Canadiens - Kings: Carey Price Holds the Fort as Habs Snap Losing Streak

How exciting, the Montreal Canadiens actually won a game!

The script started playing out the same way it did over the last four games, with the Habs leading the game and having ample opportunity to win. But unlike during their four-game losing streak, the Canadiens were able to hold on to the victory.

Montreal overcame a weak first period that saw them hand the Kings three powerplays, en route to being outshot 14-5 through the first 20. That they escaped the first with a 1-0 lead—Tomas Plekanec scored on the powerplay—was largely due to Carey Price's brilliance.

Price was in top form all game, as was his counter-part, Jonathan Bernier. As such, fans were treated to a real goaltending duel.

The Habs netminder was unbeatable save for a second period deflection by Dustin Penner, earning the game's first star and the win.

Final score: Habs 2 - Kings 1

Game Notes

What a save! - About half way through the first period Jack Johnson dumped the puck into the Habs zone along the boards. Instead of swooping behind the net, the puck took a strange bounce off the glass and ricocheted out front, straight towards the Habs net.

Price was already on his way behind the net to get the puck and had to scramble back, barely getting his stick in the way and stopping what would have been an embarrassing goal.

Would that have been payback for the stick call on Marty McSorley in 1993?

Big guns - The L.A. Kings are a team that Habs fans don't get to see that often. Being in the Western conference and the NHL schedule being what it is, Montreal only plays them once this year.

And it's too bad.

Watching L.A. play, they have an excellent collection of young, skilled players in their lineup. From Jack Johnson to Anze Kopitar. From Drew Doughty and Dustin Brown to Jonathan Bernier, this is a team that has a serious collection of talent.

As such, it was a treat to watch them zipping around the ice and mostly dominating play against the Habs. Especially in the first period.

Keep in mind that prize off-season acquisition, Mike Richards, was injured and not in the lineup.

The Kings record so far this season may be a pedestrian sixth overall in the West, but they are only five points out of first. Either way, it was a treat watching what should be a top team for the foreseeable future.

AK-Forever - Despite missing a handful of games due to injury, Andrei Kostitsyn has been one of the most consistent Canadiens all season long.

And that is no small accomplishment if you consider that consistency has always been his Achilles heel. That one aspect of his game that fans and coaches alike have yearned for.

Not only is Kostitsyn consistent—try saying that 10 times fast—but he is using his body more effectively and has become a better player for it.

On the Habs first period powerplay goal, it was setup by Kostitsyn parking himself in front of the Kings netminder. AK46 is a big guy and when he stands there he is not easy for opposing defenders to move.

So when the shot came from the point, AK46 not only caused a screen—and some ensuing chaos—but was able to get the rebound back to Plekanec who fired a shot top-shelf.

Kostitsyn finished the night with two points (1G, 1A) a plus-1, two shots on goal, one hit and 14:56 of ice time.

Montreal might be on to something if only they could get Erik Cole, Max Pacioretty and Kostitsyn in the lineup at the same time!

Smokin' - Carey Price really is one of the best goaltenders in the league.

Night after night he seems to be the only reason the Habs win or are even in most games.

Against the Kings, it was more of the same as Price looked sharp turning aside 14 first period shots.

The Canadiens penalty kill is on fire this season and Hal Gill and Josh Gorges' shot blocking prowess gets a lot of the credit. But we have to remember that Price is really the backbone of the PK and Montreal's best penalty killer.

During the first period, Montreal was absolutely dominated. Moreover, with three first period PPs, the Kings had ample chance to open the scoring. But Price wasn't having any of it.

All game he was aggressive, at the top of his crease challenging shooters, fighting off traffic to make the save and otherwise frustrating the Kings.

He was the first star of the game, finishing the night with 26 saves and a .963 save percentage.

Stat of the afternoon - One. That is the number of powerplay goals the Habs have over the last seven games. That's 1-for-29 or an embarrasing 3.44 percent success rate.

