Fear the power of Van Moustache: Habs 5 Caps 4

Muller tries to frame Van Massenhoven's moustache

If that Toronto game was more your stuff then you don't know good hockey. The Capitals, in a way, are a similar breed of firewagon hockey as the Tricolore. Only difference is we don't have a crazy high paid Russian. (Markov and Kovy together equal Ovechkin's salary). We've got Belarusians though! (Two Belorussians equal the salary of Semin). Cap numbers are funny. Our three goalies don't even match Theo's salary. Bob's a genius.

Van Moustache's power usually screws up for one goal for or against
- I'm usually the first to cringe and throw Breezer in the trunk of a car, but let's be fair guys. Not only did Van Moustache's power obstruct the man as he made his way from the crowd with the puck, but Semin slashed Breezer prior to stealing said puck to put behind Halak. But as the Van Moustache was too busy getting out of the way, the penalty wasn't seen and the Breezer looked like a fool. But he's a nice guy so no one can really stay angry at him.
- Ovechkin's crazy. But he's a nice kid. Gave Halak a pat on his back after falling over him into the back of his net.
- He is a nice kid, but I was a little shocked to see him trip his own linemate to get the puck...
- Halak was very impressive in the first period, though got a bit shakey in parts. But I noticed he was being more aggressive and coming out of his net more than staying too deep like he usually does. They did say Rollie was doing something with him.
- May Pacioretty never see Hamilton again. I mean, who else can play on that KovyPleks line? NO ONE. Why? Because the brothers Kostitsyn must not be separated from each other or Lang.
- Heh. Komisaurus driveby check kocked Ovechkin and Backstrom into each other. A mighty wind!
- Woah, wait: TWO MORE POWERPLAY GOALS?! Though seriously, if you give Lang that much time to stare you down there's no way he could miss bouncing a puck off your defenseman like Higgins does. If the net was empty, maybe.
- SuperPleky is back with his 3rd shorthanded goal of the season. The man could make a living off those.
- How epic a finish was it to see Sergei shoot da puck and score da goal while being thrown across the ice with only 30 or so odd seconds left?
- And how cute was it to see him mauled by Lang and his brother, and then whoever else was out there, as he lay flat on the ice in victory with that boyish beaming smile of his?

Conclusion: Caps fans may not like it, but this is how the Habs play. You take the lead and they'll do everything to take it back. But even if the Habs had lost I would have called this an absolute blast of a game. A loss would not have disappointed me, save for missing the two points of course. This win also sends Carbo to the ASG. Its interesting because he was never at the ASG as a player despite the awards he received and the very recognized creator of the term "defensive forward". (He was basically Plekanec). Of course, players like him very rarely get tickets to the ASG no matter how many important goals they score or how much they shut down the flashy forwards. It's also interesting, or maybe awkward, as he will be playing the assistant coach to Claude Julien, the man who was fired prior to Carbo taking the helm. Carbo says he's got no problem with that. But I love hearing his boys being thrilled for giving him this honor. This team is tight as a band of brothers.

Habs 5, Orange Crushed 3

I normally do play-by-play chat on a few forums with fellow fans, so here's a recap to a rollercoaster of an evening.

1st Period
- The Habs came out sleepwalking, almost like they were skating with cement blocks. Once again, Carey Price was left out on his own while his defense flatfooted and his offense couldn't get onside.
- There were about 26 faceoffs, half of them icing...
- Four penalties on each side, including a 5-on-3 for the Flyers.
- Downie looked rather subdued. Probably floating on painkillers.
- Komisaurus left his calling card on Cote. They proceed to go after him the rest of the night. (Hey, I told him to Big Bird their ass, guess he heard).
- Kovaleve: 1 post
- Shots 8-14 in favor of the Flyers. Price says he ain't afraid of no Phantoms.

2nd Period
- Andrei Kostitsyn hits a man, gets the puck, shoots from near the blue line, and scores. Goal number 1 for the game and for the older brother this season!
- Carter takes advantage of a sleeping Markov and Komisaurus and sneaks one by Price.
- Lang takes a hooking penalty, Richards hits a fast one from afar by Price. Never saw it coming.
- Lapierre and Downie start hugging, but I think Downie's knee is buging him 'cause they don't do much...
- Price throws another in the bin for the Save of the Year as he robs an open net with his glove. It rivals Nabby's in that 4OT playoff game against the Stars. In other words, it was amazing! (If this were TSN, we'd all be deaf by McGuire).
- Habs continue sleeping with weak passes. Someone needs to tell them that Price can only do so much...
- Lang: 1 post
- Shots are 18-23 Flyers. Tussle at the end that doesn't go anywhere.

3rd Period
- Right at the start, Kovalev remembers he's the star of the show, dangles the Flyers and feeds Hammer a goal. (Goal number 2 for the usually stay-at-home defenseman!) It's tied and the fans have gone quiet.
- Almost immediately, Gui! gets hit in the face (ignored by the refs) and then parks himself infront of Biron where Komisaurus slaps one over his head. Now 3-2 Habs and the fans have just died.
- Penalty for Sergei almost right after, Kostopoulos shows me why he rocks on the PK.
- Kostopoulos almost scores but is knocked off before it connects
- Knuble is a knob, flubs all his shots and passes.
- It's like a whole new team came out to play in the 3rd so either Carbo threatened them with a trade to Toronto or tickets to Celine Dion, or Price said he was gonna switch with Denis for the year.
- 4-on-4 hockey and Lang score a lovely one. Now 4-2 and the fans are zombies.
- Price gets stuck after making a save with a rebound that lands right in front of Gagné, who beats Gorges to it, and it's 4-3, fans live again.
- Kovalev checks the new kid, and Italian defenceman. I've actually fallen for this kid. He's good! (And it's hard to impress me when you play for the Flyers). His name is Luca Sbisa and he's 18 years old. Keep that name in mind...
- Is Biron really the same height as Price? He looks smaller in nets...
- With the Flyers net empty, Habs force in on the attack. Bégin shoots first, misses, gets the puck back, is checked from behind so he spins and dumps it in the net without looking. It's 5-3 and the fans have been crushed.
- The game ends and Hartnell leaves a calling card on Kostopoulos (or Gui!, I couldn't tell since they were next to each other). Take a loss like a man and go to your bench! It's players like him that make me hate the Flyers because they do have some good players, but these constant douches always ruin it. Gui! also tackled Lupul (who was suddenly dancing with him) under his weight, just to hold him down so he won't do anything.

Bonus: No one got hurt. Markov blocked a shot by that Sbisa kid right on the hand though, so we HOPE nothing is broken... Komisaurus got hit in the nose with Markov's stick during an interference call.

Stars of the evening: 1 Andrei Kostitsyn, 2 Jeff Carter, 3 Carey Price.
Total shots: 27-32 Flyers!

Free wings at Cage aux Sports! Good comeback, boys. That third period reminded me why I love you. Just don't do that first/second ever again. (Ya, right).

And on a "kill your day" note...
Ranger's 2007 first round pick, Alexei Cherepanov has died of a heart attack after colliding with his teammate, Jaromir Jagr, while on a line change. It's a complete tragedy. He was only 19 years old. The Rangers won their game tonight against the Devils in his memory with a final score of 4-1. My deepest condolences to his family and friends, to Jagr (who was very close to the young man) and the Rangers.