PLEKANEC WINS THE GAME FOR MONTREAL IN OVERTIME TO GET THE CANADIENS THERE FIFTH WIN IN 6 GAMES

Last night in Tampa Bay, the Canadiens got there 5th win in 6 games for a total of 10 points on this road trip with still 1 road game left. It was Plekanecs goal that game them a 2-1 O.t victory over the lightning."I'm trying to look at the guy who's coming with me, trying to look at him as long as I can," Plekanec said. "Then, just a no-look shot. That's why that shot is kind of a fluke, but sometimes it gets the goalie focused on the pass." Carey Price got the start in this game and he made 34 saves on 35 shots. This was Prices's first start in 5 games due to Martin giving Halak game time until that 4-2 loss against the Senators."It felt good to get back on the ice," Price said. "But sometimes it was like the ice was a little bit tilted at times for both teams.We just kept at it." Brian Gionta also scored(his 9th) in the win.

"Montreal came out and played their game and played a very strong game," Foster said. "We made a lot of mistakes at the wrong times. Smitty did a great job keeping us in the game." The Canadiens next game will be tonight against the Florida Panthers.

Written By Andrew Di Pardo

HALAK MAKES 47 SAVES TO LEAD TO A 3-2 O.t VICTORY OVER THE LEAFS

Last night in Toronto, Jaroslav Halak made 47 saves on 49 shots to lead to a 3-2 o.t victory over the Maple Leafs."I think he's probably at his best so far this year," said coach Jacques Martin. "He seems to be in a zone and has made a lot of excellent saves." The Canadiens 3 goals in the victory were scored by Scott Gomez (5th), Thomas Plekanec (8th) and the game winning goal was scored 34 seconds in by Andrei Kostitsyn(12th). As for the Leafs, Ian White and Jason Blake scored in the loss."Halak has been playing well, we had a lot of shots on him and had good traffic in front of him," said Blake. "He's a good goaltender." Early on in the game the Canadiens had a 2 goal lead but weren't able to contain it as the Leafs scored a late second period goal and a early goal in the third to tie it. If it wasn't for Halak the Canadiens would not have won.

"I think we stopped skating," said Plekanec. "We didn't skate at all, we were just watching. We've got to be better. It's great we got two points, we found a way to win in the overtime, but we can't be satisfied with how we played in the second and third period." The Canadiens have to be better. They can't keep relying on Halak or Price every game to make 47 saves to get a victory. But regardless a win is a win. And thats what they did.They got there 4th straight win to put themselves back into a playoff spot at 7th place in the East.

Written By Andrew Di Pardo

What you need to know about the Canadiens

1.They have the best powerplay in the NHL.
2. They Have the 6th best Penalty killing in the NHL.
3.Brian Gionta is expected back by the new year.

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM ANDREW DI PARDO

Have a safe and Merry Christmas from Andrew Di Pardo

THE CANADIENS SCORE 3 POWERPLAY GOALS TO LEAD TO A 5-1 VICTORY OVER THE HURRICANES

Last night in Carolina, the Canadiens were 3 for 5 on the powerplay which lead to a 5-1 victory for there 3rd straight win. Glen Metropolit scored 2 of the powerplay goals (9th,10th) and Andrei Markov the only other powerplay goals (3rd) in the victory."We stuck to our game plan -- we got pucks in deep, our power play was key right away," Metropolit said. "A team like that, they've been playing hard, but you get them down a couple goals, and maybe they're pressing a little too much, and we took advantage of it."Andrei Kostitsyn(11th) and Sergei Kostitsyn(1st) also scored in the victory. This was the first time that the two brothers scored in the same game since a 4-1 win against the Bruins in the playoffs on April 10th.

As for the Hurricanes, they weren't quite happy with a 5-1 loss especially because they out-shot Montreal by the count of 47-25."We've got to start climbing the ladder. It's Christmas time and we dug ourselves a big hole," Legace said. "There's tons of hockey left. ... It's possible. The only problem is, we have to grab the same rope and pull at the same time." The Canadiens next game will be on Boxing Day against the Leafs.

Written By Andrew Di Pardo

BERGERON LIFTS THE CANADIENS PAST THE THRASHERS IN OVERTIME

Last night in Atlanta, Jaroslav Halak once again played a big game with making 47 saves on 50 shots to help Montreal get a 4-3 win in Overtime. "It was one of those nights again," Montreal goalie Jaroslav Halak said. "Many, many shots again. But we were able to win the game. That's all that matters."He wasn't the only player helping Montreal get the win. As Marc-Andrei Bergeron scored the tieing goal with over two Minutes to go on the Powerplay. Then he got the game-winning goal in O.t by going low back-hand glove side on Hedberg. The refs went up-stairs because the net came off. But the call on the ice stands, so its a goal."I tried to get my leg over there but I couldn't reach. He ran into me and got pushed into the post," Atlanta goaltender Johan Hedberg said. "I felt like it was a good goal."

"We did exactly what we wanted to do the whole game. It was just one of those games," Atlanta coach John Anderson said. "The hockey gods weren't with us." The Canadiens will look to get 3 wins in a row, with a win over the Hurricanes on Wednesday.

Written By Andrew Di Pardo

CANADIENS WIN WITH HELP FROM MARKOV AND HALAK

Last night in Long Island, Markov made his return and really helped out the Canadiens by getting 2 goals on the powerplay(1st,2nd) in a 3-0 shutout win for Halak(5th of his career) over the Islanders.Markov helped the Canadiens powerplay move up from 14th to 12th in the league."He's an all-star defenceman that has great vision and moves the puck well," Martin said. "It's nice to get a top player back. Those guys are hard to replace. His execution was really outstanding."Marc-Andrei bergeron said one of there keys to getting the win was there powerplay. "Our power play has been one of our strengths, just like our penalty killing," Bergeron said.

