Rocket:

Let’s be honest. The Canadiens didn’t deserve to win the game based on their effort. Actually, there was a lack of intensity by both teams.

Having said that right up front, the Habs were still in this game, but the standby officials were just horrendous tonight. Snow, blowing snow, bitter cold and last minute Christmas shopping prevented the regular crew from getting to Montreal. So we were treated to a real gem from the subs, led by Francois St Laurent and Marc Joannette (I’m really not impressed by this guy’s work).

In addition to some inconsistent penalty calls, the Canadiens had two goals waved off. The first was in the second period. Mike Komisarek’s wrist shot hit Cam Ward in the chest and dropped. He never had possession of the puck. Tom Kostopoulos knocked in the rebound. However, the goal was disallowed as there was a quick whistle. The ref thought that Ward had caught the puck. Bad call.

Later, the puck was banged in after a goal mouth scramble with Kostopoulos and Latendresse right in the middle of it. The referee was calling a delayed penalty on Carolina and claimed that the whistle had gone even though Carolina had not gained possession of the puck.

Justin Williams was also the recipient of a gift from the officials as he tripped Serge Kostitsyn in full flight. No penalty call was made.

Though it wasn’t a popular decision with the Bell Centre crowd, I have to say that the slashing call on Max Lapierre was deserved. Lapierre is a high risk, high reward type player on the penalty kill as he tends to look for short handed offensive opportunities. His penalty put the Canadiens two men down and the Hurricanes scored on the long 5 on 3 power-play.

Beyond the officiating, it was a listless effort by the Canadiens. For the first two and a half periods, they weren’t skating or pressuring the puck. The hit totals flattered the Habs. The official scorer seemed to be in a generous Christmas mood.

For the first 10 minutes of the third period, the Canadiens only managed two shots on goal. Sensing that the could still get their week off with a win, the team came to life in the last half of the period directing 10 shots at Cam Ward.

Robert Lang tied the game on one of those shots; a one-timer with Matt D’Agostini creating havoc in front of the net. D’Agostini scored the first Canadiens goal after a nice play by Lang. Tanguay picked up to assists and this line was responsible for all of the Canadiens scoring this night. D’Ags led the team with 6 shots.

With the Lang line playing so well, it was disappointing that poor bench management meant that their ice-time was limited. Lapierre’s line, with Latendresse and Kostopoulos, played the type of game they needed to, but should have had fewer shifts.

Roman Hamrlik and Francis Bouillon were paired up tonight and the combination was not good for either player. Whether from a lack of communication or an unfamiliarity, both struggled at times. On the Hurricanes first goal, Samsonov entered the Montreal zone on a 1 on 2 with both Bouillon and Hamrlik back. It would become a 1 on 3 as Lapierre was there to backcheck. After Carey Price made the initial save on Samsonov’s shot, neither Bouillon nor Hamrlik got the rebound nor did they stay with the former Hab. Samsonov scored on the rebound.

Carey Price’s timing was not sharp in the first 10 minutes after missing 6 games but played well the rest of the way and was outstanding in the third period. He made two huge saves, on Larose and Staal with a few minutes left.

It was a disappointing night at the Bell Centre after two strong games previously where the Habs worked hard for 60 minutes. This was the type of game that we saw early in the season where the Canadiens would coast for a few periods and then turn it on for the win. They couldn’t quite create the miracle tonight, in part, due to some costly mistakes by the guys in stripes.

Pre-game:

Price will start in goal after missing 6 games with injury. Halak will be the back-up. O’Byrne is a healthy scratch. Higgins, Koivu and Dandenault injured.

Rocket’s 3 stars:

1. Matt D’Agostini
2. Eric Staal
3. Robert Lang

(photo credit: AP)