Question of the afternoon - What to do with Louis Leblanc? Leblanc seems to be finding a home on the third line with Lars Eller and Kostitsyn. He earned his first NHL point (an assist) on a beautiful tic-tac-toe play with Eller and Kostitsyn against the Kings, and looks like a bonafide NHLer.

With Max Pacioretty returning from his three-game suspension next match, do you keep Leblanc in Montreal or send him back to Hamilton?

Up Next - The Canadiens return to the friendly climes of the Bell Centre for a Tuesday night tilt against the Blue Jackets. Pacioretty will be back in the lineup and the Habs will be hoping to grab another two points and get some momentum going.

As of the writing of this article, the Habs are back at .500 and, with 27 points in the standings, are eighth overall in the East.

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Kamal is a freelance writer, Senior Writer/Editor-in-Chief of  HabsAddict.com and Montreal Canadiens Blogger on Hockeybuzz.com. Kamal is also a weekly contributor to the Sunday Shinny on TSN Radio 990 (AM 990) every Sunday from 9 - 10 AM.  Listen live at http://www.tsn.ca/montreal/

Follow Kamal on Facebook and Twitter

(Photo by Harry How/Getty Images North America)

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Montreal-Los Angeles: Habs Dethrone Kings in 4-1 Win

by Kamal Panesar

One day after being bag-skated by Coach Jacques Martin, the Montreal Canadiens welcomed the L.A. Kings to the Bell Centre in another yardstick match for the Habs.

While the Canadiens looked a little tentative early in the game, they quickly turned things around by scoring on the power play and never looked back.

Coach Martin has to be happy with his teams play as they clearly heard his cries and responded with a 60-minute team effort. From Price on out, the Canadiens were the better team and played a tight, well executed game based on quick transition and speed through the neutral zone.

For all the talk about the Kings being Cup contenders, they really didn't look very impressive last night. They looked lost and even players like Drew Doughty, usually one of the best players on the ice, looked average at best. To be fair, however, The Kings do have a boatload of injuries and are going through a bit of a slide right now. As such, I don't think last night's game was a true representation of what they are capable of.

That being said, the Canadiens deserve full marks for taking it to their floundering opponent. They rebounded nicely from a disappointing effort in Philly with 11 different players getting their names on the score sheet.

The scoring included goals from veterans Andrei Kostitsyn, Michael Cammalleri, Tomas Plekanec and a bonus goal by rookie Lars Eller—his first regular season goal in a Habs uniform. With assists from Brian Gionta and Scott Gomez, that makes five of the top six players who got points last night.

You know that's got to put a smile on Martin's face, even if it is indiscernible.

Interesting stat of the night: Prior to last night's game, the Canadiens were 8-0-0 in games where P.K. Subban had at least one point. After getting an assist on Kostitsyn's power play marker in the winning effort, that record moved to 9-0-0.

Final score: Habs 4 - Kings 1

Habs' scorers: Andrei Kostitsyn (8), Michael Cammalleri (7), Tomas Plekanec (8), Lars Eller (1)
Kings' scorers: Alec Martinez (1)

Three Stars: 1. Andrei Kostitsyn, 2. Lars Eller, 3. Michael Cammalleri


Game Notes

1. Price was able to fight through the physical contact.

For a rare occasion this season, there was a ton of physical contact taking place in Price's crease. As such, he was knocked down and lost his stick several times during the game. With Ryan Smyth in their lineup, it is no real surprise that the Kings did so much crease crashing. Smyth is one of the best in the league at making legal or borderline legal contact with the opposing goaltender without taking a penalty.

What was impressive, however, was how well Price maintained his focus and positioning despite all of the traffic around him and the bodies crashing into him.

Price is playing with the calm and patience of a seasoned veteran right now, and nothing seems to rattle him. When he is on top of his game, as he is so far this season, he looks very big in the net and gives the opposition very little to shoot at.

