THE HABS BEAT THE BEST TEAM IN THE NHL 4-1

GOAL SCORERS

NYR:   J. Mitchell (12:49 - 1st)

MTL:   M. Pacioretty (02:39 - 1st) , M. Pacioretty (03:54 - 2nd) , M. Blunden (07:11 - 2nd) , D. Desharnais (12:18 - 2nd)

GOALIES

NYR: H. Lundqvist (L)

 MTL: P. Budaj (W)

             Last night in Montreal, the Habs took on the NHL's best team, the New York Rangers.After serving his 5 game suspension, Rene Bourque made his Habs debut. Just over 1:30 in, Bourque came up the right side and backhanded a shot to the net and he was stopped by Lundqvist. 1 minute later, Desharnias centred the puck to Pacioretty in the slot and he scored to make it 1-0 Habs. 11 minutes later, Stephans shot was stopped by Budaj, but Mitchell was there to knock home the rebound to tie the game. 30 seconds into the second, the Habs turned the puck over and Boyle got the puck in the slot and he was denied by Dudaj.

             4 minutes later, Coles point shot went off the arm of Pacioretty and in to put the Habs up by 1. 3 minutes later, Gomez centred the puck for Blunden and Blunden was denied. But the puck went to Subban at the point and he played it back down low for Gomez, and he centred the puck for Blunden and this time he would score to extend the Habs lead.

              With 7 minutes to go in the second, Pacioretty played the puck from the right side to the slot and Desharnias scored to make it 4-1 Habs lead. Then with under a minute to go in the second, Rupp got the puck in the slot and fired a shot past Budaj, but it hit the post. Thats as close as the Rangers would get as the Habs win 4-1. In the win, Budaj made 28 saves. In the loss, Lundvist made 25 saves."We felt good for the past couple of games and we were waiting to have a game like this," Pacioretty said. "Hopefully we can keep it going." This victory, was Budajs first career win in the Bell Centre."I'm glad that my work paid off," said Budaj.

           "I always try to prepare myself, whenever I get a chance, to play to the best of my abilities and help the team to win a game. I got a big win tonight against a great team. That's always pretty satisfying, but when you look at the scoreboard, we have a long way to go." The Habs currently sit in 12th place in the Eastern Conference, but are 8 points out of a playoff spot. Is a Playoff appearance still Possible? Yes it is but they have to go on a win streak at some point and sooner is better than later. After the game, Cunneywoth talked about Bourques play."Rene was everything we expected," Canadiens coach Randy Cunneyworth said. "He battled along the walls, just as advertised, and I think we're going to enjoy a lot of his two-way play for a long time to come."

Written By Andrew Di Pardo