Habs 3, Bruins 4 (SO): A point well earned

Despite some masochistic idea to pair Kraperle (sic) with Crampoli (sic) and thus making Benoit Pouliot look like fucking Mario Lemieux, to get a point in this game was a wonderful feat for this team. Down 3-1 and clawed back to a shootout. Yea, that's right. CHEER FOR THIS LOSER POINT YOU DROOGS. Why? Because holy crap... Tim Thomas would be a 3rd string back up behind this team.

Also Bruins have no idea how to hit anyone cleanly, take a hit, nor react to a hit without a scissor clamp on the hitter's legs or looking at the ref. Pretty sure Emelin exposed Thornton for the whiny bitch that he is. Also head snap? Didn't you call out the Canucks for doing that? All he was missing was the fainting hanky.

Enjoy your 10 game suspension, Marchand you clipping rat. (Assuming Jacobs hasn't paid off Shanaban fully, yet).

You know who's awesome? Ryan White. Welcome home. (Question: is it not automatic to get a misconduct if your jersey flies off during a fight? No clue why McQuaid didn't get one. Oh wait, he's a Bruin. Never mind).

I swear the two refs doing tonight's game had no clue how to handle the pressure.

So Patches scored. An angry Erik Cole scored. And Darche scored shorthanded while Habs were killing an accidental 4 minute high stick by Eller on a fanned shot. Apparently it was the first shorthanded goal they gave up this year. There's a lot to like about how the team played and hit and competed. Ending it in a shootout where no one could score, however, was a little aggravating. Pretty sure everyone will be salivating over Timmeh Thomas' BIG SAVE on PK's last shot of OT that was flubbled and going wide anyway.

Honestly I don't care about the fans cheering when Chara got hit in the face with the puck. It's not exactly without history... I mean can you really blame them? We're not exactly talking how the Bruins fans got up and cheered the clipping on Salo, or the hit on Miller... They still remember what happened, and how he got away with it, and how the fans of the Bruins acted and still act, and how the League basically ridiculed a kid nearly being paralyzed on the ice. Patches has moved on, and that's nice, he has to play and is a fantastic hockey player. However fans don't forget. And frankly a little more anger from Patches would do him a world of good on this team against them. But hey, a visor would have also prevented the puck from hitting Chara that high in the face... I call it Karma giving Chara a wink. Probably the best part of it all is Brad Marchand talking about classlessness. Cool story, bro.

Anyway, I liked the way Andrei and Gomez responded to the incidents at practice. Sure Andrei turned over the puck weakly. But he corrected himself, played hard, threw his body around well. And he nearly scored when his shot dribbled through Thomas only to get cleared by an alert defenceman. Not sure why Eller was benched for most of the game though. Match ups? Feeling? His penalty? He also threw a killer hit on Thornton.

Bonus: Don't have to see the fugly Bruins faces 'til next year. Small victories.

This rat is cute. Brad Marchand is not.

Habs 5, Leafs 0: Delicious

It's tough trying to get a replay when the Habs beat the Leafs on CBC. It's like they do everything possible to break the video.

Well the party I went to was rather meh and awkward but I had to say goodbye to a friend who's going jet setting around the world. I was pleased to learn from the lone other person I knew there that the boys were destroying the Leafs. Figured I'll catch the online replay to enjoy it later, only to find out the fucking play-by-play turned off for the whole game. Some would say that's a good thing, but when the ACC is a morgue, you need the ridiculous calls by Cole and Galley and yes even Healy if anything so as not to pass out. And to laugh at their stupidity.

Also that was a lame ceremony for Mats... Hey remember when the loving fanbase/media were angry at him because the team he was loyal to got annoyed he didn't want to waive his no trade clause in his final year with them? Yea no mention of that. It's all kumbaya here.

Habs are pros at spoiling parties.
- There are more Habs than Leafs who played with Mats Sundin.
- And it was Pierre Gauthier who drafted Mats Sundin for the Nordiques because he said the big Swede was the best available player. Hey for all his faults, he does have somewhat a good eye for players. Sometimes. He was also big on Lars Eller which is turning out lovely thanks.
- Before the game Ron MacLean told Don Cherry that Boyce and Phaneuf would score. Carey Price LOLed.
- Price's week: 4-0-0, 2 SO, 0.98 GAA, .967 save percentage.
- 20 goals for Colé!
- And Patches keeps rolling.
- No one misses Mike Cammalleri. And Bourque probably fits in better because he's not exactly vying for a letter on his jersey either.
- Highlight of the night: Lars Eller!

Suck it Phaneuf! WOO!

