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?

Fail the Podium

Case in point if this were a team of spunky unknowns, perhaps the loss Sunday wouldn't be so aggravating? All I can think of while watching that game was "WHO ATE ALL THE PIES?! BRODEUR ATE ALL THE PIES! YOU FAT BASTARD!" Learn to butterfly and two of those goals don't go in. Meh. Where's Jordan Eberle when you need him...

Do I have any confidence in 7UONGO? Well, it's Germany. Lose to that and the whole country will collectively explode. At least we got ICE DANCERS!

Unfortunately there are no free wings when the Bulldogs score 5 goals...

Went to see the Bulldogs play the Bell Center and finally win a game there. Totally helped that the Baby-Flyers suck. I guess Matsumoto got into the All-Star Game for having great hair and being King Invisible. Easiest shutout Desjardins will ever get, in fact they seemed wary of giving him a star (he got 3rd) considering he had maybe one tough save that was more of a fluke. Save of the day was off his post and crossbar! Lord help us if he ever joins the Habs permanently (unless we get some awesome defense). It's really not that tough to get a shutout when you're goalie for the Bulldogs, and he almost screwed it up himself by insisting on playing the puck when he has no idea what to do with it. Meanwhile the Flyers continue to seek a proper goaltender...

Pyatt has his own fanclub!

Pyatt and Trotter scored twice and Grant Stevenson got a sweet shorthanded goal. Ceremonial faceoff was between Alex Henry and Jared Ross, and if you don't know how that looks then think of Chara vs Gionta. Brother's zinger of the night, "That's the only faceoff Henry will ever win." Discovery of the night: Apparently Conboy does faceoffs now. Mindfuck of the night was when the B-Flyers own Stevenson took a penalty on our Stevenson. But the Phantoms had so many powerplays yet apparently have no idea what to do on the powerplay. They all tried to cherry pick instead and the Dogs didn't let them succeed at that.

Can we keep them?

There will be blood! Habs 5, Islanders 4

I bleed! And I score! And these funny guys in Blue-Orange looked scared...

Say what you will about an ugly game like this, or about how a team that only shows up in the 3rd doesn't merit 2 points. The bottom line is they rallied back, and they won it and the other guys weren't able to contain it. And give the Islanders some credit here. They knew exactly who they were facing, and they knew they had to make it a good one because they're currently coming off a 6 game losing streak. The Curse of the Ex-Habs Franco Goalie was nothing more than Danis trying to get himself an actual job by hoping he could come out the hero, especially considering DP is absolutely on the IR. They forechecked hard, they trapped (ya, that was weird seeing the Islanders play the trap), they did things they probably never really did before, and they capitalized on yet another slew of scrappy penalties. But Streit should know his former team... When the Canadiens have their backs to the wall, the come out fighting. And this time Price was not going to be the deciding factor, especially after facing a game's worth of shots by the end of the second period. He was, however, the one to hold the final lead intact. Of course the million dollar question is: What did Carbo say after the 2nd? According to Plekanec,"Yeah, you don't want to hear that." Zing!

Look! Onto the wet ice! It's a bird? No a plane? No! It's Super Pleky!

And though it wasn't as magical as The Comeback against the Rangers, it was close. The Islanders were playing better than the Rangers anyway. But Kovalev, who drew first before the Islanders went firing on all cylinders and stuffed in the final one, seems to have a knack for destroying New York teams. Plekanec combined with his line to assist and receive, and finally his hard work paid off with two goals in two minutes. Higgins, of course, a stone's throw from his home, tied the game and corrected his first period error that deflected Streit's shot behind Price. The third period bonanza had the Islanders completely stunned as they finally faced the real Montreal Canadiens.

They got character, these guys. But just as things are flying they're saddled with another week off before heading into Columbus, where that annoying git RJ Umberger is playing now. Though I'm more concerned with Rick Nash...

Another interesting thing was the crowd. Throughout the game, all I could hear is GO HABS GO chants and the Ole song. And as the Canadiens scored, a sea of red or white jerseys jumped to their feet. With only around fourteen thousand in attendence, that's got to hurt the home team. I almost made the trip myself, actually. Maybe in the 2nd half of the season.

Wonder what Price and Kovy were looking at right at the start of the 2nd? The ice. It's was absolutely wet. Almost like they passed the zamboni just a second before. You'd think arenas in the NHL could at least get the ice to settle before a period starts? Guys should have brought their swiming trunks...