"Two more games before going home for Christmas, it's already a key time in the year. We put ourselves in a hole so we can't lay off,"Bergeron added.Jaroslave Halak was a big for Montreal last night by stopping all 40 shots that he faced."Each win is a big win because after losing five in a row, we needed to win a hockey game," Halak said. Glen Metropolit also scored(8th) for the Canadiens in the win. The Canadiens have 6 more games left on this road trip and will be looking to grab Manny points on the board by the end of it.

Written By Andrew Di Pardo

GUESS WHOS BACK?

Today in Montreal, Canadiens coach Jacques Martin announced that Andrei Markov will make his return to help Montreal get out of this 5 game skid. What a day it is for Markov to return because its his 31st birthday. " I feel very good. I'm Happy to be back and I'll do my best," Markov said. Martin was asked if he would play and Martins answer was: "Ob-course. As you all know hes been skating for a wile and the doctors said hes ready to play. So he'll play." Markov will help the Canadiens out a lot defensibly in the game against the Islanders tomorrow at 7:00pm E.t on CBC-M and RDS.

Written By Andrew Di Pardo

CANADIENS DROP FIFTH STRAIGHT LOSS, DUE TO 30 SAVES BY BACKSTROM

Last night in Montreal, Wild goaltender Nickolas Backstrom was on his game stopping 30 of 31 shots to lead to a 3-1 wild win in Latendress's return to Montreal. "Moral victories suck in this business, I'm not going to sugar coat it," said Habs winger Mike Cammalleri. "It's a results-driven business, all our fans and all the people who care so much about this team want to see it win and so do we. When you talk about the process and working towards a goal, they're things that we can look at. But they don't really hold much weight as far as I'm concerned." Andrei Kostitsyn scored the loan goal for the Canadiens in the loss. As for the Wild,Mikko Koivu, Robbie Earl and Cal Clutterbuck all scored in the 3-1 win.

"We were pretty good defensively and our goalie made the saves when he had to, and that was the key tonight," Koivu said. "Over the last two periods, he was great for us and that made the difference." Canadiens coach Jacques Martin was happy with the way Montreal played last night. "I'm encouraged with how we played, and also that Mara was able to play," Martin said. "We have other players who should be coming back soon, and that should help."

Written By Andrew Di Pardo

CANADIENS LOSE 2-1 TO THE DEVILS

Last night in New Jersey,Brodeur tied Patrick Roy's NHL record for most regular-season games by a goalie against Montreal. In Brodeurs millstone night he lead the Devils to a 2-1 win. With save after save."It's durability," Brodeur said. "That's what playing a lot of games is. It's being durable, and it's being successful, because if you're not, the coach doesn't put you in there." In the loss, Travis Moen scored (7th) a shorthanded goal and Carey Price made 25 saves. As for the Devils, they got the tieing goal from Ilkka Pikkarainen who shot the puck high and Carey Price reached for it and droped it right into the post, then it went off his skate and in for Ilkka Pikkarainen first NHL goal. Then in the 3rd, Patrik Elias got the game winner(shown in Picture below).

"It was kind of boring, but it was a big win," Brodeur said. "We were playing a team (that's) not doing really well right now so they are trying to keep it simple. They really didn't do much out there and they didn't give us many opportunities."The Canadiens next game will be tonight against the Wild.



Written By Andrew Di Pardo

CANADIENS WILLING TO TRADE HALAK TO THE FLYERS

Today in Montreal, Jaroslav Halak said he wants more playing time and Canadiens GM Bob Gainey announced that he is willing to trade Halak to the Flyers for a a top 6 forward.''Let's be realistic,'' Gainey said. "I received a second round pick from the Washington Capitals for Cristobal Huet and the Flyers gave up a second round pick from Buffalo for Martin Biron.''Gainey also said more teams were intrested. But he wouldn't say who. But according to sources, they were talking with Detroit.''I took this step because it is Jaroslav's wish to have his chance to play,'' Gainey said. ''He feels ready to play a more important part.'' In my opinion, the Canadiens will trade Halak soon. But I don't think they should.

Written By Andrew Di Pardo

CANADIENS TAKE LATE PENALTIES WHICH LEAD TO A 4-3 LOSS

Last night in Montreal, The Canadiens battled hard but lose 4-3.The Canadiens played good but just like last game they took a costly late penalty which lead to the game-winning goal."They have good players on that team and they took advantage of it," said Habs defenceman Hal Gill, who played nearly six minutes on the penalty kill. "We have to kill those penalties, but on the other hand it's easier to kill them when you're not taking them." Andrei Kostitsyn had 2 goals on the powerplay (7th and 8th) and Mike Cammalleri had a goal (18th) in the loss. As for the Sabres,Andrej Sekera, Patrick Kaleta,Clarke MacArthur and Tim Kennedy scored.

"It's very, very upsetting that we did it again tonight," said Habs winger Mike Cammalleri about the late penalty by O'Brien. "It's obviously not the refs when you do it six or eight games in a row. We can't have it."The Canadiens will look to back to there winning ways on Wednesday against the Devils.

Written By Andrew Di Pardo

CANADIENS FALL TO THRASHERS IN OVERTIME

Last night in Atlanta, the Canadiens battled hard to kill penalties but the slipped up on 1 penalty kill in overtime which lead to Kovalchuk ripping a hard shot right upstairs glove side on Carey Price for the winner in a 4-3 Atlanta O.t Victory."When Kovalchuk gets a chance like that, chances are he's going to score," said Montreal's Glen Metropolit (who got the penalty that lead to the goal). "He's a great player."On a positive side for the Canadiens, they got a point and are still in a playoff spot. You can't argue that the Canadiens got a point from killing off 8 of 9 penalties."That was the key," Martin said. "We had a good start and took the lead. The penalties hurt us." In this game, the Thrashers lead in shots (35-19) because of all of there powerplays. If it wasn't for the ref calling so many penalties the Habs could have won this game.