- You can stop bitching about Darche's ice time. If he were getting those minutes while sucking, then yes.  But considering he's playing a simple shutdown role with Pleky, it's just what the doctor ordered. Add in Bourque or Moen, and Pleky finally has some gritty linemates who'll make space for him and themselves.

- Also that was a nice goal.

- Sit down and shut the fuck up, Mike Brown. And shave that ridiculous moustache. If you think you're Sabretooth with those chops, think again.

- Also if you think PK was going to slew foot Kessel, you're fucking blind. He was going for a hit and turned because the puck had left and went into the corner. NO ONE SKATES WITH THEIR FEET GLUED TOGETHER, ESPECIALLY WHEN TURNING. He wasn't even looking at the guy once the puck left.

- Also considering how uber sensitive the refs are when it comes to the Leafs, if the ref didn't call it then it's nothing.

- Emelin had NINE hits.

- Gotta love the guys playing hard to preserve Price's shutout. They were upset they messed it up for him in Long Island.

Price had more points than the Leafs tonight, assisting on Darche's goal.

No matter where you are in the standings, the Habs mantra should always be: JUST BEAT THE LEAFS!

Habs 5, Islanders 3: Whether deserved or not...

...a win is a win. And Al Montoya helped save Jacques Martin's job once again.

Sigh.

People ask why this team can't hold a 2 goal lead. They wonder why the 3rd period always ends up being a lump sided affair in terms of shots on net for the other team. They wonder why a team that stresses defence can't seem to defend. The answer is simple: they're doing Jacques Martin's favourite Play Without the Puck. You have NO excuse for not getting more than 3 shots on Al Montoya by the time they scored their 3rd to tie it up. (Of course it was 2 goals on 3 shots so...there's that).

Regardless, I would have been extremely pissed if they blew this one. I am pissed they almost did. Yes the Islanders have done better on the road lately after absolutely sucking for most of the season. Yes Moulson had 4 fucking goals against Dallas (though it was Raycroft). They have to stop doing that watching crap with a 1-goal lead. However they did show us they can battle hard through their own problems and overcome an aggressive 3-man forecheck that was killing them every time.

Oh look, 2 games over .500, plan the fucking parade
- Kostitsyn's goal was a lovely piece of effort. All he does is work. He's strong and powerful and having Cole on this team seems to have inspired him to find that AK46 who scored end-to-end rushes while on a line with Pleky and Kovy a few years ago. He wants the puck every time he's out there even when the other team has the puck.
- All I want for Christmaskah is 5 more Erik Coles. His goal was a powerplay goal (shocking I know!) and his rage to win this game coupled by him nearly getting killed by the goal post ignited a fire I've only seen in Carey Price. He was so angry he even put the puck into the net that was already off it's moorings just to start shit.
- And on Cole's goal, Desharnais' passing is so slick and smooth. He pump-faked a shot that stuttered every Islanders player opening the space for Cole to slam it in.
- Apparently Price told Nokie he deserved a goal. And after completely botching PK's pass on Moulson's goal, he made up for it with an assist and the game winning goal. With Eller smartly protecting the puck along the boards, he casually made his way towards the blue line and spotted Nokie coming off the bench who absolutely launched that sucker so hard he scored in stereo. Now I'm just worried he'll be the new forward on the point.
- Hal Gill scored the empty netter. Hal Gill gives you wings.
- PS, fuck Matt Martin. Hate that jerk. Could have broken PK's leg on that shit.

Islanders had no quit in them, and you should hope so considering they're all kids (with the exception of a few). Habs have serious problems to fix (one being NO to Kaberle-Campoli pairing against a top line and another being Emelin should play ON HIS RIGHT SIDE you morons). But the powerplay looks so much better with Kaberle (RC Cola Markov) and a little bit of a will to win came into play. Major bummer though, after taking a therapy day yesterday, Moen left the game early... (Another reason why Emelin should be in the lineup, you know, for that physical edge on the penalty kill and such).

Oh, yea. Kaberle now has 3 assists in 2 games.

Game 2 - Habs 3, Bruins 1: The heat is on

My dad isn't much of a hockey fan. Yet out of the blue while I was with my parents at the mall he mentioned some distress over whether the Bruins would turn tonight's game into a gong show. I shrugged, said "meh", and still stuck to my "Habs in 5". I thought the Bruins would win this one close, like a 2-1 win or an OT win. Then I went home and thought "nah, Habs are gonna win 3-1 with an empty netter". I was wrong. It was 3-1 without an empty netter.

Sing it loud and proud: Pre-game Olés were LOUD and early.

History will be made: Plenty of material tonight. Two goals in the first two minutes of play? Or Darche's first ever playoff goal on the powerplay. I vote for Darche.

Claude vs Cloud: That noise you heard was Claude Julien's head exploding. He could be this year's Bruce Boudreau. Do Habs enjoy frustrating various round coaches?

