Habs 2, Bolts 1 (SO): Carey Price

Thank you very much.

You know, I sometimes wish the NHL would adopt IIHF point system so players wouldn't dick around until they get the loser point and then dick around more in OT so they could take turns on the goalie in the crapshoot.

Would it maybe give players and teams more urgency to win in regulation?

(Of course I hate how gold medals can be won in shootouts in the IIHF so fuck that).

There was a whole lot of nothing in this game though. Too afraid to screw up. Not enough to take a chance. Dump. Chase. Snooze button.

Lars Eller is sick in shootouts. Even Ben Bishop being large couldn't save him.

Habs 3, Bolts 2: Hey ugly

It really didn't have to be that difficult. Honestly. But why Galchenyuk gets a pitiful 8 minutes of ice time despite being on fucking fire I have no idea. And wouldn't you know it? Remove Patches from Desharnais and put him with Pleky and he still produces! SHOCKING.

Except for that powerplay. Holy face of palming, coaching staff. The Lightning were literally giving you this game, and you throw out the same unproducing lines you broke up? Does that make any sense? It was a miracle Gionta managed to get that goal with 40-something seconds left in the 3rd. On the 6th powerplay attempt.

Never mind how many breakaways they allowed Stamkos have while on the powerplay.

And the D-zone is still a rather wonky. Whenever Frankie Bou--who I will forever call Bubbles from now on--was just atrocious. And yet, he was out there every time I looked. Price was throwing up the flippers and doing everything possible to keep the puck out and there's Bubbles getting outworked by Pouliot of all people, made worse by watching Markov not cover Lecavalier for his goal. Yep. Markov was equally brutal. You can even fancy it up to brütal.

Other guys who needed this:
- Gionta with the two goals, including the winner.
- Weber smells playoffs. He always plays good in those.
- Price de Nice.
- Price's goalposts responded well to the beating he gave them in yesterday's game.
- Gallager/Eller/Galchenyuk were doing their job but now got to play together. Keep them like this please? Better yet, give them more ice time and powerplay time?

The empty net is still a mystery. What a fucker.

Habs 4, Bolts 3: Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Habs

Habs 2nd periods.

Thinking about skipping those 2nd periods from now on, Habs. I mean, if you guys do it, then why shouldn't I?

Good teams find a way to win. Good Habs teams find a way to piss off their fanbase while looking like a bunch of pylons for a whole period then come back to win it in the 3rd. Whatever works. Just as long as we got a steady supply of booze and things to throw at the TV set.

Hope you enjoyed that 1st place spot for those 5 minutes, Bruins.

Meanwhile, after the Habs powered back in the 3rd, the Lightning got their first shot on Price with about 1:40 left. Probably why Boucher stormed off after the final buzzer.

Are you really really really sure you want to join the Northeast guys?

Grrraaaaaaaah!

Scoring by committee. Pleky, Gionta, Emelin and another winner by Gallagher. Michael Ryder is apparently now a playmaker. And most of that 3rd was without Prust, who looked like he aggravated something whatever was already bothering him. Though it might be a good week for Prust to take off with only tomorrow, Wednesday and then Saturday with games. Ice bag that shoulder, Prusty. You deserve a break.

Welcome to the NHL, Pateryn. I'm sorry you have to play with Bouillon...

Habs 4, Bolts 3 (unnecessary SO): You kill me

Habs won. I threw things at my TV and cursed Therrien because he refuses to extract his head from his asshole (and Price was run on that 2nd goal but for some reason random goalie interference is OK when the puck goes in the net now).

I'm so angry at the decisions he has made recently--namely involving PK Subban NOT playing key important moments of the game like an important penalty kill or an OT powerplay, or how DD gets carte blanche while Lars Eller ON THE FOURTH LINE has points and work ethic coming out of his wazoo--that I can't properly recap this game.

So I'm posting this video of goats yelling like humans (brought to my attention by Wrap Around Curl). This is my recap.

Yup.

Habs 5, Bolts 2: No storylines for you!

That's right, Stamkos. Go and get your 60 goals elsewhere! Instead we have better storylines.

Like Gabby Dumont showing why he's our new little annoying gnat.

Like Erik Cole scoring, and scoring some more.

Like Max Pacioretty following Cole's model and giving us free wings.

Like PK Subban having fun AND preventing Stamkos from scoring.

Like Pleky showing he can slip into Desharnais' spot and the line will still produce.

Like Emelin's timely pinch for his 3rd goal of the year.

Like Budaj's two assists! OK well one was to Lecavalier...

That's right. NONE SHALL TANK! I mean, we're already in the tank. I'm thankful they're showing us they're still playing like they care.

Of course it helps when Yzerman unearthed Sebastien Caron from Craigslist. And the fact the Lightning were trying too hard to get the puck to Stamkos. All they were missing were arrows and neon signs.

Habs 3, Bots 1: Victoire!

To the separatists outside the Bell Centre and their little protest: language laws do not apply in the hiring of a hockey coach. And the only bilingual coach I would want for this team is the guy the Habs beat tonight.

You can see it on the ice, on the faces of the players, and the results. It has taken some time for Cunney to change his shell shocked men who have been programmed to score a goal and sit back to wait for a counter-attack chance. The playbook on the Habs will need to be thrown out for the 3rd period now. The message is clear: the other team might score, they might get a lucky bounce, or a tough break, but we will not back down.