Andrei Kostitsyn had 2 goals (5th and 6th of the season), and Glen Metropolit had a goal (his 7th) in the 4-3 overtime loss to the Atlanta Thrashers. Carey Price was also a big part in getting the point with several highlight Rios in the game. "Carey was great," said Montreal left winger Mike Cammalleri, . "He made many saves that otherwise could have or should have been in."


Written By Andrew Di Pardo
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LEGEND ›

Rank Team GP W L OT PTS GF GA Home Away Last 10 Streak 1 Washington 33 20 7 6 46 118 94 10-2-3 10-5-3 7-2-1 Lost1 2 New Jersey 31 22 8 1 45 91 68 11-6-0 11-2-1 8-2-0 Won1 3 Buffalo 30 19 9 2 40 81 65 11-5-2 8-4-0 7-3-0 Won3 4 Pittsburgh 33 22 10 1 45 105 87 11-5-1 11-5-0 7-2-1 Won2 5 Boston 31 16 9 6 38 83 77 10-5-3 6-4-3 7-1-2 Lost1 6 Ottawa 31 16 11 4 36 90 93 11-4-3 5-7-1 4-5-1 Won2 7 Atlanta 30 16 11 3 35 96 88 7-6-2 9-5-1 6-4-0 Won1 8 Montreal 33 15 15 3 33 85 95 9-7-2 6-8-1 4-4-2 Lost1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 9 Tampa Bay 31 11 11 9 31 77 90 7-4-4 4-7-5 2-6-2 Lost1 10 NY Islanders 32 12 13 7 31 83 100 7-3-2 5-10-5 4-6-0 Won1 11 Florida 33 12 14 7 31 88 111 4-6-5 8-8-2 2-5-3 Lost1 12 NY Rangers 31 14 15 2 30 86 93 7-8-0 7-7-2 3-6-1 Lost1 13 Philadelphia 30 14 15 1 29 87 87 9-7-1 5-8-0 2-8-0 Lost2 14 Toronto 32 11 14 7 29 94 114 5-7-3 6-7-4 7-3-0 Won1 15 Carolina 32 7 19 6 20 77 117 6-7-2 1-12-4 2-7-1 Lost1

CANADIENS FALL TO THE PENGUINS OFF OF COSTLY CALLS

Last night in Montreal, the Canadiens took 8 penalties and were able to kill off all of them but it seemed to me like it took a lot of energy out of them. The Canadiens only had 1 powerplay in the game and they scored on it. The referees didn't look like they knew what they were doing out there. They cost the Canadiens the game as the Penguins beat them 3-2. It started in the first period. When just 20 seconds after a penalty Gonchar scored to put the Pens up by 1-0. The Canadiens would answer with Goals from D'Agostini and Hamirlik to take the lead. The Penguins weren't ready to give up as Cooke tied the game going into the third.

Then in the third Dupuis scored on a hard slap shot that was going to sail over the net but Carey Price reached for it and it went off of his glove and in the net. The Canadiens answered back with a goal right away on a rebounded shot by Lapierre that went right to Scott Gomez and he put it in the wide open cage which should have been the game tieing goal. But it wasn't as the referee said no goal because 1 of the refs couldn't see the puck but all the other refs saw but they said no goal. With no review at all. The refs blew the game for Montreal last night.

"Maybe he blew it a little quick, but you don't want to be in that situation. I'm not going to say anything bad about the refs. They've got a job to do and they do it well. Call it mistake or what, but these things happen," Scott Gomez said."I think the puck was loose, but the decision was taken during the play and we can't change it now, it's too late," Canadiens forward Maxim Lapierre said. "But I think the team gave a good effort. Carey played unbelievable again for us, and we still have to build on the last four games we've played."The Canadiens next game will be on Saturday against the Thrashers.

Written By Andrew Di Pardo

HALAK MAKES 45 SAVES WHICH LEADS TO THE HABS 3RD STRAIGHT WIN

Last night in Ottawa, the Canadiens took 7 penalty's which lead to Jaroslav Halak making several big saves which would lead to a 4-1 victory over the Senators for the Habs 3rd straight win. If it wasn't for Halak making 45 saves on 46 shots the Canadiens probably would have lost."He was the reason we won the game tonight, for sure," Cammalleri said of Halak. "The best penalty-killer is the goaltender, and he was." In the win, Cammalleri (17th), .Bergoron(7th),A.Kostitsyn(4th) and Gomez(4th) all scored for Montreal."Plecks is playing really well. He's creating a lot and we're getting a lot of production as a result," Cammalleri said (who has 5 goals in 3 games).

This is the first time this season that Montreal has given up 46 shots and 7 penalties. "The specialty teams were really the difference in the game tonight," said Montreal coach Jacques Martin after his team went 2-for-3 with the man advantage.Jaro came in and gave us a strong game. Everyone that played on the specialty teams did an outstanding job because we had a lot of penalties to kill."The Canadiens next game will be on Thursday against the Penguins.

Written By Andrew Di Pardo

CAMMALLERI GETS THE WINNER IN MONTREALS SECOND STRAIGHT WIN

Last night in Montreal, the Montreal Canadiens took on the Philadelphia Flyers looking to get there second straight win. And they did that alright with Mike Cammalleri's game winner in a 3-1 win."It felt a little bit weird out there," Cammalleri said. "I don't know what it looked like watching but it felt a little weird, like both teams were playing possum a little bit. Hey, we won the game.""Both teams played a tight battle so it was hard to really generate much offense," Price said. "Both teams were doing a great job of trapping it up. Our team blocked everything - I don't know about their guys but our guys blocked a lot of shots tonight."