Heart: Habs are in that crazy 5th gear that happens in the playoffs. Even Spacek is throwing hits! Everyone is harping on what the Bruins are doing wrong and it's rare you'll hear someone give credit to what the Habs are doing right.

How you like me now? PK Subban is in everyone's head and has successfully driven Boston's top line insane to the point of ineptitude.

Rookie watch: First playoff point for Eller on Weber's goal. And on Pyatt's line he was throwing the body, forechecking with incredible pace... I think he threw 3 hits in 3 seconds.

Blood in the beard: Habs blocked 27 to Boston's 8. Who's committed to win?

Your ignorance is showing: "He's Danish! You buy that at a Coffee Shop!" Nice to know our tax money goes to this brilliance. I'd vote for Harper just to flush it out.

Oh Canada: Habs and Canucks, the only Canadian teams in the playoffs are both up 2-0 in their series (which sucks for my Blackhawks) and CBC is more concerned with the Bruins then switches very quickly to curling.

We don't just have rainbows, we have rainbows on FIRE! All of Yannick Weber's playoff goals (and points) were against the Bruins. That goal today was perfect.

Romanian gypsy curse: I swear Chara's dehydration problem was NOT my doing.

"It's not over. We got more hockey left to play". Spoken like a vet, PK. Habs don't care what the Bruins throw at them, and I'm loving it. So tell me, if a stacked team like the Bruins can't suck it up and play without Chara, why does no one mention what the Habs have gone through all year without Markov, Gorges and had a full lineup for ONE GAME ONLY and are currently playing in the playoffs with a patchwork defence that's basically on the back of some solid veterans and one kickass rookie?

Besides, any team who trades for Kaberle deserves to suck.

PS. Bulldogs also up 2-0 in their series against the Oilers. (Yes, the Oilers. Since they were eliminated, most of their roster went to the Barons). Today was a 2-1 win where the Bulldogs deployed The System and were outshot 14-2 in the 3rd. Just like BigBroHabs! Drew MacIntyre totally didn't care for your kitchen sink.

Habs 3, Devils 1: A New Hope

It is a period of playoff contention.

The rebel Devils, striking from a hidden base beyond the 8th seed cut off, have won the first and third game against Les Glorieux.

During the battle, Habs spies managed to steal secret plans to the Devils's ultimate weapon, the MARTIN BRODEUR, a rather quick fat man with enough power to destroy an entire team's confidence.

Pursued by Lou Lamoriello's sinister trap and a penalty shot as the first shot on net, Carey Price races home aboard his horse, custodian of the net that can save his team and restore their playoff clinching points down to 1 or 2....

Darche Vader says, "May the goals be with you."

Who da man?

Habs 3, Thrashers 1 Bullshit Goal: Rrrrrrrroll up the rim to win

Finally.

Apparently Benoit Pouliot won a doughnut when he rolled up the rim of his Tim Horton's coffee. The players put it on the board for the guy who broke the drought. The puck walks through Pavelec and sits in the blue paint. Scramble. Cammy actually HITS the post. Hamr smacks it in.

Enjoy that doughnut, Hamr.

Eleven seconds later, Darche scores. Maybe he'll get some Timbits.

This should have been a shutout. Frankly it should have an asterix on it. Brutal officiating on a high stick on Hal Gill with all four guys looking at the play. It was the fucking PUCK CARRIER! Also, it's HAL FUCKING GILL!!! You call a bullshit dive on PK when he was spun like a top with a stick wrapped around his waist but you all stand mum on that?! Disgusting. They even had a long conversation amongst themselves over it.

Lucky AK46 got the empty netter. (Solid effort for it, shot a perfect shot from his blue line). Shit would have flown onto the ice, last game or not, McReally. Yea the team is classy enough to shake your hand, but the crowd would have eaten you alive at center ice if that bullshit goal was the key to losing this game. Especially with how well the Habs were playing once they broke the ice.

Only issue... Hello coaching staff? What the fuck are you doing with the power play? PK paired with Wiz = GOALS. Stop with the stupidity and watch the video. Pretty much every goal on the PP that involves either PK or Wiz, they were paired together. Stop trying to sabotage your team already. PK's powerplay ice time was ridiculously low, and I swear he was paired with Mara.

Someone needs to stop pissing in Evander Kane's cereal.

This game may have had a doughnut on the line, but Carey Price should get a dozen. The Thrashers would have had a 3-0 lead in the first five minutes if not for him...

Habs 2, Flyers 5: Resistance is futile

So is shooting yourself in the foot.

