Montreal-Boston: Sergei Kostitsyn Stars in Habs 3-2 win over Boston Bruins

Well it wasn't the classic Habs-Bruins matchup that we were expecting, but it was an entertaining game never-the-less. With both teams fighting for their playoff lives this four-point, head-to-head game was massively important for both teams.

Sergei Kostitsyn led the charge for the Habs scoring two goals, including the eventual game winner. As Rask came out to play the puck behind the net and missed, SK74 was there to dump it into an empty net to make it a 3-1 game.

Andrei Markov was the other goal scorer for the Habs, as he continued his streak of getting at least one point over the last six games.

The Bruins responded with goals from Milan Lucic and Blake Wheeler but ultimately their pop-gun offense--playing without Marc Savard, their offensive catalyst--wasn't able to mount enough of a challenge for the Habs.

Final score: Habs 3 - Bruins 2


Game Notes
1. Halak didn't have to stand on his head. If there is one trend that has taken shape over the Habs' five-game winning streak, it is that their goaltenders do not have to be the first star in order for the team to win.

Last night the trend continued as Halak faced only eleven shots over the first two periods and 23 on the night. Halak was sharp in the third, however, as the Bruins brought their best effort to make it a one-goal game.

While the Habs have the best one-two punch in nets in the league with Halak and Price, it is nice to see them not relying so heavily on their goaltenders for wins.

2. Scoring by committee rules the day. Another interesting and very healthy trend for the Habs since the Olympic break, is that they are getting contributions from every line on the team.

When it comes to scoring, it seems that a differnt player steps up and plays the role of hero every night. Spreading the scoring across all four lines is giving the Habs the kind of balanced scoring that makes teams extremely difficult to defend against.

Interesting note: The Habs third and fourth lines total 11 of the Habs last 27 goals.

3. Speaking of third and fourth lines, both seem to be clicking for the Habs at the right time. Even if they don't always put points up on the board, they seem to be spending the majority of the game in the opposition's zone.

The result of their tenacious, grinding play is that the opposition's D is spending much more time in their own end on the defensive side of the puck. The result is that opposing defensemen will often be more tired by the time the third period rolls around.

While this might not seem like a big deal in a regular season game, it can have a huge accumulating factor over the course of a playoff series.


4. Sergei and Andrei Kostitsyn are rounding into form. With three goals, two assists and a plus-3 rating over the last two games, Sergei seems to have rediscovered his outstanding Olympic form.

Andrei, on the other hand, is still struggling to find the back of the net but he does have two assists and a plus-1 rating over the last two games. Interestingly though, Andrei is starting to get physically involved in the games by throwing his weight around to great effect.

While he seemed on the cusp of breaking out of his scoring slump, one of the biggest plays of the night was his crushing shoulder-to-shoulder hit on Milan Lucic with less than three minutes left in the third.

Lucic, who passed the puck to his teammate, was stuck admiring his pass as AK46 put his shoulder into him. Lucic was absolutely flattened by the Kostitsyn hit and neither he nor the Bruins players liked it.

I understand that the Bruins players have a sensitivity to having their players knocked out, in light of the Savard hit. But I'm sorry, that play was clean.

Here, see for yourself. Try not to listen to the announcers who clearly feel it was a dirty hit. Watch the replays and you will see that Lucic was watching his pass and skating in the other direction. AK46 put his shoulder into Lucic's shoulder/chest area and floored him. Sorry, but that's a clean hit.



So who else thinks that was clean?


Standings and Game Notes
With five wins in a row and six wins in their last seven games, the Habs have 76 points in the standings having played a league leading 70 games.

The Habs are tied for points with Philly who has three games in hand. The win puts them four points ahead of Boston who has 72 with three games in hand.

Despite the games in hand, the Habs have now put some buffer room behind them with the Ranger (69 points, two games in hand), Tampa Bay (68 points, three games in hand) and Atlanta (66 points, three games in hand).

As I have said before, a game in hand only counts if you win it and the Habs currently winning streak is putting pressure on their competition to win.

The Habs now enter a week where they play only two games--Tuesday versus the Rangers and Saturday versus Toronto. In addition to the light schedule, each of the Habs competitors plays three or four games this week in making up games in hand.

It will be interesting to see what the playoff standings look like next weekend.

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Montreal-Boston: Groundhog day for Montreal Canadiens as Jaroslav Halak Steals Another

Still waiting for the other shoe to drop? Me too. But that is what the Habs have gotten their fans used to this year. Last night's game was one that the Habs had no business winning. But hey, don't look a gift Halak in the mouth!

In beating the Boston Bruins 3-2 in Boston, the Habs are now on a modest 2-game winning streak while the Bruins are on a horrific 9-game losing streak. While the Canadiens came out flat, again, the Bruins looked hungry early as they shelled Halak for 15 shots in the first period.

Boston opened the scoring on the powerplay at 15:48 of the first period when Dennis Wideman's shot from the point was tipped in the slot my Mark Recchi to make it 1-0.

