Montreal 5 Boston 1 (Bell Centre)
The current members of the Canadiens were presented with a seemingly impossible task. After starting the week with two of the worst outings of the year, they had to take the ice tonight following in the skate marks of a group of living legends.
Expectations couldn’t have been higher. But the Habs of the new century did not disappoint. In fact, they were the ones who elicited the loudest cheers of the evening in the Bell Centre.
Despite the score, the Bruins were certainly not pushovers. They are well-coached and pursue the puck aggressively in all zones. Boston outshot Montreal 38-to-29.
But the Canadiens played inspired hockey. The top three lines each made major contributions and the defense played their hearts out, blocking shots and being physical.
There were a number of superb performances tonight but it was Carey Price who stood above the rest. Price was exceptional particularly when the Canadiens ran into penalty trouble. He was the Habs’ best penalty killer with the Bruins enjoying more than three minutes of 5-on-3 power play time.
Following the two man advantage, Mike Cammalleri scored the first of his three goals to give the Canadiens a 2-to-0 lead. Similarly the Habs scored the first goal of the game shortly after Price made a great save on a breakaway by Marco Sturm.
Cammalleri would add two more goals in the second with his hat trick triggering the loudest ovation heard at the Bell Centre in quite some time.
Max Pacioretty appeared on the scoresheet with one assist but deserved another as it was his screen that was the key to the first Canadiens’ goal by Jaroslav Spacek. Pacioretty had four shots on goal and two blocked shots.
Glen Metropolit seemed to relish the role of playing against his former mates in a significant game. Metropolit had a goal and an assist.
Matt D’Agostini excelled with his new linemates, Scott Gomez and Sergei Kostistyn. Sergei left the games in the second period and didn’t return after Shaun Thornton fell on his left knee.
In his first game back from injury, Hal Gill had a strong game especially on the penalty-killing unit. Josh Gorges returned to form, and despite helping to ruin Price’s shutout, played a solid 22 minutes.
The only criticism tonight is directed at the Canadiens fourth line. They could not followup a good first shift with anything resembling NHL caliber play. They were clearly outmatched by their counterparts on the Bruins.
The Canadiens ended the game with 35 seconds of five man keep away while the Bell Centre fans serenaded. While the siren went, the Canadiens raised their sticks to the adoring fans.
Yes, it was a perfect night indeed.
Rocket’s three stars
1. Carey Price
2. Mike Cammalleri
3. Max Pacioretty
Special mentions: Glen Metropolit, Hal Gill
(photo credit: AP)
I think when I'm counting the number of bad calls I've made in my life, skipping this game in favour of a staff party will be one of them. And I had a GREAT time at the party, which says a lot about how perfect a night it was for Habs fans.
I missed the game, but by all reports, they were the opposite of what they looked like on Tuesday and Thursday night. Kudos to them. I won't let the magnitude of the night's proceedings trick me in to thinking that this team has turned the corner and will no longer deliver no-show performances, but for one night, all is well in Habs land.
It was a great night, and based on my 2 hours of watching videos of the night, it was an excellent book end to the 100 year celebrations. I hope we can all appreciate the efforts of the organization over the past few years, and I hope that we can now move on with the job at hand – concentrating on winning hockey games and putting a great team together.
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