Stop me if you've heard this one before: Habs look to be patiently setting themselves up to at least have a fighting chance only to take 3 consecutive penalties and put themselves behind the 8-ball early. And it ain't goaltending either. You can thank the weak effort to protect or clear the crease for tonight's ills. Even Hal Gill was uncharacteristically soft. Hamr? He's always soft.

Wiz should spend the next week purging his inner-Komisarek. Turnover city. The ghost of blindly clearing up the slot. Lucky for him Price is a nice guy and made the saves. Too bad the best D on the evening were back home rehabbing their knees.

It's annoying to see nothing good really come out of this game. The top lines looked like they just wanted to go on break healthy and the D looked like they didn't want to strain themselves. The kids seemed the only interested parties. OK I'm being facetious. But the same old refrain... Like, without Price this would have been 11-0 before Desharnais (or Eller) scored to make it respectable. By the way, no one really saw his incredible stick save behind those pylons until way later when RDS decided to slow-mo something that wasn't Briere or Giroux. Like the only line that seemed capable to do anything were the 3rd/4th lines, giving us the only 2 goals. They did valiantly attempt to claw back in the 3rd, however, with Price squeezing in by Auld on the bench for an extra attacker, the wrong and weakest line of the night was out. Seriously, this team has no idea what to do with an empty net behind them and finally gave up a goal to the magical spearing midget Briere.

I don't know what to make of it now. I know the Habs will have plenty to stew on as they rest their weary bones and Price goes to play with the All-Stars. However, I have one request for Gauthier: Hamr, honorable man he is, needs to go. Find him a team with young kids, get a pick or whatever back, and call up someone with younger legs or at least someone that can turn around. He's not helping...

Gotta give major props to Pacioretty though. When Hartnell sent Desharnais into the boards with a dirty hit, he was the first one to stand up to his little buddy, bad ribs and all. Also to Ryan White, who was itching for a fight (chicken dance and all) but the refs kept stopping him so he just turned his attention to pissing off Mike Richards.

Thumbs down to Peter Laviolette. Up 4-1 and you still have that shithead Carcillo on the ice? Result: 10 minute misconduct for major unsportsmanlike fouls. Seriously, why does this tool waste a roster space?

Habs 3, Sharks 1: Jump the shark!

Saturday 2pm and the snow starts to fall. This ain't San Jose. Team Teal walks in with their Gold Medal line and a pickle on defense. Half the Habs are asleep except for Eller's line. Niemi felt so bad he left his net wide open a few times, but nothing doing. End of the first period and it's tied 1-1. Shots were 10-4 for the Sharks. No problem, guys. Carey Price is here.

But getting pinned in the backend was an issue, especially with the olde Wonder Twins inability to clear the zone cleanly. They missed PK's creativity. Price was working overtime to make up for his missing breakout passes.

Through 25 minutes, Eller's line was the only one capable of getting to Niemi and shooting on net. At 7:11, Picard registers the first Habs shot on net. This is after killing Pleky's hooking penalty. Finally, Plekanec out-muscles McGinn in a Datsyukian manner and makes it 2-1. Maybe McGinn will blog about it later.

By the way, Dan Boyle was on the ice for 20 minutes already. He would end the night playing a total of 30 minutes. Basically he played half the game. And here I thought we were burning out OUR guys. Is this why he was shooting pucks in his own net in the playoffs?

Quote of the night by Joe Thornton at the second intermission: "If we keep them under 5, I think we'll be good." Guess he missed the first period.

Third period was the only time Habs outshot the Sharks (by two whole shots). Joe Thornton looses his helmet and doesn't want to mess with the hair to properly stop the Hamr Train from rolling in on Niemi. All I could think of while watching Hamr on a breakaway was that this game officially jumped the shark.

Same crowd reaction too!

Cammy punts in the double rebound with Doug Murray totally back on a beach somewhere. One phantom holding call later and Lars Eller is twitching in the box, giving the stink-eye to the ref. Niemi was never in his net to begin with and goes for the extra attacker. Price stones Heatley. Annoying (and booing) Dany Heatley is fun.

Empty net alert! Cammy misses. Price tries but some Shark leaps to glove his shot off to the side. No fair, no fun. Habs win! No triple low fives makes us all very sad. Someone needs to fix this!

And memo to Kelly Hrudey: Both PK and Weber are the future of the Habs D. Actually that's the future powerplay unit right there. So I beg to differ that Weber is the guy who sits. Why do you think Picard was hired? Picard could easily be switch for Carle. Not to mention the older guys should be given a night off here and there. Like Spacek. (Notice who was always hemmed in the D-zone? Hamr/Spacek pair. Lucky it was kept to the outside for the most part).

Habs 3, Oilers 4 (OT): Meltdown

Games like this piss me off. I don't have a nicer way to put it. And the sad part is I knew they would do this.

