Saturday, February 11, 2012
Friday, February 10, 2012
HABS WIN 3RD STRAIGHT WITH A HELP FROM PACIORETTY & GOMEZ
GOAL SCORERS
MTL: M. Pacioretty (01:23 - 1st) , M. Pacioretty (09:30 - 2nd) , S. Gomez (PPG, 09:50 - 3rd) , M. Pacioretty (EN, 19:59 - 3rd)
NYI: M. Moulson (PPG, 17:19 - 3rd) , M. Streit (18:07 - 3rd)
Last night in Long Island, the Habs took on the New York Islanders in search of their 3rd straight win. Just over a minute in, Pacioretty came up the right wing and fired a shot past Nabokov to make it 1-0 Habs lead. 9 minutes and 30 seconds into the second, Desharnais had the puck of the left wing and he centred the puck for Pacioretty and he scored his second of the game to make it 2-0 Habs lead. 10 minutes into the third, with the Habs on the powerplay, Diaz's point shot went off a defender and right to Gomez at the top of the right circle and he one-timed a shot into the net to brake his 1 Year 3 days goalless drought as the Habs lead 3-0.
Moulson and Streit would score for the Islanders to cut the lead to 1, before Pacioretty had a buzzer beating empty-net/ Hat-Trick goal (which was his team leading 22nd goal of the season). After the game all the talk was about Gomez's first goal in over 1 year. "I wasn't feeling sorry for myself, I've just kept working," said the 32-year-old Gomez about his game-winning Power-Play Goal. "It's certainly good to get a win, and of course it's great to finally score. Montreal is a beautiful place, we just have to keep winning.That's the bottom line." Randy Cunneyworth was under some criticism after he didn't put Gomez on the ice to try to get an empty net goal Sunday against the Jets. But he felt that players had to work for Goals and he was right as Gomez battled and battled until he got a goal.
"It was a big goal for us, proved to be the game-winner," Canadiens coach Randy Cunneyworth said. "We worked hard and the effort paid off. We have to get it going and keep it going." In the win, Price made 31 saves and many of them were tough saves, but that along with Pacioretty's First NHL Hat-Trick were overshadowed because Gomez got a goal. But the players didn't seem to mind."I'm happy for the team, obviously for Pac with three goals and Gomer for getting that gorilla off his back," Price said. "And it sure is nice to string a few wins together." The Habs next game will be Saturday night against the Leafs. It's a special night for Toronto, as Matts Sundin get's his number 13 retired.
Written By Andrew Di Pardo
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
CANADIENS WIN 2ND STRAIGHT WITH A 3-2 SHOOTOUT WIN
GOAL SCORERS
PIT: P. Dupuis (SHG, 01:03 - 3rd) , J. Neal (07:32 - 3rd)
MTL: L. Leblanc (11:21 - 2nd) , L. Eller (03:00 - 3rd) , T. Plekanec (00:00 - SO)
Last night in Montreal, the Habs were looking for a much needed second straight win against the Penguins. 10 minutes into the second, Price came out of his net and played the puck up the boards, but the puck went to Malkin and he had an empty net and Subban dove back to keep the puck out. Plekanec had a breakaway going back the other way and he was stopped by the blocker of Fleury. 2 minutes later, LeBlanc came up the right wing and he fired the shot into the back of the net to make it 1-0. 1 minute into the third, Vitale centred the puck and it went off the skate of Dupuis and in to tie the game. 2 minutes later, Eller dumped the puck in from the blue line and the puck snuck through the pads of Fleury and in to give the Habs a 2-1 lead. 4 minutes later, Malkin centred the puck to Neal and he scored to tie the game.
This game would go to a shootout. Bourque was the first shooter and he scored over the glove of Fleury. Letang was stopped by Price. Pacioretty was next for the Habs and he was denied by Fleury. Malkin was next for the Penguins, he came in and did a spin a Rama and he scored. Then in the second round, Eller came in and scored to give the Habs a 2-1 shootout lead. Kunitz would tie the game. Plekanec was nexta dn he ripped a wrist shot past Fleury to give the habs a 3-2 lead. Williams was next and he went from forehand to backhand and he was stopped by the pad of Price and the Habs win 3-2! This was just their second win in a shootout this season. The other win came back in December against the Hurricanes. In the win, Price made 32 saves.
"Carey was great again tonight," said Plekanec. "He gave us a chance to stay in the game and he was great again in the shootout. We were able to pay him back with that performance in the shootout." With this win, the Habs move from 15th to 13th and they now sit 10 points out of a playoff spot."We blew two leads but at the end of the day I thought we kept a really positive attitude on the bench," Price said. After the loss, where Fleury made 28 saves the Pens coach had this to say about his performance in the loss:"He had four or five really big saves, really good scoring chances by their team," Bylsma said of Fleury.