Seeking other forms of interests:
- Of course the Leafs were playing the Rangers tonight. And of course the Leafs have their own 3rd Period Bonanza and scored 5 goals for a win that gave Tom Renney bad memories of one February last season and to which HNIC got all in a tizzy while planning the parade and building their shrine to Luke Schenn. I'd like to remind you that the Leafs were only down 2-0, and assuming you've got the drive to do so, it's not that hard to rally back from. Especially since the Rags were using their backup, Stephen Valiquette.
- And if you think the Habs are bad for relying on their goaltending day in and day out, what about the Flames? I stuck around to watch the Kings/Flames game. The Kings are a young team with not much going for them. However they were dominating the Flames on the faceoffs, they were outshooting them, they were holding them in their zone and doing a well enough job defensively. And HNIC can hold the holy candle to Schenn all they want. Frankly Drew Doughty is a far more incredible player for a kid of his age and straight from junior saddled with an otherwise weak team. In fact you wouldn't know he was just drafted and thrown into the NHL from the way he's playing. But without Kipper in nets, the Flames would have been the absolutely Lames. And the Kings did manage to tie up the game as well, only to lose by one goal and not able to capitalize with an extra attacker in the dying moments. Like the Islanders game, the Flames should not have had Kipper stand on his head against the Kings, but he had to in order to keep their winning streak alive...
- Buffalo 5-0 against the Caps. Yup, that's Theo's 5-hole all right.
- Marty Turco, I'm really afraid for you... The Bruins beat the Stars 5-1, and the Stars only goal comes from Sean Fucking Avery.
- MARTIN BRODEUR GOT FUCKING INJURED! I told you, The Roy Curse. Devils did win though, and oddly enough the win went to Brodeur...? He left 6 minutes into the 2nd period after his usual sprawling save with a "bruised" elbow. Um...it's gotta be more than that. Hey! Look! Kevin Weekes is still alive! Oh my god!
- Semin says Crosby is nothing special, and then the Penguinos stomp the Blues 6-3. Oddly enough, Mason was in nets for the Blues. I thought he was still injured?
- Cam Ward lets in a few real stinkers (like, they were absolutely bad goals) and the Oilers finally win a game.

Jekylls 2, Hydes 3 (SO)

Ok, take those two points and run my little Habs. Run far away. Because if you keep playing like that, it will be a short postseason. Or will it? It seems the Canadiens can only win games when they are outshoot and outplayed. (I'm talking more even teams, not games against the Leafs and et cetera).

Things of note:
- Pre-game nod to legendary coaches Scotty Bowman, Dick Irvin Sr, and Toe Blake. Bruce Blake came out in his late-father's team sweater and put on the HAT. There was much rejoicing.
- The Bello-Mullet is back~!
- I don't think I remember a game where the Habs won by scoring un-assisted goals. One beautiful pot-stuffer by Kovy that soared right over Wardo's head as he picked a pocket and waltzed right in. The other was Tanguay on a penalty shot (another hand-on-the-puck thinger). Koivu with the patented 5-hole deke for the win.
- Price played goalie and defensemen and tried to generate offense for the team while catching the 'Canes napping on line-changes. Unfortunately no takers, and an inevitable off-the-glass play soars too high for the officials. Thankfully he's also the top player on the penalty kill. I sure if they'd allow goalies to go that far down the ice, he'd probably be a top forward on the team too. (Wrist shot!)
- I lost count at how many wide open nets were missed despite each player being within a foot from the crease.
- Samsonov came in expecting to be booed. Said it felt like old times.
- The bigger the Staal the harder they fall? When Cube is telling you to stop whining, please, just stop whining.
- Ya, no one knows what the hell happened on that second Carolina goal. Bounced out Price's glove to Markov who proceeded to ignore it while Cullen chopped it back to the net just as Price was getting back up to reposition himself. It was a facepalm.
- Are the ghosts angry or are they just challenging the current lineup? Broken sticks galore! And Hammer blocks a shot and leaves the game with a "leg injury". WE'RE FUCKED!
- Brind'Amour is one ugly dude.
- It takes 30 seconds for Pleky to feel pain. Either that or he burries it for 30 seconds because he's THAT focused and just doesn't want to move out of position.
- Another 30+ shots on goal night for Price, and perfect on the shootout.
- Wardo Voodoo Hex broken! First win (sort of) against the Hurricanes in the Bell Center since...ever.

Bring your pillows: Next, Minnesota Wild. It's Koivu VS Koivu! The Wild have just received their first regulation loss, against the old Minnesota team, and Backstrom was pulled after 3 quickies. Seriously, Steve Fucking Ott scored and Dallas didn't even have Turks in nets. (Which, considering how he's been playing lately, was probably a good idea. Poor Turks...) Guess it was one of those nights eh Nik? You can trade notes with Pricey on "My Team is Trying To Kill Me Early With a 32 SOG Per Game Average". They should get along fine.

PUNK'D! Marty... Devils lost twice to the fucking Flyers, giving them unneeded confidence, and tonight the Devils LOSE again. To the farking LEAFS! Granted it was also a shootout. But final scores like 6-5 do not look good, especially since Toskala was nearly yanked for Cujo. I think I know the problem though. It's Patrick Roy! Brodeur is very close to beating his wins record and he needs 8 more for the equalizer. But like the Habs and Cup Championships after St Pat ran off, as he nears the record, St Pat is threatened and did something to Brodeur! Don't worry, Marty. I'm sure the Thrashers will be pleased to lend a hand and breaking the Curse of St Patrick.

You are not the REAL Tim Thomas! Seriously, 2nd straight shutout? Are the Oilers and Canucks that bad or did Tiny Tim learn a few things in goalie camp this summer? Either that or the Bruins are just offensively challenged and can't score more than 1 goal, shootout or otherwise. What is going on?!