L’artiste wasn’t the only player with a solid game. Jaroslav Halak stopped 44 of 47 shots, not all of them dangerous. He slipped on the first goal and couldn’t do much more on the second goal as the puck hit his mask and bounced back in a very dangerous spot towards Dany Heatley. The third goal of the night was given on a perfect play defending at 3 against 5. He wasn’t perfect but as any coach ask of any goaltender, he gave his team a chance to win.

Thomas Plekanec looked rejuvenated since coming back from a two games suspension and continued to be very solid especially on his own end. He won 68% of his faceoffs including important ones. Add good performances by Higgins, Koivu, Hamerlik, Markov… not many players deserve to be chastised this afternoon. I know Rocket will talk about Brisebois “bad” performance especially how he was responsible for the first Senators goal. While I’ll agree that he missed his play when he tried to catch the puck over his head, Halak slipping as he was trying to get back up is as responsible for allowing the goal. And quite honestly, I’m happier with Breezer in the lineup than Bouillon. It’s just a shame we needed to have Frankie B injured to have Patrice back in uniform as I thought he was playing his best hockey before being sent in the stands.

But the most important thing for me is how the powerplay responded in the last couple of games. The Montreal Canadiens are 8 in 14 in their last 5 games for an unbelievable 57%. They kept things simple, passing to open lines and taking shots with bodies in front of the net. Nothing complicated but madly effective as the Habs powerplay is now back in 18th in the league.

Now, some bullet points info and thoughts

• Kovalev met with Bob Gainey a couple of times during his time off and while many think he is about to be traded or asked for a transaction, Gainey answered that not only his star played didn’t ask to be traded, he express his desire to keep playing in Montreal. I wonder how bad a pay cut he’d be willing to take to stay here next season.

• Anybody still think Schneider is too old to help the Habs? What a point shot that was. Brisebois wasn’t bad either but Mathieu just showed the world why Gainey traded for him.

• I absolutely love to see how the Habs react when they are pushed and on the receiving end of cheap shots… when Laraque isn’t in the lineup. The Habs were involved in 30 fights this year. 15 with Laraque in the lineup, as many when he was out. But if you remove the 7 staged pointless fights Laraque was in, you can clearly see that the players are willing to defend and protect each other but they seem to be more hesitant when Georges is in uniform. When he isn’t, nobody hesitate. From Gorges to Dandenault, from Chipchura to Max Pac, all players seem to be ready to help a teammate. I like that from my team.

• As I’m writing this, Mats Sundin just scored the shutout winning goal against Toronto. Was there a more fitting way to end this game?

• The NHL ask you to vote for the star of the week. I wonder if I could do a write-in for Bob Gainey?

I’ll be at the Bell Centre in Montreal on Tuesday to see the game against the Vancouver Canucks. I hope the Habs play with the same passion. And what kind of boos to you think Mats Sundin will get?