HabsCast Hockey Blog

Uploaded on February 9, 2007 by Dimitri P.

Montreal 3, Carolina 2 (OT)
All I have to say is this is a great way to start the season. The Canadiens came through in overtime after coughing up a one goal lead late in the third, thanks to Saku Koivu and his overtime goal. Although the game was fun to watch, the Canadiens took way to many penalties. If we continue taking penalties at this rate, the Habs will be playing golf before the snow melts.

Other than the penalties, the Canadiens played a solid 2-way game. At first, I thought Cristobal Huet was shaky but he regrouped and played a stellar game, not to mention, he made the save of the year in the first game of the year. His positioning was accurate and he helped the team on a couple of occasions when we were down two men.

The first line of Chris Higgins, Saku Koivu, and Michael Ryder had a solid outing. With Koivu scoring two goals, both of which came on the powerplay, this line was our best. Chris Higgins made a great play in overtime and hustled all night long. Ryder, on the other hand, also had some good chances but has to learn to move his feet more and avoid taking unnecessary penalties. The second line of Andrei Kostitsyn, Mikhail Grabovski, and Alex Kovalev also had an interesting night. They played with a lot of speed and created multiple chances for themselves, however, failed to capitalize on them. Give these guys a couple of games to calm their nerves and they’ll produce, if they stick to their game plan that is. The third line of Guillaume Latendresse, Tomas Plekanec, and Tom Kostopolous had a mediocre game collecting a rating of -3 and taking just 3 shots. It’s going to take some time for them to create chemistry because of their different styles of play. Finally, I was really upset that Chipchura wasn’t in the lineup. This guy deserves to play over players like Begin and Dandenault. The fourth line only had one upside and that being Brian Smolinski. He played 12:38 and made some pretty good chances for himself.

The defense also had a great debut. I though they came up with some big plays and key times. Mark Streit really stepped up, especially on the powerplay. What a shot! Patrice Brisebois really impressed me as well. Who knew he would play just over 21 minutes. He had some cough-ups but also made great plays both offensively and defensively. Andrei Markov played his game and gathered 2 assists in the process. I was a bit disappointed in Mike Komisarek. I found he was a bit slow and choppy with the puck but I’m sure he’ll do better on Saturday. Francis Bouillon played a solid defensive game as well did Roman Hamrlik who played his first game as a Canadien.

All in all, it was a above par start. Our next game is on Saturday night against the hated Toronto Maple Leafs in Toronto. It should be interesting to watch since they were the team who eliminated us from playoff contention last season, so the Canadiens will be looking for some revenge. I expect Cristobal Huet to start after his game against Carolina and Kyle Chipchura will hopefully be in the lineup instead of Begin.

Notes: The game on Wednesday night wasn’t picked up by any local stations in Carolina so they were left with only RDS. RDS also had the HDTV debut last night but had some technical difficulties with their powerplay clock. The scratches for Wednesday night’s game were Kyle Chipchura, Garth Murray, and Josh Gorges.

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