Andrei Kostitsyn and Mar-Andrei Bergoron also scored for Montreal and Carey Price Made 14 saves on 15 shots (Montreal's least shots given up this season)."I think our last two games we've played our best defensive hockey of the year," Price said. As for the Flyers, Daniel Briere got the lone goal and Boucher made 10 saves on 13 shots in the loss."We played two decent periods of getting the puck in deep, grinding on their defense, grinding on their forwards, and created some decent scoring opportunities through that," Flyers defenseman Chris Pronger said. "But the few turnovers we made cost us one goal and then our inability to get the puck in deep in the third period didn't allow us to get any cycles and any of that grind game going." The Canadiens next game will be tonight against the Senators in Ottawa.

Written By Andrew Di Pardo

CANADIENS BEAT THE BRUINS ON THERE CENTENNIAL NIGHT

Last night in Montreal, it was the Canadiens 100th anniversary and they were looking to celebrate it with a win. Which they did by the score of 5-1 over the Bruins. With plenty of help from Mike Cammalleri due to a hat-trick (all goals in second). One of his goals was the game-winner. "Hopefully it had an inspiring effect," added Cammalleri, whose team was coming off two consecutive weak efforts including a 6-2 loss in Buffalo on Thursday night. "We played two games we weren't happy with and I'd hope we would have played like that anyway, but for sure, it hit an emotional chord."

In the victory, Carey Price stopped 37 of 38 shots."We all played inspired hockey," said Price. "There were a lot of faces here I grew up watching.We really wanted to win this one. We were pumped up watching the guys out there and chatting with vets who won championships. We wanted to win for them as well. We're all pretty proud to be Canadiens tonight." Jaroslav Spacek and Glen Metropolit also scored for Montreal in the win. This is the way Montreal should have been playing every night. They finally decided to shoot instead of passing that's why they got 5 goals and that's why they won.

Written By Andrew Di Pardo

CANADIENS CELEBRATED THERE 100th BIRTHDAY TONIGHT

Tonight in Montreal, the Canadiens celebrated there 100th birthday with style by letting Canadiens legends hit the ice for the last time."This is an organization from top to bottom," Cournoyer said. "You need the players, but you need the coach and you need the general manager and the owners. Everywhere you go, the Montreal Canadiens are respected and that's why — it's a good organization."I went to the Forum to play my first game with the junior Canadiens when I was 17 years old and played my last game when I was 35. This is like my second home. These other guys are like my brothers, my family."They also retired numbers 3(Elmer Lach) and 16( Emile Bouchard)for the oldest Canadiens players around today.

The Canadiens organization was found on December 4th 1904 but they didn't play in aleague until January 5th 1910. Ever since 1910 the Canadiens had won 24 Stanley cups. There Last cup was 16 years ago in 1993."What has made this such a special evening is to see the collection of players here," Moore said. "I don't care which team, which year, we're all family. To have so many of these guys back together is what makes the organization so great." This was a great night for Montreal. It was there 100th anniversary. But as Ken Dryden Said the Canadiens have to leave the past behind them and decide if they want to win. I can't agree more. The past is the past and if the Canadiens ever want to win there 25th stanley cup anytime soon they will need to work for it.

Written By Andrew Di Pardo

CANADIENS CELEBRATE 100TH ANNIVERSARY TONIGHT AGAINST THE BRUINS

Tonight in Montreal, its the Montreal Canadiens 100th anniversary and they will be celebrating it against an original 6 rival the Boston Bruins. But its not all about the celebrations. Last night the Canadiens lost 6-2 to the Sabers. Ob course the Canadiens and the fans want to remember this night but the one thing they don't want to see is a loss. So how are the Canadiens going to get out of this losing streak? There's only one thing they can do and that's win. ''It's the 100-year anniversary, we'll try not to let our fans down,'' center Maxim Lapierre said. ''We have to win that game and give our best performance.'' The players who will be out of the line-up for Montreal tonight due to injury are defensemen Andrei Markov (ankle), Hal Gill (foot), and forwards Brian Gionta (foot) and Benoit Pouliot (wrist).

As for the Bruins, they are coming off a 4-1 victory over the lightning."That's one of the focuses we had [Wednesday], is to get the first goal and keep the lead," Savard said who scored his 200th goal in the win. "After the first, we emphasized getting the second, and it worked out perfectly." In order to get there 3rd straight win they will have to spoil the party in Montreal. But the Canadiens will not give them an easy time tonight. Especially because it's there 100th birthday.

	StatsS
27	GP	28
14	W	12
8	L	14
5	OT	2
33	P	26
0.611	P%	0.464
2.33	G/G	2.29
2.26	GA/G	2.96
17.0	PP%	16.9
85.4	PK%	80.0
30.8	S/G	28.0
29.3	SA/G	31.1
53.9	FO%	49.8

DATE	VIS/HOME	FINAL
Nov 5, 2009	MTL@BOS	MTL, 2 - 1

Written By Andrew Di Pardo

CANADIENS GET SHUTOUT AGAINST THE LEAFS

Last night in Montreal, the Canadiens opened up there 100th anniversary week but the Leafs spoiled the party with a 3-0 shutout win. The win came with a price of losing Jonas Gustavsson after the first period due to a heart condition. "Not to make light of it, but my heart was racing too when they got that power play with all the chances," said Wilson said. "He had that same sensation he had in training camp when his heart started to race. It came down on its own in the room, but we wanted to be cautious. Obviously, any situation with your heart could turn out to be serious." In the game the shots were 31-26 for the Maple Leafs."Tonight was the closest we've come to playing a complete game," said Toronto defenceman Mike Komisarek(a former Hab who was booed all night when he touched the puck).

Throught the game the Canadiens had chance after chance to score but the puck never went in."It was a difficult night," Montreal head coach Jacques Martin said. "Sometimes you have a few guys who aren't playing to their potential. But tonight, we had trouble finding one guy who was playing to his potential. Without a doubt, tonight was definitely our worst home game of the season." The Canadiens 100th birthday will be this Friday against the Bruins at home but the night before they will be playing against the Sabers in Buffalo.