The Habs come out onto the ice tentatively, unsure about how to play or what to do. Defensively they're confused with the balls out manner of the Oilers who play without a care because they have nothing to care about because, frankly, they stink and aren't going anywhere. They have no system, so more often than not you find yourself caught following them when you should be stomping on them. Basically it's a game of big foot vs a herd of hamsters. Offensively, when Mathieu Darche is the only reason why you've scored all three goals, YOU GOT A PROBLEM. And when you're going down the ice with Gomez and he passes you the puck, why the hell would you pass it right back to him when you're more open and he's covered by two players?

Note in OT, if there was a worse time for Cammy to lose the puck like he's been doing a lot lately, that was it.

Shame on you, Habs. Shame on you for allowing chronic underachievers like Hemsky, Gagner, and Penner look like Wayne Fucking Gretzky. And all we heard was how awesome the Oilers were, which was garbage considering two of the goals should not have even happened due to blatant uncalled penalties, especially that shorthanded one...

The conspiracy theorist in me wonders if certain words were exchanged to make Oil Change Episode 4: The Northeastern Trip look better than it should be. Bottom line, SHAME on the Habs because now they'll forever be immortalized while playing one of their worst games of the year against the Western Islanders in that bullshit show.

Shame!
- A TWO GOAL LEAD IS NOTHING.
- Hey coach, calling for a line change with your guys in the D-zone is NOT how it's done. I could be wrong though.
- If that was Spacek's 800th game, then it was 800 games too many.
- Benoit Pouliot is back to pissing me off...
- Will Don Cherry call out Taylor Hall for his diving? At least the Bell Center crowd recognized it and booed him mercilessly.
- Rush those shots on the powerplay any more, guys. It's not like you're good with the man advantage or anything.
- I swear PK shattered Kostitsyn's knee with that shot. Pleky had to drag him off the ice he couldn't move. (Thankfully he seems ok for now).
- I see now why the officiating in the NHL is in shambles. Stephen Walcom is an ass.
- Going to have to seriously clean up the Bell Center after Pierre McGuire leaves...
And finally:
- Can't you guys win a fucking game with the Grey Cup in the house while we honour the Alouettes or what? What the fuck is your problem?!

Devils tomorrow. Better be angry, Habs, because the Devils are worse than the Oilers with less hope for their future.

Know what? I need a shower to wash off this game. Also, I need to cuddle with my puppy. I'll share this latest adorable picture with you to cuddle with, my 3 readers, in hopes he makes you feel better after that garbage.

Lookie. He left a noose.

Habs 7, Whalercanes 2: Picking apart the carcass

Diver.

It's been a while since the Habs had a good old smackdown on a struggling team. And yet despite the score, the Whalercanes were outplaying the home team for the first period and a half.

The last thing you want to do with a team like that is take a bunch of penalties to give them any kind of confidence in themselves, especially after they were recently demolished by the Flyers 8-1 and have their dad's along on the trip watching from the stands. Naturally the Habs took a zillion penalties, but killed them all in the first period and scored 2 goals right after. Divercanes already had 15 shots, which was 5 more than the Habs. Not so in the 2nd as someone forgot to cover the backdoor on Cammy's silly penalty, followed by a hashmark snipe by Kostopoulos (REALLY?!) where I was actually more shocked to see him receiving a pass from Staal over the goal. Perhaps it was a wake-up call? Habs turned it on right after and Captain America sniped the right corner over Cam Ward after a lovely game of hot potato with Plekanec.

Then, came the impossible...

What's more annoying?
Knowing Lapierre scored a spin-o-rama on you where you hesitated and found yourself completely out of position, or the fact your entire team was rendered absolutely lost and confused from the goalie out by Lapierre?

Cam Ward found himself pulled for the 2nd straight game and Peters faced the Habs for the first time in his life. Not a fun night there! He found himself flopped on his back for Pouliot to riffle one top-shelf (with Spacek below the goal line...doule-u tee eff mate). And just to piss off their whiny coach, Habs capped off the night with two more powerplay goals bringing the total to three on the night and SIX in the last three games. Oddly enough they were the exact same goals by Kostitsyn and Darche. Talk about a 2.75 million dollar goal differential you cap friendly sniper you.