It's basically what happened tonight. Similarly to what happened last game against the Jets.

Dominic Moore, despite being accosted by Erik Cole by the left boards, tossed the puck to the net where my old nemesis Vince knocked into Emelin and Price allowing the puck to bounce in. Didn't really like the contact with Price but it looked like the puck hit his stick blade before he ran into them.

A lucky shot. A lucky bounce. Tough break. C'est la vie.

Moments later Price makes a sick toe save on St. Louis, saving them from going down 2-0. Deep breath, it's ok guys. You're playing a team that has Marc-Andre Bergeron in for nearly 20 minutes.

Pressure. Lars Eller gets the crowd to their feet every time he touches the puck now. You can see the confidence oozing out of him. AK46 razzle-dazzles, creates chances, hits hard, unfortunately the tic-tac-toe play hits the post. Emelin destroys a few guys. We had some face-cage on face-cage violence as he turned Martin St. Louis into a new board ad and found a fly swatting his windshield named Ryan Malone. Chip away. Frustrate them. Take away their speed.

Stamkos had 1 shot on net the whole game. It wasn't for lack of effort, rather it was because Lars Eller and his line kept them in check and Josh Gorges was there to back them up.

Two goals in 93 seconds. Fourth line with a solid shift, Blunden flips a dirtly little backhand over Garon. After Price makes a game saving save, PK flips the puck into the next time zone onto Patches' stick who breaks in and scores. Guy Boucher calls a timeout. Moments later, Lars Eller kicks the puck into their net because Bergeron--in fits of desperation--hooks him away. No call on the hook, no goal, Bolts still look for answers. The closest they get is after the buzzer to end the 2nd.

“There was a lot of communication on the bench between the players and the coaches in the third because of all the leads we’ve been giving up lately. That communication from the coaches was huge and because of that we knew we weren’t going to let things slip away,” continued Pacioretty on the Canadiens bench bosses. “Tonight I think you have to credit the biggest part of our victory to the coaches. If you had a camera on them you’d see how vocal they were. They tweaked a lot of things in the third and it helped us a lot.”

Truer words were never spoken. The camera caught a few of those chats between the players and the staff. Lightning tried. There was a shift that had them set up to start something when Gionta ran off the bench, stole the puck at the blueline and just flew down the ice. Too bad he hit the side of the net but that was super. Same from Eller after snuffing out any attempts by the Lightning, he took it to their net 2-on-1 with Kostitsyn. They were at the end of their shift and basically running on fumes but they still pressed hard. And with the empty net available, Patches forced Bergeron to take a penalty resulting in some Desharnais magic to give Erik Cole his 17th goal, on the powerplay, basically ending the game.

Habs bounce over the Bolts in the standings, who have now lost 3 in a row. Baby steps. We don't know where they'll go or end up but hey, at least it's not boring any more!

Protestors handed these out to fans waiting in line, asking them to wave them as the team took to the ice.

I saw about 5 during the Canadian anthem. Price thought they were for the Nordiques.

These were found in a Bell Centre poubelle.

Please keep politics away from hockey, thanks.

2012 has been kind to the Bulldogs as well. Though they lost Nathan Lawson to a head hit in yesterday's win over the Crunch and had to sign some dude in a local men's league to back up Mayer, the Dogs beat the Marlies 4-1 after smashing the Crunch 5-2.

And Brendan Gallagher returns from his bronze medal win, ready to terrorize the WHL again. Ho hum, a hat trick and four assists in a 8-4 win over the Portland Winterhawks in front of Guy Lafleur who visited the Giants for a Legends night.

Habs 3, Bolts 2 (SO): Rrrrroll up those socks to win

"Well the Bulldogs played pretty good," giggled Price.

Pretty good was an understatement. The raw, troll-like skating of Aaron Palushaj with his wild hair poking out from under his helmet was quite the sight tonight. Think he was excited? Fact is, the kids were alright. The vets...could have been better. But considering Cammalleri's out there on one leg, hey give the guy a break. No, not a real break. Last thing we need is more broken bones.

Tonight, Habs/Bulldogs played their hearts out with 9 important top tier regulars out...and it almost all came crashing down thanks to Benoit Pouliot being a jerk. Lucky for him they got the win. Shitty thing is they gave up a point to a team they were trying to catch.

Guy Boucher refers to Carey Price as a "brick wall"
- Happy 1300th game for Roman Hamrlik! Now go out and play 30 minutes.
- AK46 is two goals away from 20. Suck it, haters.
- Gionta's shorthanded goal is the bazillionth allowed by the Tampa Bay Lightning this year. Baroo?
- Why even bother reviewing a goal when the goalie was first pushed over and into the net by Stamkos? Oh right, the rules don't apply to superstars.
- Unless you're Lecavalier, who lost his fucking mind and two-hand smacked Subban on the hip real hard with his stick. Got 10 and a game. Ciao, bai!
- We wanted Gomez to shoot more but not really kill Roloson......
- As they say: NIGEEEEEEEEEEEEEEL DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWES!
- Carey Price laughs at your spinorama, St Louis.
- Stamkos is o-for-7 in shootouts. Yes you read that right. No wonder Coach keeps using Adam Hall.
- None of the Canadiens shooters were over 6-feet tall.
- Teddy Purcell failed at the Linus Omark move.

Off to the Monosodium glutamate centre.