Habster:
The 2007-2008 edition of the Montreal Canadiens is about all out effort and determination. These guys are giving second and third efforts with constant puck pursuit. The Habs were winning the battles along the boards, out skating and outshooting (41-18) the Philadelphia Flyers throughout the game which led to the one sided match.
Saku Koivu showed why he is so valuable to the team by leading his team to victory with a pretty goal and an assist on the Latendresse goal.
Here are some game points:
Game Stats/summary: http://www.nhl.com/nhl/app?service=page&page=Boxscore&gameNumber=175&season=20072008&gameType=2
- Josh Gorges bounced back from a rough game against Atlanta with a strong performance against the Flyers. He won battles along the boards, made no mistakes and looked comfortable on the ice with defense partner Mark Streit who also had a strong two way game. Cudos to Guy Carbonneau for showing patience with Gorges.
- The Kostopolous/Chipchura/Begin line had an excellent game and are showing a lot of chemistry with a strong forecheck and some timely goals. The Habs haven’t had a fourth line like this since…….. gheez, I can’t remember off the top of my head to be honest with you!!!
- Even with political opportunists like Marois and Bernard making issues out of nothing, Saku Koivu showed class and dignity throughout the whole ordeal, he even played one of his strongest games of the season.
- Patrice Brisebois stood out throughout the night and it was for a positive reason for a change (I’m just kidding Breezer fans!!!). Seriously, Brisebois played a solid game at both ends of the ice and made some good outlet passes. He doesn’t panic with the puck like the old Brisebois use to do. It also doesn’t hurt to have Roman Hamrlik as your defense partner.
- With the exception of the second period, Mr. Latendresse had a decent game and was more involved in the play. He had a goal and 8 shots on net, not a bad night’s work!!!
- The powerplay is still clicking with 2 goals on 5 chances. The Habs now have 21 PP goals on the year and have increased their league leading powerplay to a 30.9% success rate which is more than 4% better than the second best PP (NY Islanders : 26.1%). They also have 4 more goals than the Hurricanes (17 goals). League PP statistics: http://sports.canada.com/default.asp?c=canada&page=nhl/stat/nhl-pp-records.htm
- On thee flip side, the PK scored a goal but also gave up 2 goals (2/6) and need to work on improving it in practice.
- Poor Michael Ryder can’t catch a break…..he’s really fighting the puck these days. The effort was there so it wasn’t from a lack of effort
The Canadiens certainly bounced back tonight after a truly lackluster effort against Atlanta.