Montreal 4 Colorado 2 (Pepsi Center)
Rocket:
What is George Gillett thinking? He’ll take the win. He knows that his team needs one. But Gillette is a smart and successful business guy. He knows that his team got away with one.
The bottom line is that the Canadiens got a win and 2 points. Sports reports will highlight Jaroslav Halak’s 46 saves, Andrei Kostitsyn’s winning goal and Patrice Brisebois ‘fight’ with Darcy Tucker.
Maybe it’s best to leave at that. The Canadiens need to focus on the win for their collective confidence. The city wants to cling to the hope that their team is back! But if you scratch just a little below the surface, and past the facade of a win, fans have to be very concerned about their Montreal Canadiens. George Gillett and Bob Gainey should be terrified.
The Colorado Avalanche is the LAST place team in the Western conference. Coming into tonight’s game, they had won only 2 of their last 10; and lost 4 in a row. As a team, they can’t score. Yet for the last 40 minutes of this game, the Avs dominated the Canadiens; outshooting them 36-9. That’s astounding!
After the Canadiens grabbed a 2-0 lead in the first period, Guy Carbonneau barricaded his team in its own end and let them face the Avs barrage. Even a coach like Tony Granato was able to figure out how to penetrate the 1-4 (sometimes 0-5) system that Carbo was running.
Jaroslav Halak deserves credit for a gutsy performance. Although, at times, Jaro looked like a 8 year old boy learning how to play shortstop. Everything that went into his glove popped back out, and the shots that hit him rebounded in front. Like a young shortstop, Halak just made sure that the puck stayed in front of him. He battled and scrambled and kept the puck out. It helped that he was facing a team who couldn’t shoot straight.
Andre Kostitsyn, like so many Canadiens, was ineffective most of the night. But with 2 minutes and 16 seconds left in the game, Andrei got his first shot on goal. It was a terrific move and proved to be the winning goal. Apparently, one good play would be enough on this very strange night. After all, it was Friday the 13th.
Another player contributing to the mirage was Patrice Brisebois. Brise was left wide open, received a nice pass from Kovalev and scored a power-play goal. But Brisebois showed why he deserves to be in the press box on Colorado’s first goal. He stumbled and didn’t have the legs to get back in the play. Brise watched as Leopold scored for the Avs. There was some comic relief when the always-weasel-like Darcy Tucker decided to exchange sweater tugs with Brisebois. A fight? Well, only according to the scoresheet.
In my opinion, the players who did have a solid game were Saku Koivu, Max Pacioretty, Matt D’Agostini, Mathieu Dandenault, and Chris Higgins. Koivu showed heart and leadership all game. He won important faceoffs, blocked shots, and tallied 2 assists. Pacioretty played a physical game and made a terrific pass to set up Bouillon’s goal. Dandenault and D’Agostini had an assist each. Higgins battled for the puck and blocked 4 shots.
The line combinations and the forecheck system generated few scoring chances for the Canadiens tonight. The Habs will only get their confidence back when they play to win, rather than playing not to lose.
Enjoy this win, Habs fans. But, be careful. There was nothing in this game to suggest that your Canadiens have regained their winning ways yet.
Pre-game:
Starting line-up: Koivi, Kovalev. Kostopoulos, Georges, Bouillon
Jaroslav Halak will start in goal. Peter Budaj for the Avalanche.
O’Byrne and Chipchua scratched.
Latendresse, Tanguay, Lang out with injuries.
Rocket’s 3 stars:
1. Saku Koivu
2. Tyler Arnason
3. Jaroslav Halak
3. Andrei Kostitsyn
(photo credit: AP)