HabsCast Hockey Blog

Carey Price Shines in his First Win

Montreal 3, Pittsburgh 2 (My Prediction: Montreal 3, Pittsburgh 4 SO) - All I can say is I’m happy I was wrong!

All of you who doubted Bob Gainey please stand up, face forward, and say you’re sorry. Ok, it was only Carey Price’s first NHL game but did he ever make an impression. Not only did Price get his first career win, he also did it in style. Carey Price’s performance tonight made him look like a veteran and if he was nervous it never showed. I’m pretty sure I was tenser than he was before the game. He made key saves when they mattered most and got some help from the post as well. His positioning and movement in the crease was accurate and rapid, and he’s the main reason why the Canadiens came out with a victory tonight.

The Canadiens came out flat in the first period and really depended too much on Price. They also took a couple of penalties, which were killed off brilliantly. Komisarek took a bad slashing penalty while scrumming with Crosby. It didn’t look that bad but Crosby made it seem worse than it was and that was enough for the referee to call the penalty. By the end of the first period, Price saved all of the 9 shots that he faced.

The second period was a different story and the Canadiens came back to life. After giving up a questionable goal, the Canadiens bounced back and scored to unanswered goals, one of which came on the powerplay. The second line of Kovalev, Plekanec, and Kostitsyn really seemed to click and it showed on the score sheet. Plekanec scored his first goal of the season with a slap shot from the top of the right circle, which beat Fleury on his glove side. The second goal came four minutes after thanks to a beautiful pass down the right boards by Plekanec to Kovalev where Kovalev streaked into the zone and pulled the trigger from the top of the right circle and beat Fleury under the blocker. The Canadiens were in control for most of the second period and they carried that momentum into the third.

The third period brought a lot of excitement to this game. Andrei Markov marked an early goal off of Michael Ryder’s rebound, putting the Canadiens up 3-1. It wasn’t even a minute until Evgeni Malkin made a brilliant no-look pass from behind the net to Maxim Talbot who beat Carey Price on the glove side. After that the Penguins were back in the game and continued to put pressure on the Canadiens, only to be denied by Price, who kept his composure. The Canadiens also had great chances but the stellar play of Andre-Marc Fleury kept the Penguins in the game.

The defensive pairings for tonight seemed appropriate and I feel that they did an excellent job tonight around the crease. There were times where they had trouble getting the puck out of their zone but overall it was a great effort. On the other hand, some of our offensive lines were a bit flat. Here’s an analysis of our offensive lines:

Higgins – Koivu – Ryder
Solid game and they put a point on the board. Higgins had plenty of great chances to score but Fleury had his number. Their plus minus rating was +3 combined.

Kostitsyn – Plekanec – Kovalev
I’m really liking this combination because I feel that Plekanec is starting to show that he’s a point getter. This line worked really hard tonight and it showed. Kostitsyn had a little scare after being violently hit by Gary Roberts in the corner. Both Plekanec and Kovalev scored their first goal of the season. They combined for a +3

Latendresse – Smolinski – Kostopolous
I wasn’t really impressed tonight with this line. They did a good job both offensively and defensively, however, Guillaume Latendresse doesn’t really fit here. He hasn’t showed us what he is capable of offensively and is not a great defensive player either. The bottom line is that Latendresse doesn’t belong on a checking line and doesn’t work hard enough to play with the likes of Kovalev. He simply wouldn’t be able to keep up with him. I think a good place for Guillaume to score would be on the powerplay in front of the net but he’ll have to show Carbonneau that he’s worthy of it. This line combined for a -3.

Begin – Chipchura – Dandenault
This was Kyle Chipchura’s first NHL game and it wasn’t an easy one. His task during the game was to contain the line of Sidney Crosby and I believe he did a pretty good job at it. Not a bad start for the rookie. Moreover, this line did a great job protecting their zone and creating scoring opportunities when that option was available. Chipchura seemed a bit shaky at first but eventually settled in and made some key defensive plays. He also had a couple shots on goal. Mathieu Dandenault did an exceptionally good job fore-checking throughout the game and I think he should play forward for as long as possible. This line had an even rating.

Overall, the Canadiens played a solid game that saw Carey Price obtain his first NHL win. They have a couple days of rest until their home opener on Saturday against the Carolina Hurricanes, who they beat in their first game of the season by a score of 3-2. Cristobal Huet has been confirmed as the starting goalie for Saturday night’s game despite Carey Price’s performance against Pittsburgh.

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