Written By Andrew Di Pardo

CAPITALS GIVE UP 2 GOAL LEAD BUT WIN 4-3 IN THE SHOOTOUT

Last night in Montreal, the Habs took on the Capitals. It wasn't looking good for the Canadiens right from the start. As Ovechkin and Fehr scored 2 quick goals to give the Caps a 2 goal lead. But Montreal wasn't ready to give up just yet. First it was Jaroslav Spacek on the powerplay 5 minutes into the second. Then Thomas Plekanec scored late to tie it. In the third, the Canadiens went on the powerplay and Travis Moen tipped in a shot from the point to give Montreal the lead. Then with a 11 seconds to go Fehr put in his second of the game to tie it. The game went to a shootout and Backstrom scored the winner for the Capitals.

"For us, it's not good enough," Cammalleri said. "A lot of guys in here are upset. I don't really care who doesn't expect us to get the points. In this room we expect to get the points and we think that the way we've been able to play as a unit has been an effective way to get two points in a game and once again we put ourselves in position to do it tonight, so this group here is not happy with the one point." The Canadiens next game will be on Tuesday against the Toronto Maple Leafs (who have won 3 in a row).

Shootout
Michael Cammalleri	MTL	Save
Tomas Fleischmann	WSH	Save
Maxim Lapierre	MTL	Save
Alex Ovechkin	WSH	Save
Tomas Plekanec	MTL	Save
Nicklas Backstrom	WSH	Goal

Written BY Andrew Di Pardo

CANADIENS LOSE TO THE PENGUINS BY THE SCORE OF 3-1

Last night in Pitsburgh, the Canadiens took on the defending champs. And the result was not good. They ended up just getting 1 goal and giving up 3."They moved the puck a lot, possessed the puck a lot, especially those guys (Evgeni) Malkin and Crosby," Montreal forward Sergei Kostitsyn said. In the loss, Max Pacioretty scored the loan goal and Carey Price made 27 saves on 30 shots. As for the Penguins, Crosby, Gonchar(got the game winning goal) and Guerin all scored in the win. The goaltender (Marc Andrei Fleury) was also a big factor in the win by making 18 saves on 19 shots.

"I saw Gonch coming late and I didn't really have an angle to pass it on the forehand, so I just tried to spin there and give myself a better angle," Crosby said about the game winning goal. "It wasn't a great pass, it was in his feet, but he kicked it up to his stick and made a great move."

Written By Andrew Di Pardo

CAREY PRICE MAKES 33 SAVES TO LEAD TO A 5-3 CANADIENS VICTORY

Last night in Montreal, the Canadiens took on the Columbus Blue Jackets for the first and the last time of this season. And the Canadiens were looking to get a win out of it and they did with plenty of help from Carey Price (made 33 saves on 35 shots in the 5-3 victory)."Our guys played great," Price said. "In that second half of the game we didn't give them very much." In the win, Mike Cammalleri, Glen Metropolit, Maxim Lapierre and Marc-Andre Bergeron (who got 2 goals including the game winner) scored for Montreal.

"We're not focused in the right area," Hitchcock said. "We want to play a different game than you have to play to shut a game down. We just want to continually play in a track meet and that's exactly what we did and we got burnt. We forced pucks, we forced it into covered people, turn it over and it's in our net. Not smart."

The Canadiens next game will be tonight against the Penguins on RDS.

Written By Andrew Di Pardo

CANADIENS TRADE LATENDRESSE TO WILD FOR POULIOT; LARAQUE SUSPENDED AND KOSITSYN CALLED UP

Last night in Montreal the Canadiens announced that they have traded Guillaume Latendresse for Benoit Pouliot."The forwards are two players at the same stage in their careers who were still looking to make a place for themselves with the teams that drafted them," Canadiens GM Bob Gainey said. "Often times a different environment, new teammates and a new situation can be beneficial for a player." Pouliot is 23 and grew up watching the Canadiens as a kid.“I grew up only a half hour away. I watched the Canadiens on TV all the time and I’ve been a Habs fan my whole life,” revealed Pouliot. “Montreal is the ultimate hockey market. I know what to expect. This is going to be a lot of fun and I’m excited to be a Montreal Canadien.”Pouliot will wear number 57 on Montreal.

In other Canadiens new, Georges Laraque has been suspended for 5 games for that hit on Kronwall on Saturday."There is no ACL damage and that's good news," Red Wings' general manager Ken Holland told the Detroit News. "They are saying it's between a Grade 2 and a Grade 3 sprain; Grade 3 being the most severe. So he's out a month for sure and beyond that, it depends on how he heals."The other news is Sergei Kostitsyn has been called up from the minors.In 16 games with the Bulldogs (AHL) this season, he had four goals and nine assists and is plus- 6.

Written By Andrew Di Pardo

CANADIENS COME FROM BEHIND AND LOSE IN A SHOOTOUT TO THE WINGS

Last night in Montreal, it was a original six match-up between the Montreal Canadiens and the Detroit Red Wings. It was an intense game right from the start. Georges Laraque got two penalty's on one play. 2 minutes for highsticking and 4 minutes for a knee on knee trip on Niklas Kronwall(who left the game with a knee injury). So it was a 6 minute powerplay and the Wings knew they had to score and they did by getting a goal from Brad Stuart and Pavel Datsyuk. But the game was far from over. The Habs were still down by 2 going into the third.But the Canadiens grabed a goal just 9 seconds in by Mike Cammalleri. Then 7 minutes later it was Mike Cammalleri again scoring on a beautiful pass from Andrei Kostitsyn to tie the game at 2-2. But unfortunately for the Canadiens they lost in the shootout.