Bruins' powerplay's were the hallmark of the first period as the Habs took three penalties and were at a loss to mount any sort of pressure, while being outshot 15-5.
As has become customary, the Canadiens relied far too heavily on Halak to keep them in the game, as he made save after spectacular save to keep the Bruins lead at 1 goal.

The second period didn't start any better for the Habs as Blake Wheeler took a backdoor, cross-zone pass from David Krejci and shot the puck past a sliding Halak to make the score 2-0. The Krejci pass went through a mesh of four, yes four, Habs players, none of whom thought to look behind them to see if there was an open man.

Brutal.

With the Bruins leading by two and the Habs struggling to mount an attack, it looked like Boston would coast to an easy win. Even though the Bruins were a fragile bunch, they were completely outplaying the Canadiens.

However, the Habs had other things in mind. With less than three minutes to go in the second and Boston's Matt Hunwick in the box for hooking, Glen Metropolit scored his 11th of the season to make it a one goal game with a rebound off a Gomez shot.

But the Habs weren't done. 39 seconds after the Metropolit goal, Roman Hamrlik's shot from the point made it past a screened Tuukka Rask to tie the game at two. It was Hamrlik's 6th goal of the season, and it sent the teams to the dressing room all tied up.

The third period and overtime solved nothing so the game went into a shootout, which was fitting since both Rask and Halak were difference makers for their team on the night. The shots were 42-21 after the third period and 47-25 on the night, for the Bruins.

In the shootout, Halak stoned all three Bruins forwards - Krejic, Ryder and Savard - while Rask stopped Plekanec and Gomez. Gionta was the lone goal scorer with a sweet shot-fake, to his backhand and upstairs for the win.


Game Notes:
1 - Halak, Halak, Halak. Last night's win over the Bruins marked the seventh time this season that Halak has received more than 40 shots against. Ridiculous. The Habs were losing battles all night, were continuously second to the puck and were generally outplayed. However, despite having no business winning the game, they did and it was once again on the back of a strong performance by Jaroslav Halak.

There is no question that Halak is carrying this team right now and he will have to continue to if they hope to make the playoffs. That being said, I just hope that Jacques Martin continues to ride the hot hand because the Habs need every point they can get!

2 - Ryan O'Byrne had a bit of an up and down game. He made some decent plays but also had some brutal missed assignments. The worst being on the Bruins second goal where he was caught looking at the puck rather than its destination, which was Blake Wheeler.

That being said, I think that is entirely understandable that Ryan was perhaps out of sorts, considering that his mother had just passed away. I am actually surprised that he was even playing. To me, that shows a lot of character on his part. My condolences, Ryan.

3 - Markov was tremendous on the defensive side of the puck. While we have all become accustomed to seeing Markov make dazzling offensive plays, we have to remember that what makes him an elite defenseman is that he is equally good on the defensive side of the game.

Last night, Markov made several great defensive plays but none that illustrate his skills more than lifting Marco Sturm's stick, on a breakaway, just at the right time. Markov made the play just as Sturm was about to shoot, nullifying any scoring chance. The amazing part is that he did it without taking a penalty and that is no easy feat.

4 - Sergei Kostitsyn's confidence is growing. Not only did he make some great offensive plays and passes, but he was also very defensively responsible against the Bruins. This, to me, shows that he has truly embraced the Jacques Martin system.

If he sticks with it, Sergei could become a very well rounded player as Jacques Martin is known for molding defensively responsible players.

5 - Hal Gill is a monster on the PK. While there is no shortage of holes in Gill's overall game there is also no question that he is a PK specialist. On the PK, Gill uses his entire 6'7" frame to lie down and block the cross-crease pass. This move effectively reduces the number of set plays a team can use which helps explain the success of the Habs penalty killing unit this season - 8th overall in the league.

6 - Question: What happened to Marc Savard, Zdeno Chara and Milan Lucic? Last night, they looked like shadows of the players from last year. While all three were keys to the Bruins success last year, they were mostly invisible last night.

What happened to the hard-hitting Lucic that would strike fear into opposing defenders? Last night, I don't think I saw him throw a single check. What I did see, however, was him getting slammed at the Habs blueline, twice. Once by Hal Gill and once by Benoit Pouliot.

I guess that is the pitfall of having a career year - as the Habs learned last season: what do you do for an encore?

7 - Mathieu Darche was a sparkplug all night. Combative, grinding in the corners, going to the net. Darche was doing it all and seems to have lit a fire under Maxim Lapierre in the process. There is no question, in my mind, that he has earned his place on the team.


Standings and Next Game:
With 60 points in 58 games, that Habs now sit in sole possession of 6th place overall in the East. As is usually the case, their grip on this spot is tenuous with Philly and Tampa each having 59 points and three and two games in hand, respectively.

The good news is that the Habs now have a three point buffer on Florida - with two games in hand - and the Rangers.

The Habs have Friday off before taking on the Penguins in a Saturday afternoon tilt at the Bell Centre.

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