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!

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.

I'm sure there's a plan to smuggle Streit back home...

Ya know, I miss Mark Streit. Not as a defenseman though, because frankly he wasn't that good a defenseman. I miss him as a winger! He wasn't too bad, and a powerplay specialist who would eat up Markov's feed. I still remember his beautiful goal in the playoffs while Fruit Punch drew all the attention and slipped him a sneaky back pass which Streit brought all the way through Tiny Tim's 5-hole. But now he's in the land of Wang and Captain Fish Sticks and getting paid way too much for his defense skills. C'est la vie. We're all waiting for Weber to grow into Streit 2.0 in the meantime. He's Swiss! He plays with his idol, Streit! He's stocky! And he plays better defense most of the time. Boom! What a shot.

I don't know anything else about the Islanders, except that DiPietro probably didn't drink enough milk when he was little and is absolutely brittle. That said, he's currently injured, leaving his club with Joey Mac and ex-Habkins Yann Danis, who totally got bumped down the chart thanks to Price and Halak absolutely out-playing him. He may have gotten a shutout in his first NHL game, but later he couldn't even beat the Leafs... Thus remained Option 3 on the Goalie list. Well, apparently he's in nets against the Habs when they roll into New York. I was actually tempted to road trip it, being a weekend and all. Maybe some other time though, as it was rather last minute. This is also Higgins' home turf! And according the Rule of Higgins, he usually breaks out the scoring while visiting home. Have a good one, Chris! Don't fall for the Ex-Habs Goalie Curse! Besides, this isn't a club home game so the rules shouldn't apply...right?

Oh and happy birthday to Super Pleky! Born on Halloween, that's always cool, eventhough it's not really celebrated in his homeland. No more posts, Pleky! Dunk that cookie! And ignore Cullen's Backchecking: Not Meeting Expectations bullshit. It hurts to see them put Pleky's picture right under the the giant caption of SLOW STARTERS. Obviously these so called sports writers love jumping the trade crap and forget Super Pleky has more value than goal scoring (and usually starts off slow anyway, and we seem to forget the headcrash on AK46 disrupted their mojo when it was just starting). Actually, I don't think he was ever considered much of a goal scorer, as his strength is defense and faceoffs and being really fucking focused. Hey sports writers, I think a team would rather have a healthy man like Plekanec over I-tripped-and-sprained-my-everything Gaborik. So buzz off. And hands off our Halak! (Unless the Wild switch us Harding, ain't gonna happen).