"They had some short-handed opportunities, a breakaway coming out of the box there after the power play - he made a number of huge saves for us and really stood strong. It was an unfortunate goal for the second one, but he played a very good game, making some big saves, especially in the first half of the game to keep it at zero."
| Shootout | ||||||
| Rene Bourque | MTL | Goal | ||||
| Kris Letang | PIT | Save | ||||
| Max Pacioretty | MTL | Save | ||||
| Evgeni Malkin | PIT | Goal | ||||
| David Desharnais | MTL | Save | ||||
| James Neal | PIT | Save | ||||
| Erik Cole | MTL | Save | ||||
| Cal O'Reilly | PIT | Save | ||||
| Lars Eller | MTL | Goal | ||||
| Chris Kunitz | PIT | Goal | ||||
| Louis Leblanc | MTL | Save | ||||
| Andrei Kostitsyn | MTL | Save | ||||
| Tomas Plekanec | MTL | Goal | ||||
| Jason Williams | PIT | Save | ||||
Written By Andrew Di Pardo
Monday, February 6, 2012
PRICE MAKES 23 SAVES IN A BIG SHUTOUT WIN AGAINST THE JETS
GOAL SCORERS
MTL: M. Pacioretty (18:02 - 1st) , A. Emelin (SHG, 07:20 - 2nd) , T. Plekanec (PPG, 11:28 - 2nd)
Yesterday afternoon in Montreal, the Habs took on the Jets in what was a must win game for the Habs. With under 2 minutes to go in the first, Pacioretty centred the puck and it went off of Pavelec and into the net to make it 1-0 Montreal. 8 minutes into the second, Plekanec brought the puck up shorthanded and played it to Emelin (on the left wing) and he one-timed a shot past Pavelec to make it 2-0 Habs lead. 4 minutes later with the Habs on a powerplay, Plekanec fired a shot from the slot and it beat Pavelec to make it 3-0. But the question was, did Gomez tip the puck in since he was standing in front. It took 10 minutes to announce, but it was credited to Plekanec. So Gomez's 52 game goalless drought continued.
With the win, the Habs are now in 14th in the East are they are 11 points back of the Leafs for 8th in the Eastern Conference with 29 games to go in the season. So if the Habs will have any hope of making the playoffs they will have to get on a win streak and fast."With a goalie like that, we know that if we get a few goals and we play the right way, if there's breakdowns, Carey will be there to make the save," Darche said. "But we can't give those chances. That's what's been so frustrating about the season; we know when we do it we'll be successful because we have the players to be successful and we don't always do it."
Written By Andrew Di Pardo
Saturday, February 4, 2012
TRADE NEWS: Whos on The Block, Who The Habs are out to Get
Montreal Canadiens Trading Block:
1. Travis Moen
2. Hal Gill
3. Chris Campoli
4. Andrei Kostitsyn
The Habs are Interested in:
1. Sam Gagner (Oilers)
2. Jeff Carter (Jackets)
3. Tim Gleason (Flyers)
HABS SLIM PLAYOFF HOPES TAKE ANOTHER BLOW WITH A 3-0 LOSS
GOAL SCORERS
WSH: D. Wideman (08:10 - 1st) , M. Hendricks (06:11 - 3rd) , A. Semin (PS, 11:57 - 3rd)
This past afternoon in Montreal, the Habs were looking to move within 11 points of a Post-season spot with a win against the Capitals. But it didn't go as planned. Just 8 minutes in, Widemans point shot was a knuckle ball that went high and over the glove of Budaj to make it 1-0 Capitals. 10 minutes into the second, Brouwer had a breakaway and Budaj through his stick. So a penalty shot was called. Budaj would stopped Brouwer five hole. Lets jump to the third. 6 minutes in, Laich was stopped at the side of the net, but Hendricks was there to put home the rebound. Then 6 minutes later, Semin was awarded a penalty shot. He came in and scored over the glove of Budaj to make it 3-0 and that was the final.
In the win, Vokoun made 30 saves on what were shots from every possible angle on the ice. Not many of the Habs shots were quality shots, that's why they lost. This loss will put the Habs 13 points out of a playoff spot."You fight yourself mentally," Gorges said of their losing season. "You're telling yourself to do so much and you accomplish nothing."Your mind's going 100 miles and hour and your feet aren't moving. You're overthinking everything. The problem is we're very tense, very tight. We're not just playing hockey. We're trying to do too much. It's mentally exhausting when you play like that."
With Gomez's long drought of no goals since February 5th 2011, the fans were cheering him on every time he got the puck. With the his 1 year goal less anniversary coming up tomorrow, Gomez hopes that the fans will help him get a goal."It almost sounds like encouragement," Josh Gorges said. "It doesn't sound like booing.I hope it's encouragement and that they want to see him get that goal and move forward. I hope they're trying to push him to get the goal he wants and that we want him to get." With this win, the Capitals now have 3 straight shutouts in Montreal.
Written By Andrew Di Pardo
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)