I don't want to talk about Markov. I'm too upset to even think about it. I'm even more upset because the knee-on-knee went unpenalized. Superstar rule? Maybe. Or Staal's hilarious Oscar-worthy act to wiggle his arms in the air after kneeing Markov. I do know that if a Hab had even GLANCED a Whalercane by the knee they'd have been TOSSED to protect Gary Bettman's All-Star home team. Hopefully it's just pain from the recent surgery. Hopefully the "medical experts" on RDS who diagnosed Markov immediately after the game without an MRI or even seeing him claiming he'll be gone 3 months are full of crap. Hopefully Markov slaps on a brace to protect the damn thing. Hopefully Markov doesn't retire like Bobby Orr because of this knee, though if such a thing were to happen SOMEONE PLEASE HIRE HIM TO COACH OUR DEFENSEMEN (not like Perry Pearn, I mean in practice and with the farm team to better our prospects). I'm really worried about his knee...

Oh crap I talked about Markov. Now I'm upset again. Hey Carey! Hey PK! Cheer me up?

The Giggling Goalie.

Habs 1, Panthers 3: Honestly...

The cable went out right before that powerplay in the 3rd (wet snow is blowing up some local transformers for some reason) so I have no idea how this ended. Even God said "DON'T LOOK! THE POWERPLAY IS HIDEOUS!" Highlights! Please! (They're not working!)

But I don't need highlights to say that:
- Spacek is going to kill me.
- Price might kill Spacek first. Or Hamr.
- A rookie like PK Subban can stickhandle and protect the puck with ease through a crowd of wild rabid dogs yet the veterans seem absolutely incapable of doing so.
- The inept powerplay will kill this team.
- Markov didn't un-kill the powerplay magically.
- Martin didn't put Markov on the PIVOTAL 5-on-3 at all so he killed the game that way.
- Too many back-to-back games gonna kill the old man defence so you may as well have SCRATCHED Spacek for Picard (I can deal with his mess for now).
- No one can fucking aim when they shoot.
- No one understands a rebound is something you should try to score on. Panthers understood this, Habs never understand it.
- Gionta may be a zombie because no way he screws up that bad on a wide open net if he weren't.
- The Panthers play like shit in every other arena, including a gross stinker in Ottawa just before, but come here and magically turn into a real team (OK they seem to do the same to Penguins on more than one occasion).
- It might have been a good night to play DUSTIN BOYD.
- The opposite net is a mysterious place where only Halpern's line goes.
- Darcy Hordichuk is full of hot air.

Please. Fix the powerplay before you go to Columbus. Other than that, 7-3-1 with THIS defence, with only one line really scoring, and NO powerplay for October? Yea, I'll take that.

Habs 5, Islanders 3: Boom.

That game was exhausting to watch even though I was busy eating my green curry chicken (yum!) or sitting on my comfy sofa (it's very comfy).

The other day, Pierre McGuire was a little ornery at how happy everyone in and around the team were. Happy is an understatement as they were downright giddy after the overtime win against Phoenix. I mean they had DOUGHNUTS available for the press and Jacques Martin was cracking jokes! Yet Debbie Downers seem to be everywhere. I mean I still hear people bitching about the Halak trade (STFUUUUU Eller is awesome and Pleky is more important than Halak). Despite the giddy happy attitude, the guys are totally grounded. They're happy and having fun, yes, and they're winning BUT they know it's still early in the year and that they're not exactly perfect.

Exhibit A: Cover those point shots. All three Islanders goals were deflections through multi-screens because no one was clearing the enemy from Price's sight and no one was really covering the point all that well save for a few (like Pleky, who was pretty awesome defensively). I mean that first goal against would have never happened if Gio didn't totally flub his deflection and actually hounded the puck instead of opting to back up and fall asleep. Gill and Gorges forgot Tavares and weren't really in a good position to block anything except Price's view so they didn't help on the second goal while no one was really bugging the pointman. And Eller tried to take care of the pointman on the bouncy third goal by taking it to the ice but he couldn't get up and back at him in time to do anything about the shot. Hopefully they'll take note of this and fix it for Friday's part 2 of this mini-series.

Also don't take too many penalties against this team please. They don't even have Streit but if Wisniewski's got carte blanche to fire at will from the point...

I wonder if we'll see Rick DiPietro in nets Friday. Yes! He's still alive!

Habs 5, Bolts 3: Playoffs in sight

This is how you're supposed to play now, team. It doesn't matter that you scored on your own net twice (well, a goal and an assist) because there really wasn't any fear that the Lightning were going to suddenly take command of this game. There was primary and secondary (tertiary?) scoring. A powerplay goal. Solid defense with zero backing up and maybe one or two lapses but nothing too drastic. None of that stupid "score 2 and sit on the goalie all night" crap. Instead you're supposed to compliment your goaltending just like tonight. Like what RDS said, when this team is MOVING they look like the best team in the League.

It only took them the entire season to get it eh?

Gomez had a goal and two assists and cracked the 50 points mark. Each one of those three points was definitely worth a million bucks each. Metro in his 400th game now has the most powerplay goals on the team, and has a career high 15 goals. Benoit Pouliot goes "Gui who?" and Darche Vader used the force and scared away Niittymaki. Gave us free wings. too!

