Downed in Philly

On black Friday's afternoon debacle between the Philadelphia Flyers and the Montreal Canadiens, we really saw the real Flyers play some good hockey. Without the help of Captain and solid blue liner Chris Pronger, Jaromir Jagr, and James Van Riemsdyk, the Flyers were able to build up a second period power surge, coming back from a less than medeokre first period, tallying only 4 shots to the net. Philly scored 3 goals within a 6 minute span, not to mention 2 of those by Claude Giroux, the league's second leading scorer, with 13 goals and 16 assists, just under Phil Kessel. 

The Canadiens played a decent first period, but then it all went downhill.
Way to be blunt: the Canadiens are boring. They need some hype, pronto.

Tonight, they're facing the well awaited, now Sidney Crosby-ified Penguins. No need to recap on his work of late. Let's just say that Sidney Crosby scored more goals in one game than Scott Gomez has so for this season, which is none- by the way. Scott Gomez is deprived of goals this season, it seems. 

As much as I may complain, the Habs always seem to kick it up a notch when they're playing against a quality team. We shall see what happens. 

Puck drops at 7. 

Bon match.  

Nailbiter W in Carolina

HockeyInside/out

The red light went off early in the game, when Tlustly got Carolina's first of the game within just 34 seconds of play. Price knocked the puck into his own net- a real bad goal to say the least. The Hurricanes took a 2-0 lead at 6 minutes off of another weird sequence scored by La Salle native Anthony Stewart. Eller managed to sneak a shorthanded goal in the second, reducing the 'Canes lead by one. With the score tied at 3-3 by the end of the third and a scoreless OT period, Brian Gionta was the shootout hero for the Canadiens giving them a 4-3 win. 

Two well needed points earned as the Canadiens head off to play Philadelphia in an afternoon game on Friday, and Sidney Crosby and his Penguins on Saturday at the Bell Centre.

Habs in the West

Although some of you may already be dozed off in your wonderful dreams at 9:00 tonight, others will be watching the Canadiens play against the Coyotes.
Mike Cammalleri is sitting out, as are Andrei K and Gomez.
Scott Gomez is hoping to be back in the lineup as of Saturday against Nashville.
The Canadiens have called up Aaron Palushaj from Hamilton, who practiced on a line with Eller and Moen.
“I think Lars and I have some pretty good chemistry together; we played together a little bit in Peoria as well when he was back in the American League,” expressed Palushaj.


Bon match. 

Habs edged by the blue and orange 3-1

On Tuesday night, the Canadiens lost their second in a row against the Edmonton Oilers. The Canadiens were 0 for 6 on the power play, including a 5-3 late in the second. The shots were 29-14 in favor of the Habs, but Khabibulin was on top of his game, and the Habs hit the post a few too many times. Edmonton scored the first at 4:38 of the second, Ryan Jones scoring shorthanded. The scoreboard didn't budge until 16:28 of the third period, when the Oilers took a 2-0 lead. Max Pacioretty scored 32 seconds later, giving some hope and hype for the Canadiens in the last 3 minutes of the game. Sadly, Edmonton closed the doors after they secured the win with an empty netter.
In a nutshell, the chances were there, Khabibulin was solid, and it's another L.

Edmonton stopping by for a visit

The Oilers are playing at the Bell Centre tonight. The Canadiens play 3 Western conference teams this week, taking on the Coyotes and the Predators on Thursday and Saturday respectively. This is interesting, considering we don't get access to much Western conference action. With the Oilers on a 6 game road trip, Montreal is the midway mark of their roady, being the third team Edmonton plays against in 5 days on the road.
Edmonton appears to be a very strong team this season, with an 8-3-2 record to date. The Oilers have allowed the fewest goals against in the NHL, coming off of a 6 game winning streak which ended Saturday night, losing 4-2 against the Phoenix Coyotes.
Players to look out for: 
Edmonton Oilers rookie Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is producing for his team, recording 4 points in his last 5 games. Ryan Smith has tallied up 7 points in his last 7 games. 


Game time: 7:30


Bon match. 

Rangers defeat Habs to end 4 game winning streak

 Source: hockeyinsideout.com

What to say about the showdown on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden: penalties, and lots of them. Racking up 40 minutes of penalties between 9 different players, including one for too many men, let's just say the chances for New York to fire up the score board weren't scarce whatsoever. It really was one of those games that got the blood pressure rising. It almost felt like I was watching an old school Broad Street Bullies Philadelphia Flyers game when 5 Montreal players sitting in the penalty box. Pretty soon they would have been close to taking out the folding chairs for those who didn't have room on the bench in the box. Oh, and did I mention; Nokelainen got kicked out of the game?
With 32 of those 40 minutes of penalties taking place in the first period, the Rangers dominated the first 20 minutes of the game, outscoring the Canadiens 16-3, and taking a 3 goal lead. Montreal bounced back in the second, with goals by Pacioretty and Kostitsyn, being short of a goal to tie things up, until Brad Richards ended the second period with a 4-2 lead in favor of the Rangers. The Canadiens scored a late one in the 3rd, being short of one goal again, to further lose the game 5-3 to an empty netter.
Definitely not some of the best hockey the Canadiens are capable of, although it was quite the entertainment for some Saturday night hockey.  

Long Habless Week

Guess what?
Last week, your Montreal Canadiens played games against the Philadelphia Flyers, and the Bruins, twice, and they won every one of these. 3 in a row, baby! You have to admit that after losing 6 in a row, a little streak is nice to have under the belt.
Awarded for their good work, the Habs got two days off, hitting the ice again on Tuesday.
Andrei Markov took the ice on Monday for a light workout, as did Scott Gomez.

The Canadiens have beefed up their blue line, signing Jarred Tinordi, their first round draft choice in 2010 to a 3-year contract. Tinordi was selected 22nd overall in the NHL Entry Draft. Tinordi has not been in action with the London Knights (OHL) as of late, sidelined with an eye injury. Last season, the 6'6 defenceman finished the season with a total of 1 goal and 13 assists, while he led the Knights with 140 penalty minutes.

The Canadiens resume their games again on Friday at 7:30, playing in Ottawa against the Senators, and Saturday against the Rangers in New York at 7:00.   

A special congratulations to Carey Price for winning the Molson Cup for the month of October.

Happy Thursday to you.