Rocket:
The Canadiens will come home with a chance to win the series on Thursday night after a hard fought 1-0 victory in Boston. Carey Price was the star of the game (and the series, so far) getting his first playoff shutout. Patrice Brisebois’ point shot through a maze of players found the net for the game’s only goal after a bad rebound by Tim Thomas.
It was a good road victory for the Canadiens who were feeling pressure to regain the momentum in the series. The Plekanec line was still targeted by the Bruins but played more of a flow game to create their chances. Andrei Kostitsyn and Alex Kovalev assisted on the Canadiens goal, which was scored via the power play.
Chris Higgins played another strong game at both ends of the ice. Surprisingly, playing out of his natural position, Higgins was 71% on faceoffs. Sergei Kostitsyn continues to impress with his assertive play, creativity and strong skating. The Higgins line could have used the physical play of Michael Ryder tonight.
The Smolinski line got more ice time especially as the game went on. Bryan Smolinski and Tom Kostopoulos saw extra time as Carbonneau mixed lines in the third period. Kostopoulos did an effective job of putting Zdeno Chara off his game. Steve Begin had 7 solid hits but took a dumb penalty at the end of the 2nd period just after the Canadiens had taken the lead.
Mark Streit continues to struggle in this series and the move to forward didn’t help. Boston penalty killers were the recipients of 3 Streit giveaways for shorthanded chances on one Canadien power play in the second period. Carbonneau curiously tried Lapierre, Latendresse and Dandenault on the power play in the first period.
Ryan O’Byrne had a solid first playoff game with very limited icetime. He did an especially good job of clearing bodies in front of the net. O’Byrne’s presence seem to help Josh Gorges play better as he had more time to move the puck. Mike Komisarek had a great game with 4 hits and 4 blocked shots. He seemed to be moving with less discomfort and got the better of his running battle with Milan Lucic. The star of the defensive corps was Andrei Markov who really doesn’t get the credit that he deserves. He logged a ton of icetime and, as usual, moved the puck well.
Carey Price was superb. He made a number of sensational saves, particularly on chances by Marco Sturm, Glenn Murray and David Krejci. Price now has 3-1 record with 1 shutout. He lowered his playoff leading GAA to 1.20 with an amazing SV% of .956. (By comparison, Cristobal Huet is 1-2 with a GAA of 3.69 and a SV% of .884).
Pregame:
tonight’s changes: Ryan O’Byrne is in the line-up; Michael Ryder is out. Mark Streit will play as a forward. Greg Stewart took the warm-up but will not play.
Alex Kovalev will skate on new blades.
Rene Rancourt sings the anthem again; this guy is brutal.
Rocket’s 3 stars:
1. Carey Price
2. Chris Higgins
3. Marco Sturm
(photo credit: AP Photo/Charles Krupa)