"Well, he's hurt," Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said about Kronwall's injury. "It's something that shouldn't happen in hockey. A guy shouldn't hang his leg out there and hurt another guy. It's unacceptable and it's disappointing, obviously we just lost a good player for a period of time. Our doctors will look at him, but he's out for a chunk for sure."Laraque said he didn't intend to hurt anyone."There were four refs on the ice and they didn't call anything," Laraque said. "If they called a match penalty it would be different. There was no intent, there was no reason why I would try to go and hurt him. It was a pure accident, that's why they called it tripping, so I'm not worried at all." The Canadiens next game will be on Tuesday against the Blue Jackets.

Shootout
Michael Cammalleri	MTL	Save
Pavel Datsyuk	DET	Goal
Tomas Plekanec	MTL	Post
Henrik Zetterberg	DET	Goal

Written By Andrew Di Pardo

CANADIENS WIN 2 IN-A-ROW WITH A WIN AGAINST THE CAPITALS

Last night in Washington, the Canadiens were looking to grab another win to start a win streak.And they did that by beating the Capitals by the score of 3-2. In the win, Travis moen, Thomas Plekanec and Mike Cammalleri scored for Montreal. Carey Price also played a big part in the victory by stopping 32 of 34 shot's he faced including making several saves when the Canadiens were trapped in there zone in the last 3 minutes."It felt like we were in our own end for 10 minutes," Price said after Montreal's 3-2 victory Friday night. "There was a lot of red out there. Especially when I lost my stick. I've got six players against four with no stick. That makes it pretty tough."

"The last 3 1/2 minutes were kind of hectic," Canadiens coach Jacques Martin said. "But up to that point I felt we were managing the game well." But overall in the game the Canadiens played really well.In the loss, Eric Fehr and Brendan Morrison had the goals for the Caps.

Written By Andrew Di Pardo

CAREY PRICE MAKES BIG SAVES TO LEAD TO A 3-2 SHOOTOUT VICTORY

Last night in Montreal, the Canadiens were looking to grab a win against the struggling Hurricanes.Who lost 14 of there past 15 games going into the game against Montreal and there slump continued as the Canadiens beat the Canes in a shootout. In the victory,Andrei Kostitsyn and Max Pacioretty scored in regulation and Maxim Lapierre scored the shootout winner. Carey Price also played a big part in the win by stopping 30 of 32 shots in regulation and overtime and stopped all 6 shootout attempts.

"When I was going through a hard streak I didn't know what to do," Price said of a month-long period where he lost six straight starts. "When you're going through a tough patch it's really tough, especially when you're putting in the work and you don't know what's wrong. I had a feeling like I had to change something but I didn't, I just stuck to it."

Shootout
Michael Cammalleri	MTL	Save
Tuomo Ruutu	CA R	Save
Scott Gomez	MTL	Save
Jussi Jokinen	CAR	Save
Andrei Kostitsyn	MTL	Save
Rod Brind'Amour	CAR	Miss
Tomas Plekanec	MTL	Save
Sergei Samsonov	CAR	Save
Guillaume Latendresse	MTL	Save
Bryan Rodney	CAR	Save
Maxim Lapierre	MTL	Goal
Matt Cullen	CAR	Save

Written by Andrew Di Pardo

CANADIENS GET SHUTOUT BY THE SCORE OF 2-0

Last night in Nashville, the Canadiens were out played and outshot(55-20) which lead to a 2-0 loss."They threw a lot of pucks at the net tonight," Price said. "Records aside, we were here to get two points, not a record.He performed well, there is no doubt," Canadiens coach Jacques Martin said of his goaltender. "It's unfortunate that his teammates didn't take advantage of a performance like that." In the victory, Sullivan had 2 goals for the Predators.

"I'm not going to lie, I really feel comfortable with J.P., and I find that he really settles the play down for us in the offensive end," Sullivan said. "He's so good at puck protection and nifty little passes that when you are open, you are getting the puck."The Canadiens on Tuesday against the Hurricanes.

Written By Andrew Di Pardo

P.S:Before the game the Canadiens foundout that Gionta had a lower-body injury which meant that Latendress (whos up for trade) had to take his place.

THE CANADIENS GET A WIN IN PHOENIX

Last night in Phoenix, the Canadiens were looking to snap a 2 game losing streak and they did by defeating the Coyotes by the score of 4-2."In the NHL, it's pretty much how you win games," Bergeron said. "We wanted to focus on the power play and penalty kill and they gave us the win." Cammalleri, Bergeron, Metropolit and Gionta all scored for Montreal in the 4-2 victory over the Coyotes."Usually when you make two passes of that caliber on the power play, the puck's going to end up in the back of the net," Cammalleri said.As for the Coyotes, Lang and Bissonnette scored in the loss."We gave them a few opportunities and they buried them," Lang said. The Canadiens next game will be on Saturday against the Predators in Nashville.

Written By Andrew Di Pardo

CANADIENS BATTLE HARD BUT FALL TO A 1-0 LOSS TO THE FLAMES

Last night in Montreal, the Canadiens were playing hard all game but Miikka Kiprusoff stood in there way as he made 25 saves to lead to a 1-0 Flames victory. "It's been better and better this season, and the guys are doing a good job on rebounds and keeping the forwards on the outside, and that makes my job easier," said Kiprusoff after he picked up the 31st shutout of his career and posted his 200th win since joining the Flames from the San Jose Sharks for the 2003-04 season."Jarome Iginla got the loan goal in the Flames victory.

In the loss, Jaroslav Halak did all he could by making made 30 saves but it wasn't enough to get Montreal the win.."We need to create more on offence, but you have to give credit to the Flames,they have one of the best defences in the league," said Martin. "We need more of a presence in front of the net, but that's something we'll have to work on." In the loss, Jaroslav Halak made 30 saves for Montreal.