Of the 25 shots the Kings fired at him, only a handful were dangerous and while Price wasn't tested a lot last night, he made the key saves when he was called upon. The lone goal that got past Price was on a play where Ryan Smyth collided with him and he was unable to get across to make the save. The play was borderline clean, as Smyth was outside of the blue paint, but there was no question that the contact impeded Price's ability to make the save.

Were it not for that incidental contact, Price would have had another shutout.

The win was Price's 13th in 21 games and matches his win total for the entire 2009 NHL season. His 13th victory puts him in first place among all goaltenders for wins.


2. Is Gomez waking up?

With Tomas Plekanec and Dustin Brown in the box for elbowing and interference, respectively, the Habs used the extra room to get a 2-0 lead on a bullet by Cammalleri from the point. On the play, Scott Gomez was tied up with the defenseman in front and screening Kings' goaltender, Jonathan Bernier. While he didn't score the goal himself, Gomez played a pivotal role in making it happen by going to the front of the net.

In fact, Gomez seemed to be going to the net on almost every shift. In addition, where he has seemed lost over recent games, he was more engaged and his focus was palpable.

Gomez was doing all of the little things to help make the team successful and, when a player is slumping, that is all you can ask of them. If the player focuses on the details the rest usually falls into place.

Now Gomez is clearly not back to the level where he needs to be, but last night's game was a huge step in the right direction.

Could it be a sign of things to come?


3. Hello Andrei Kostitsyn, and welcome back!

The slumbering bear, as Joel Bouchard from RDS calls him, awoke from his hibernation to be the main offensive catalyst in the Canadiens' win. With one goal, one assist and a plus-1 rating in 16:36 minutes of ice time, AK46 looked like that bulldog who is capable of scoring 30-plus goals in a season.

On his first goal of the game, Kostitsyn used his lightning quick release to wrist a bullet five-hole on Bernier. That goal illustrated what an incredible shot he has and why he needs to be shooting more often.

On the second goal, where AK46 got an assist, he created the entire play by beating two Kings' defenders and firing another bullet through a screen on Bernier. The shot was stopped but AK's foray into the Kings' zone seemed to destabilize their D. This momentary confusion allowed Gionta enough time to get the puck to an open Plekanec in the slot for his 8th goal of the season.

On plays like that you see why Kostitsyn went 10th overall in the 2003 draft. It is incredible how dangerous an offensive weapon he can be when he is playing with confidence as he was last night.

Now we can't talk about the resurgence of AK46 without mentioned Plekanec. He truly is the cure to all that ails floundering forwards. Gionta wasn't scoring at the beginning of the season? Put him with Plekanec. Andrei Kostitsyn was wilting on the Gomez line? Put him Plekanec.

As I've said before, it's too bad Plek can't play with three wingers because Cammalleri, Kostitsyn and Gionta would all be ripping it up!


4. Michael Cammalleri played his best game of the season.

One goal, a plus-1 rating—he is now a team-leading plus-10—with 20:41 of ice time, Cammalleri looked like the player who was leading all playoff scorers in goals last spring.

Cammalleri has had moments where he looked good but hasn't really been able to pull it all together like he did in the playoffs, despite his 15 points (7G, 8A). The biggest thing about Cammalleri, is that he hasn't looked completely comfortable on the ice and looked like he was forcing things at times.

Last night, however, the old Cammy was back as he showcased the kind of creativity that makes him a consistently dangerous player on the ice. Also, like Gomez, he was paying the price physically to make plays and setup his teammates. I don't think it is a coincidence that Cammy was more involved during the same game where Gomez came to play. At the end of the day, all that matters is that he played like the difference-maker that he knows he can be. Hopefully he can keep it up.


5. What a difference a goal makes!

Lars Eller scored his third NHL goal—and his first in a Habs uniform—on a spin around in the high slot. Buoyed by the confidence gained from his goal, Eller's skill and creativity was suddenly on display as he froze out the Kings defenders and made crisp passes into open seams, for a myriad of scoring chances.

