Speed kills! Once again, the Canadiens played their brand of hockey and did their part to help their chances of winning the Eastern Conference Championship. The Habs put the pressure squaring on the shoulders of the Penguins who will now have to earn the #1 position with a win over the Flyers.
This was a great game for Chris Higgins who scored 2 and could have had at least 2 more. Higgins has really become a solid two-way hockey player who has picked up his game the last month of the season. Best of all, he seemed like he was having fun.
Alex Kovalev, Andrei Kostitsyn and Tomas Plekanec were dangerous each time they were on the ice. The KPK line started and controlled the puck in the Maple Leaf zone for the first minute of the game. The shift ended with Raycroft robbing Kovalev with the glove hand. It didn’t get much better for the Leafs each time KPK was on the ice.
Mark Streit had more icetime and seemed to be less hampered by his injury. He was the recipient of a gift goal when Raycroft misplayed his flutter shot. Streit made a nice pass to Higgins who made a terrific shot to put the Habs up 2-0.
Carey Price was solid once again. He was at times sensational especially on Toronto’s 5 on 3 in the first period. I can’t imagine that there are any detractors left of Price (or Gainey’s decision to trade the team’s #3 goaltender).
I can’t say enough good things about Ryan O’Byrne. He doesn’t get enough credit or nearly enough icetime. O’Byrne played 14 minutes and had 6 hits which is double the number of Hamrlik, Markov, Gorges, Streit and Brisebois, COMBINED! The other 5 averaged about 20 minutes of icetime. O’Byrne also had an assist on one of Higgins’ goals.
How impressive was Greg Stewart? He was in alone on Raycroft on both of his first two shifts in the NHL. He skated well, had a good physical game and set up his linemates after winning battles for the puck. He also showed that he wouldn’t be intimated when he fought Bryan McCabe after Stewart got a slash and a spear from the cheapshot artist McCabe.
Pregame:
Elliot Freidman drew out two great quotes from the interviews with Hamrlik and Carbonneau:
Carbonneau: “my job is to bring the team back to where it belongs”
Hamrlik: “we can still surprise lots of people in the playoffs”
Kovalev received the Molson Cup for this season for the most 3 stars points. His proud parents are visiting from Russia and in the Bell Centre for the first time.
Mark Streit received the Jacques Beauchamp Molson award for “unsung hero”. Streit deserves credit for his special team role but how can you be ‘unsung’ two years in a row? After you win the award the first time, don’t you move up to ‘sung’?
Rocket’s 3 stars:
1. Chris Higgins
2. Carey Price
3. Mark Streit
(photo credit: AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Paul Chiasson)