Written By Andrew Di Pardo

THE LIGHTNING BEAT THE CANADIENS IN TANGUAY'S RETURN TO MONTREAL

Last night in Montreal, former Hab Alex Tanguay made his returned to Montreal for the fist time since being signed by the Lightning this past off-season. And did it in the best style you can expect by getting the game-winning goal and a assist in a 3-1 victory over Montreal."It's coming around," Tanguay said. "The last five or six games I'm starting to pick up my game a little bit and starting to skate a little better, and tonight I got a couple of bounces coming my way." In the loss, the Canadiens out-played and out-shot (37-21) the lightning but they only got 1 goal (Brian Gionta on the powerplay).

"It was an inconsistent effort the first half of the game," Gionta said. "I thought our second period was good, the start of the first was all right but we've given up goals late in periods, two of them tonight. That hurts the momentum and we've got to figure out a way to play better for 60 (minutes)."

Written By Andrew Di Pardo

CANADIENS BEAT BRUINS IN A SHOOTOUT

The Canadiens had not beat the Bruins in 9 straight games and were looking snap that streak going into last nights game against the Bruins. The Canadiens weren't the only team trying to snap a drought. As the Bruins had not scored in 2 games. But unfortunately for Boston they came out with a 2-1 shootout loss."We scored," Bruins forward Blake Wheeler said. "Obviously, that's a positive we can take out of the game." Glen Metropolit scored the only goal in regulation time for Montreal and Michael Cammalleri scored the shootout winner. As for the Bruins in the loss, Patrice Bergeron scored and Tim Thomas made 25 saves.

In the Canadiens victory Price kept them in the game by just giving up 1 goal, making 42 saves and becoming the first star of the game."I hadn't won in six games, and that was not the time to get upset," Carey Price said. "I had to refocus in a hurry because if I let it slip, then I lose another game."

Shootout
Blake Wheeler	BOS	Save
Michael Cammalleri	MTL	Goal
Patrice Bergeron	BOS	Save
Scott Gomez	MTL	Save
Mark Recchi	BOS	Save

Written By Andrew Di Pardo

HALAK AND LATENDRESSE ON THE TRADING LIST ; GAINEY TALKS WITH CHELIOS ABOUT CONTACTS

According to sources, Habs forward Guillaume Latendresse told Bob Gainey when he was drafted:"sign me now or I will return to the draft".So the Canadiens had no choice. But the story now (according to sources) is Gainey wants to trade Latendress beacuse he's an ankle skater. In other trading news, the Canadiens are talking to the Blackhawks about trading Jaroslave Halak. What you may ask is for what? But the truth is it is unknown. If the Canadiens trade Halak it better be for something good or it would be a big mistake because he's a great goaltender and at this moment he has a better record than Carey Price.In other Canadiens news, Habs General Manager Bob Gainey is talking to Chris Chelios about contracts. Gainey thinks that he could help in the absence of Andrei Markov and Ryan O'Byrne.

Written By Andrew Di Pardo

CANADIENS FALL TO THE THRASHERS 5-4

Last night in Montreal, the Canadiens suffered there first loss in 5 games at the Bell Centre by the score of 5-4 to the Thrashers."What concerns me most is our lack of effectiveness in protecting our goaltender," said Montreal coach Jacques Martin. "Part of that starts in the offensive zone with back pressure -- helping the defence -- but also in being more effective in the defensive zone.I thought Carey kept us in the game in the first period. The (last two) goals weren't his fault." Mike Cammaleri had 1 goal, Brian Gionta had 2 goals and Thomas Plekanec had 1 goal in the 5-4 loss to the Thrashers.

The goal scorers for the Thrashers in the win were B. Little, R. Peverley, M. Popovic, P. Kubina , and C. Armstrong."That was one of the greatest games I've been part of," said Peverley. "They came back and we answered."That showed a lot of character, but they showed a lot of character too." The Canadiens will try to redeem themselves on Thursday when they take on the Bruins at 7:00pm E.t on TSN and RDS (both available in HD).

Written By Andrew Di Pardo

CANADIENS BEAT THE LEAFS IN A SHOOTOUT ON HALLOWEEN

Last night in Montreal, the Canadiens blew a 2 goal lead twice but came up with a win in the shootout. This was no surprise for the Canadiens because they have played 7 games in overtime and have won all 7. "Our fans like OT and shootouts I guess," said Cammalleri. "We didn't want to give them those two goals.The fans were singing 'Na Na' Goodbye and were ready to go out and enjoy their Saturday night. We'd have liked to hold them off, but the big thing was to get the win." In the victory, Jaroslave Halak made 26 saves. As for the Leafs,Toskala made 35 saves in the lose.

Glen Metropolit,Guillaume Latendresse, Hal Gill, Roman Hamrlik scored in Regulation and Michael Cammalleri and Scott Gomez scored in the Shootout. As for the Leafs, Alexei Ponikarovsky had 2 goals in the lose."I could throw out all the cliches, but we still have to find a way to win," said Leafs coach Ron Wilson. "Which cliche do you want? We never say die, blah, blah blah? We still need to win." Lee Stempniak and Thomas Kaberle also scored for the Leafs.The Canadiens next game will be on Tuesday against the Thrashers on TSN and or RDS (Both channels available in HD).

Shootout
Michael Cammalleri	MTL	Goal
Lee Stempniak	TOR	Save
Scott Gomez	MTL	Goal
Tomas Kaberle	TOR	Save

Written By Andrew Di Pardo

CANADIENS HOST THE LEAFS TONIGHT ON HALLOWEEN

Tonight in Montreal, it's Halloween and the Montreal Canadiens will be taking on the Toronto Maple Leafs. This season the Leafs have the worst record in the NHL (1-7-3).But with the Leafs coming off back to back overtime losses this could be a sign of things to come."We played a solid game but sometimes it's not enough," said Tomas Kaberle (who had two assists in Friday's loss)."We did a good job going to the net in the third. The first few games in the season we were just standing around and waiting for good plays and empty nets that weren't there."