Hopefully Eller can build off his goal and strong third period, because playing in the bottom-6 should give him the opportunity to play against weaker defensive pairings and, by extension, create more scoring chances.

If his line can get going, that will give the Canadiens yet another trio that can contribute offensively. I don't have to explain why having three or more lines that can score is difficult to defend against and a good recipe for success.


Standings and Next Game

The Canadiens now have 29 points in the standings and a 14-7-1 record, good enough for first overall in the Northeast. The Bruins, 3-1 winners against the Panthers, kept pace with the Habs and have 26 points in the standings with two games in hand.

The Habs now fly to Atlanta to take on the Thrashers Friday evening before returning to Montreal to take on the Sabres on Saturday. With back-to-back games, you would have to think that Alex Auld is poised to get his second start of the season.

Whether it will be Friday in Atlanta or Saturday in Montreal remains to be seen.



(Photo by Richard Wolowicz/Getty Images North America)

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Canadiens Game Day: Discontent in Habsland with Kings in Town

by Kamal Panesar

If you were to read reports and headlines from across the city of Montreal over the last few days, you would be convinced that the Canadiens were the worst team in the NHL.

They have an overpaid second line center who is taking a lot of heat for his lack of production. They have a head coach who was uncharacteristically snippy and sarcastic with the media. They have yet to find a suitable winger, through 21 games, on their second line. They have a starting goaltender who looks like he will get voted into the all-star game, but who fans feel will be better served by staying at home. And all of these problems and complaints are surfacing while the Canadiens sit atop the Northeast Division with 27 points in 21 games.

Moreover, the Canadiens have the best penalty kill in the league (90.8 percent), they are second overall for fewest 5-on-5 goals against (30 goals for a 2.00 GAA), and have a starting goaltender who has a 2.05 GAA (fifth overall), a .932 save percentage (fifth overall), four shutouts (tied for first overall) and 12 wins in 20 games (tied for first overall).

So maybe things are not all bad after all.

The Habs, still in the wake of their 3-2 collapse against the Flyers, were worked hard by Coach Martin at practice yesterday. Despite calls by many—myself included—for Scott Gomez to be dropped to the third line, he was still at center on the second line with Travis Moen.

Carey Price will get his 21st start of the season and with back-to-back games on Friday against the Thrashers and Saturday against the Sabres, you'd have to think that we will soon be seeing Alex Auld in the net.

The Kings look like they will be countering with Quebec native, Jonathan Bernier.

Los Angeles, who are one of the top teams in the West, have a young, speedy team that is sure to act as an excellent yardstick for the Habs. If the Canadiens want to be contenders, they must be able to at least challenge, if not beat, teams like the Kings.

The Kings, who are 13-6-0 with 26 points, have an almost identical record to the Canadiens. Also like the Habs, the Kings have struggled to get their power play going and at 14.8 percent efficiency are 24th in the league—the Habs are 22nd in the league at 15.2 percent. The Kings penalty-kill is a respectable sixth overall at 86.9 percent efficiency so it looks like the special teams are a wash.

If there is one thing we have seen from the veteran core of the Canadiens, it is that they tend to respond well to adversity. As such, I would expect a full 60-minute effort from the home boys tonight.

A few players to keep your eyes on tonight, since we don't get to see them very often, are Anze Kopitar and Drew Doughty. These are two incredibly skilled young players who are a treat to watch.

The puck drops at 7:30 pm-ish.


UPDATE - 1:27 pm EST: According to Habs Inside/Out, Yannick Weber will be a healthy scratch and Mathieu Darche will be back in the lineup playing alongside Jeff Halpern and Benoit Pouliot.


Live Habs Panel Pre-Game Chat

As part of The Checking Line.com's Habs Panel, I will be taking part in a pre-game live chat starting at 6:30 pm. Sign up below and join us for the conversation!



(Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images North America)

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