Of course the best pass of the evening was Hal Gill to Steven Stamkos on the powerplay. Oops, wrong team!

That's ok Hal, we still love you. Not like it was a go-ahead goal or anything anyway.

No idea where Lecavalier was all night. They mentioned his name but I only noticed him when he tripped over Jaro and hurt himself. I mean, St-Louis looked to be concussed the previous game but he was out there tonight and scored a gorgeous goal like he usually does. But Lecav? Tanguay? Anyone there? No? Good.

We all got a scare when a collision looked to have taken out Pleky's knee but seems it was only a charleyhorse or something as Pleky returned almost immediately. Injures and this team are unbelievable this year...

Scoreboard watching, Habs still in 7th with 72 points. Boston lost in OT so they're stil stuck in 8th. Thanking the Leafs makes us feel dirty. Philly unfortunately won, but nothing would have moved anyway. Nashville did us all a favour by beating the Thrashers. And while Florida won in the shootout they're still stuck down in 12th. I looked at this week's schedule and there's a definitely possibility Les Boys can grab 6 huge points this week (though it appears Drouin-deslauriers has had an epiphany and may be tough to beat, depending how tired he is come Thursday). Bruins are in big trouble but it could go to OT. They're annoying like that.

By the way, the GMs talking at the Head Shots commitee sound like a train of idiots capped off by king idiot himself, Colin Campbell. I really don't think they get it...

Habs 4, Bruins 1: Olympic hangover

One down, eighteen games to go. Funny how that snuck up on us all, eh?

The Bruins have officially bored their home crowd to death. Sometimes I think they're worse than the Devils in that DEFENSE FIRST shell of Claude Julien. We make fun of Lemaire and Martin for that system, but what about him? When the most exciting offense you get is coming from old man Recchi, there's something wrong. Even teacher's pet Michael Ryder has turned back into the lame Michael Ryder Bob Gainey didn't want to sign. There's a very solid reason why he lost his spot to Sergei Kostitsyn...

It's weird seeing regular hockey now. There are no cowbells. There's no automatic icing. I wish we had brought over the crease violation rule but whatever. The "U!S!A!" chant was redundant, especially considering there are more Canadians on the Bruins than Americans... Congrats, Bruins. You have an Olympic benchwarmer.

And after using two periods to find the magic again, Habs exploded on Tuukka Rask for 4 unanswered goals including a sad empty netter just as Rask had left (poor kid). I didn't even realize the net was empty. Actually I don't even think Pouliot knew the net was empty until he just happened to look up before dumping it in.

Price hasn't lost a beat. Having his buddy Rask on the other end of the rink was interesting too. And you know Price is comfy when he stickhandles around a forechecker and calmly passes the puck to his defenceman.

Andrei Kostitsyn is shaking off the rust. And playing on the line with his brother this time is perfect.

HMCS Hal Gill was huge.

Andrei Markov didn't look like the man we saw struggle through the Olympics.

And as the first and second line weren't eble to capitalize or finish, the third and fourth line picked up the slack. Metro with his wonderful ability to destroy his former teams (reason number 1 on why Glen Metropolit must remain a Hab: we need the goals on the Bruins, Flyers, Capitals, Thrashers, etc). The Concordia in me is still capable of cheering for the McGill in Darche Vader. I really like Lapierre with Moore and Moen, even if I was a tad lukewarm on the trade for Moore. If it lights a fire under Lapierre's ass, then I'm happy. I WILL BE VERY SAD IF TOM PYATT GOES BACK TO HAMILTON YOU HEAR ME, JACQUES?! Especially if he's replaced with Dagger or Bergeron.

(Edit: Nevermind... Dagger's been traded to the Blues for a U of Michigan boy. I'll miss those eyebrows but I'm intrigued by this Palushaj kid. HE GOES TO THE NET!)

You dropped something, Tuukka.

Habs head West. It won't be easy...but we'll get to see Saku again!

Habs 5, Pens 3: In which we suckerpunch you and steal your lunch money

When I saw the lineup for today's afternoon game I said that I hope they make it interesting at the very least. I know the Pens don't perform so good in afternoon games, so Jacques Martin's "sleep them to death" system would have been horrible. Thankfully it looks like they were following Guy Boucher's system. Add a little bit of luck to it, and we got free wings!

Thirty seconds in and Craig Simpson is already preparing his speech about the kids on line 4 and how Crosby will eat them alive once Disco Dan gets his matchups working when Darch collides with wandering Fleury behind the net and Pleky scores. If Chris Lee were reffing, he'd be all over that. Marouelli was probably just shocked at the forchecking Habs to notice. I'm actually more shocked the 5 Pens players standing around looking at the ref didn't just turn around and maul Darche...