"We're doing a lot of things well," said Leafs head coach Ron Wilson. "If we keep doing stuff like this, the results are going to be there. We have to keep persevering." As for The Canadiens, they are looking to get back on track after 2 straight regulation losses to Pittsburgh and Chicago."We started doing some things right and it paid off for a short period of time, but not the whole game" Cammalleri said about the 3-2 lose to the Blackhawks. "With as many good saves as he (Price) had, we should have won.But I thought we were too easy to play against and I don't think we made it difficult enough on them to make them do what they wanted."

The puck drop for tonight's game will be at 7:08pm E.t on CBC and or RDS (Both channels are available in HD).

Written By Andrew Di Pardo

CROSBY GETS A HAT-TRICK TO LEAD TO A 6-1 WIN OVER THE CANADIENS

Last night in Pittsburgh, it was a bad night for the Canadiens and a good night for Sidney Crosby who got a hat-trick which lead to a 6-1 victory to snap the Canadiens 4 game win streak. "I felt good. I felt like I was getting chances, but I try to not to think about (hat tricks) too much," Crosby said. "You don't want to jinx it or think about it. I just wanted to make sure I kept generating chances. When Billy and Kuny are fore-checking like they were, creating loose pucks and stealing pucks, I just try to get ready for those opportunities."Rup, Kunitz and Goligoski also scored for the Penguins.

Tomas Plekanec had the lone-goal in the game for the Canadiens in the loss."We made mistakes," said Montreal defenseman Hal Gill, who won the Cup with the Penguins in June. "We had some turnovers and (Crosby) feeds off that. He waits for it and that's when he capitalizes." The Canadiens next game will be on Friday against the Blackhawks.

Written By Andrew Di Pardo

CANADIENS CONTINUE WIN-STREAK WITH A WIN IN OVERTIME AGAINST THE ISLANDERS

Last night in Montreal, the Habs continued there win streak (4-in-a-row) with a 3-2 overtime victory over the Islanders with help from Roman Hamrlik and Jaroslav Spacek (who both had goals in the game). "They gave us offensive production as well as playing most of the time against the top line," said Martin. "That was Spacek's first goal and we expected more offence from him this year, but when Markov and O'Byrne went down, they're been given the mandate of playing against the other teams' top lines."In the win Hamrlik had the game winning goal.

"There was an opportunity to jump into the play and it just happened," said Hamrlik, who led the team with 25:34 of ice time to 24:44 for Spacek. "Overtime is going our way, but you don't want to go to OT, you want to win in 60 minutes."Travis Moen also scored for the Montreal Canadiens. The Canadiens next game will be on Wednesday against the Penguins.

Written By Andrew Di Pardo

CAMMALLERI 3 GOAL HAT-TRICK LEAD TO THE HABS THIRD STRAIGHT WIN

Tonight in Montreal, Cammalleri's hat-trick leads to the Canadiens to a 5-4 overtime win over the New-York Rangers.(Which was there third straight victory and the Rangers third straight loss).It all started 5 minutes to the first periode when Cammalleri put home a one time past from Brian Gionta. Just a little while later the Rangers scored 3 unanswered goals to take a 3-1 lead over the Canadiens. Just a little while later the Canadiens scored 3 unanswered goals with one from Bergeron (on the powerplay) and 2 by Cammalleri ( one in overtime for the hat-trick). The canadiens next game is monday night at 7:30pm E.t on RDS.

Written By Andrew Di Pardo and Co-written by Jordano Mascaro

CANADIENS WIN THERE 2ND STRAIGHT GAME WITH A 5-1 WIN OVER THE ISLANDERS

Last night in Montreal, the Canadiens outplayed, outshot and outscored the Islanders as the Canadiens scored 5 goals for the first time this season in a 5-1 win. "We were a pretty easy team to play against," Islanders coach Scott Gordon said. "Defensively we were on our heels because of all our turnovers and it wasn't just in one area, it was coming out of our zone, it was situations where we had full control of the puck and we're not making plays. It's probably the worst that I've ever seen it tonight and it's something that we've got to get better at."

Scott Gomez and Marc-Andre Bergeron (on the powerplay) scored the first 2 goals for Montreal in the first period. Max Pacioretty scored in the second period. Mike Cammalleri (on the powerplay) and Maxim Lapierre scored in the third period.Jaroslav Halak made 21 saves in the game for Montreal.This wasn't only a victory for Montreal, it was the first time they scored more than 3 goals and the first time they won in regulation.

"We're making it hard on ourselves," Cammalleri said about the Canadiens five goal outburst. "That's something I didn't realize that until right now but that makes sense. Every game's been so tight, and it's important to try and win in tight games and find ways to win those games but at the same time you can't do that 82 times a year and then however many games in the playoffs, so it was important to get out to a little bit of a lead and hang on to one tonight." The Canadiens next game will be on Saturday against the Rangers.

Written By Andrew Di Pardo

CANADIENS SNAP LOSSING STREAK WITH A SHOOTOUT WIN OVER THE TRASHERS

Last night in Montreal, the Canadiens looked to snap a losing streak with a win over the Atlantic Thrashers. The Canadiens opened the scoring with a goal by Brian Gionta in the first. The Thrashers scored early in the third period to tie it up at 1-1. The Canadiens would go on to win 2-1 in the shootout. If it wasn't for rookie goaltender O. Pavelec the Thrashers would not have even went to a shootout. As Pavelec made 34 saves on 35 shots. But the Canadiens didn't let that bring them down." We didn't let him bring us down we just stuck with our game and came out on the winning side," Gionta Said.

The Shootout
Mike Cammalleri	MTL	Save
Ilya Kovalchuk	ATL	Save
Scott Gomez	MTL	Goal
Rich Peverley	ATL	Save
Brian Gionta	MTL	Goal

Written By Andrew Di Pardo