Montreal 3 NY Islanders 1 (Nassau Coliseum)
“I’ve been feeling good and feeling ready. I waited like this before so it was nothing new for me. You want to play and help the team win and hopefully get another shot.” — Alex Auld
MONTREAL, QC.– It’s never easy to sweep a home-and-home series in the NHL especially when the back half is in the opponent’s arena. Fortunately this game was taking place in the Habs-friendly Nassau Coliseum. Despite the Canadiens being on the road, they were welcomed by a substantial number of red-clad Habs fans who seemed to have locked up prime seating in the lower bowl.
The Islanders proved to be a more difficult adversary on this night. The Canadiens carried the play in the first period and took a one goal lead into the second. But in the middle frame the Islanders dominated outshooting the Habs 13-to-4. Defensively Montreal stiffened allowing just one shot on a 5-on-3 New York power-play which lasted for 1:43.
The formula for victory was similar to other games this season with goaltending leading the way. The difference tonight was Alex Auld being the man behind the mask. Auld made 30 saves and looked very sharp in his first start.
New York had the clear upper hand in shot attempts 74-50 but the Canadiens were equal to the task blocking 26 shots. Montreal penalty-killers were perfect on six Islanders opportunities. When Jon Sim initiated unpleasantries after the whistle, the Habs pop-gun power-play made the Isles pay.
The Habs continue to demonstrate that they are a tight group. When Matt Martin decided to rough up sniper Andrei Kostitsyn, Hal Gill stepped in and dropped the gloves.
Seven things you should know:
- Two Canadiens players are in the top-20 in scoring, a rare accomplishment in recent years. Tomas Plekanec and Andrei Kostitsyn each have 10 points.
- Jeff Halpern ranks sixth in the NHL in faceoff success winning over 61 percent of his draws.
- Brian Gionta has only one goal and two assists but sits eighth in the league in shots on goal with 40. It would appear that its just a matter of time until he breaks out.
- The Habs seven wins is the most in the Eastern conference. Carey Price has six of those wins and is tied for the league lead.
- When scoring first, Montreal has a record of 6-0-1. When trailing first, they are 1-2-0.
- The Canadiens rank fourth in the NHL with 21 goals scored 5-on-5, a dramatic improvement over last season. Of the 28 goals tallied, scoring was balanced with nine coming in each period and one in overtime.
- Montreal is third best with 2.2 goals allowed per game. On offense, they rank in the middle of the pack scoring 2.8 goals per game.
With three victories already in the bank this week, the Canadiens host the Florida Panthers at the Bell Centre on Saturday evening.
All Habs game stars:
1. Alex Auld
2. Tomas Plekanec
3. Jeff Halpern
Roster notes:
Ryan O’Byrne and Dustin Boyd were healthy scratches. Andrei Markov was out with a knee injury. Markov is expected to return on Saturday against the Panthers.
(Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
Islanders are ballsy, I guess. But I doubt every other team in the league were taking notes saying, “Yes! The secret to beating them is a 3-man forecheck or to keep a cherry-picker up high so we’re always playing shorthanded!” Some will praise Gordon for being “gutsy” (Pierre McGuire) while most will point out the 3-on-2 (more 3-on-1 since Darche eliminated the 2nd man rather well) that was Pouliot’s goal when PK flipped the puck out over the forecheckers to Halpern. Even though they spent a long time in their own end in the 2nd, defensively they seemed to take care of those forecheckers well enough.
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