Not long after Staal crashes the crease and Dupuis flings in the rebound. They looked at it but it was a good goal regardless.

I muted the game and put yakety sax on for a good five minutes and nearly died laughing. It was that kind of afternoon. Think of the weirdest things this side of Kronwall's skate blade coming off during play. It was that kind of weird. Players falling down, falling over each other, Gorges' stick getting stuck in between two glass planks, Fleury throwing a fit every time Ryan White did his job, etc... It started in warmup when Gomez took a puck off the back of the head and realized he was bleeding. My mom even called me from Ikea saying that she's making a leg of lamb and wants me to come over for dinner. Talk about random.

Zebras love watching the Habs too!

All hail we got a fourth line!
- Brrrrrrrrock Trotter makes his debut, gets 5 shots on goal (more than any player on the whole ice), draws 3 penalties, nearly scores but is stopped first by Jay McKee and then by a post, and gets an interview with Cassie Campbell. He's so pro!
- Desharnais proves someone can be shorter than Brian Gionta. Almost scores too.
- Ryan White gets attacked by Old Man Guerin for checking Malkin clean and legal. Didn't know Malkin's honor needed protecting. Either way, Guerin got owned by a kid 20 years younger than him.
- When a flying Gio scored and knocked himself out into the boards I thought "Great! Now we can't score without injuring ourselves!" You could see the stars rotating around his head.
- Gio kneeling on his second goal doesn't make him any shorter either.
- Just as Craig Simpson was chewing out Gomez for not getting any goals lately he scores on the powerplay.
- And when Markov was down on the ice after falling awkward and pulling his back, the entire crowd, bench, and coaches were silent with an "oh shit" look on their faces. You could hear a mouse fart from the basement. I saw our standings drop by 10. Then he rose like Jesus and the crowd rejoiced. The PA guy played Tragically Hip's "Courage".
- Jaro no likes breakaways. Seeing Malkin coming at him was like watching a squirrel starring at a car before it hits him.
- And the 2-on-1 was saved by old man Spacek of all people, otherwise Jaro's short legs no make the save.
- Outshooting the Pens by a 10:1 margin has something to do with things. Offensive hockey works, Jacques! You should try it more often!
- Disco Dan tried to take advantage of our Kids Line by slipping Crosby and Malkin over the boards. Never underestimate the Bulldogs, Dan. Probably too busy with the lucky burritos.
- When Darche Vader scores, Montreal is happy. Fleury is not.
- It's not every day we hear a Habs goalie makes 18 saves for a win.
- This team is just so much happier when Ryan White is on it. He's like a cherry-faced bundle of happy energy.

Bottom line is the Bulldogs kids are uncorrupted by Coach Martini.

Bruins lost again to the Canucks in a shootout even while launching 40+ shots at Luongo. Fucking annoying! I don't want them to end their streak tomorrow. Habs better win! If there are teams I can't stand losing to, the Bruins are top of that list.

Habs 3, Booins 2 (SO): A tale of two solitudes

Ever wonder what that Nashville game would have looked like if the Habs actually bothered to match their goalie's effort to compete by trying to actually score? Well, this was it.

Is it sad that the only highlight from the first 30 minutes was seeing Louis Leblanc in the crowd watching the monster that drafted him?

Sixty-five minutes, 45 saves, and a top shelf goal by Brian "the itty bitty sniper" Gionta later, Habs send Boston on to it's 9th straight loss. I'm onery about it because the Habs successful offense took a mere 5 minutes out of the +65.

It must have been deja vu for the hated Bear Tribe of the East. Last time les Glorieux paid them a visit, they hadn't scored a goal in 8.9 periods of play. Back then, we had Cammy but had no Markov, no Gionta, no Hal Gill, no Pouliot, no Sergei, no Rhino, and Metro was the only one who scored while Price put on a cocky display of goaltending. Fastforward to last night and the Bruins blow a 2-0 lead in the span of 2 minutes thanks to the powerplay and Glen Metropolit absolutely has this thing with destroying his former teams. Moments later, back to even-stregth, Hamr brings the marching band and the Bruins start sweating. Jaro polished his horseshoe extra shiny for the shootout, but I still wish he would stop the bumbling goaltender act.

Do you feel the heat, Claude? As you stand there behind the bench all puffy and grumpy? Reminds me of the old days.

Not that we're any better. Apparently Tuesday's fun fest against Vancouver was too much fun for Coach Martini to handle. Maybe his heart can't take fast-paced games?

And one of these days Andrei Markov will maybe murder Slippy. Don't say I didn't warn you.