test the market July 1st. well thank goodness he didn't. as so many of you have pointed out, we've got great chemistry on this team, a good mixture of energetic, skilled youngsters and capable veterans, and i think we should all be very thankful BG chose to keep this group intact. bottom line on this one for me is this: clearly BG is capable of recognizing opportunities which are beneficial to this team and has demonstrated during his tenure that he possesses the judgment to seize them. and by golly this is a fun team to watch and you know, i think we have one or two "scoring threats".
On Huet:
fine, so let's call it a "weird" move. we can't be certain if this move was part of a greater plan (related to the above?), or as Bob said in the press conference, a stand-alone decision made earlier in the week based on the recent play of Huet and the desire to give Price (and Halak) the responsibility. premature? you could argue yes, but in the (my) final analysis, i don't see how Price/Halak is any worse than a Price/Huet tandem, and as i said earlier in the day, the upside is much bigger for the young duo. again, Huet was a gentleman, a good man, a mentor and a "big brother" (to Price), a good teammate, and finally, a good goaltender. the decision was certainly a tough one and i doubt many of us would have had the "gumption" to have pulled the trigger, but if the kids now in charge of the net actually DO come through in the fashion that BG clearly believes, i'm sure those of you who remain so critical of this single move will be cheering as loudly as the rest of us.
In Bob We Trust. Go HABS Go.
The amount that Hossa eventually went for blew my mind, and you have to believe that Gainey was offering a deal with 3 elements: roster player, prospect, 1sr round draft choice. The Pens were willing to part with two key roster players which is a huge loss to that organization, no matter what Hossa brings to the table. I have to agree with you, as Gainey himself admitted in his press conference, that he wasn't willing to pay that price. He did make a counter-offer, but the Pens ended up giving Atlanta exactly what they wanted.
Can you say we upgraded in goal after the Huet trade? No, you can't. We gave up a quality starting goaltender in order to evaluate and give experience to two stellar goaltending prospects. Do I think this was the right move? Yes, without question.
I do disagree with you in saying that we now have an equally good tandem. Huet was a no. 1 goaltender for a reason, made the all-stars and has continually had excellent stats. While his inconsistency was at times a problem, he proved a solid prescence in nets. Both Halak and Price have the raw talent to easily surpass Huet, and I think both eventually will. To think that both already have would be a mistake. Price has demonstrated he is currently maybe on par with Huet, while Halak has demonstrated his ability to be a dominant goaltender in the AHL and a better goalie then Abby last year.
This was the right move because the franchise has made a decision to go with these goaltenders, dropping any doubt about the position. It was either sign Huet long term, or deal him. Price and Halak will be better for the experience, but to think they are better prior is, well, wishful thinking.
One more time: good, well thought out post.
Great post!
Considering they are 3rd in the league in scoring, but the top two scorer on the Habs are 15th and 50th, I'd say we have balanced scoring, that means everybody is a threat!
I think it is also interesting that 5 of the top 10 goal scorers, including the top 2, are on non-playoff teams. What would you rather have, player winning the Richard trophy or the team making a run in the playoffs?
wd40 - Very good post.
The Dawgs beat Grand Rapids 5 to 3 as Yann Danis stopped 20 of 23 for the win. Daniel Corso had 2 while Degon,Locke and Chipchura had singles. 1st star - Corco 2nd star - Locke.
The guy just won the million dollars in Van.
I hope to God that the Habs finish first and the Leafs make it into the 8th spot. That way we can kick their Azzes & shut those Brain Dead Leaf Fans up one and for all.
It would be too sweet.
It would be nice but you know something Dean - they always bring their 'A' game when they play us. I'd rather see them golfing to be honest with you.
For me it's enough that JFJ is on a trade panel on TSN and Gainey is building a championship team for the long haul.
And if that doesn't shut them up, the numbers 24 and 1967 usually do.
Agreed, the last thing i want is to have the last game of the season against the laffs to have any meaning.
How's it going Sulemaan?
I would really like to take those Laffs 4 straight. We would have bragging rights until the end of eternity.
It's my dream there Sule. Don't rain on my dream..LOL..
Won't rain on your parade my friend. :-)
It's going well. We need to get together with some other Habs I/O posters for the next Bulldogs game @ Ricoh Centre. I already got two tickets for $30 for the March 15th game. Are you going to it?
Took my 4 year old to the last one and she loved it.
I was at the last one. The Dogs won 3-1. It was Tomas Kaberle bobble head night. We got three of them. My wife and daughter are Leaf fans. Go figure eh ???? I got a huge rash when I took it from the ticket person. It was embarassing as a Habs fan to take that thing in my hand. Oh well I did it for my wife. It told everyone that I would use it to scare the rats away.
I can go..... What section are you in? It must be the ends right.
I am going to Hamilton tomorrow, Friday. It is Carey Price Bobble Head night. I will get three of them so I can put one on my rec. shelf (the one that I specially built for Carey) and one on my desk at work. See, I work for the Provincial Govt. here in TO. I try to piss off all the Leafs fans when ever I get the chance there Sulemann.
Here's a thought:
(1) Gainey almost never says anything about we he's planning to do. So it was really out of character for him to publicly state he was going after a premium player before the trade deadline.
(2) Gainey didn't end up getting a premium player despite his supposed best efforts as the asking price was too steep.
So maybe it was never Gainey's intention to get a premium player in the first place. This team is being built for the long-run in mind. The only reason he said he was looking for a game breaker was to put the media and fans in a frenzy? No.
He wanted to increase the asking price and making it steeper for his opponents who were gunning for Hossa, namely Ottawa, Pittsburgh and others. And sure enough the Penguins paid a steep price for a rental player.
Mission accomplished! So in the next few years it will hurt the Penguins for making such a deal while Montreal continues to stack up draft picks and prospects as they near maturity.
(Yes, I know I'm dreaming in technicolor but thought I'd throw that out there...)
i agree and it was mentioned last week by someone on here. i was actually thinking they would move huet to get a solid 3rd of 4th D man. gainey said it a week ago - the problem when we lose is often givin gup too many goals.
i wish huet the best of luck and i'm pulling for the caps to make the playoff.
someone above said it best - price/halak is hte same as price/huet.
GO HABS GO
i'm trying to get "reasonably" priced tix to fridays game in buffalo - if anyone has some to let go. . . . . .
I'm not quite sure why Bob felt they needed an impact player. The team has been scoring lots lately, except against Columbus, and any time you score 4 goals or more you shouldn't lose. They are 3rd in the league in scoring, and if they had played a little better defense lately they would be ahead of Ottawa.
Nice conspiracy theory, man :)
There might have been a message to the players as well, something like: "Look, I've tried to get you an impact players (even though secretly I wasn't planning to) and it didn't work out, so now you need to suck it up and win it with what you've got."
But I thought the same thing as you - it was out of character of him to go and blubber that he is looking for this and that.
@showey47: Good Post ! People also forget that Gill won´t be an UFA at the end of the season like Huet. In my point of view, he is a bad d-man but if the Pens really like him...
@LizardKing1967: Right and these six games only include two wins as we all know. Some people seem to think that Huet has played way more becauce of his age...
Gill sucks.
Serj Tankian is aweeeeesome!
What happened to Plek-Andrew? I don't see his posts anymore.
BTW, I am sure some of you watched TSN trade coverage yesterday. Wasn't it hilarious how JFJr. was lamenting how good Hal Gill is. How good Wade Belak is. How good Chad Kilger is. Along with the rest of the Leafs. I think someone forgot to tell him that they are crap along wioth the Leafs BECAUSE OF HIM.
I just love The Toronto Sports Netwok. We can now also call it The Sundin Network.
I wish T.O. would get a life.
Jim-out.
I BELIEVE!
Sorry guys, that's my rany for the week. I promise not to bash T.O. anymore
Jim-out.
I BELIEVE!
bashing TO is perfectly fine, in fact, i encourage it
You know, I am hearing alot on here, on the news, and elsewhere, how montreal will have a tough time with two goalies that have NO playoff experience. Last time I looked, Huet has a total of SIX (6) playoff games to his name. SO WHAT IS ALL THE BS ABOUT???
Jim-out.
I BELIEVE!
Good point! To tell you the truth that hadn't even occurred to me.
GO HABS.
no surprise about Paddock huh? the writing was on the wall...
have to admit, he gave me the creeps...every-time the camera would cut to him in a game, I felt like I was staring at my old principal or something....felt like you were in trouble every time you looked at him... he's got a look that makes you crap your pants....
now they're back to their ol boss, who knows, this change might be good..... doesn't solve the goaltending though
actually I hear Customs Canada is hiring...he'd be great at the border huh?
LOL try lying to that SOB at the border.