Then again, you have to remember, with that many injuries, many players have to eat a lot more ice time than they should. You can blame Carbonneau for giving Lapierre 15 minutes of play but if Koivu, Higgins and Tanguay were playing, he’d see about 8-10 minutes only. Same goes for Kostopoulos, Latendresse and Begin. D’Agostini, Chipchura and Pacioretty shouldn’t even be in Montreal. All things considered, being worn out at mid season after that game is, to me, partially excusable

But there are players who are seeing more ice time and are getting better by the game. Jaroslav Halak is a prime example. Tonight, he was the best weapon to keep that tight one goal lead. At times he was so calm and composed, I could have sworn they just put Price in the drying machine and he shrunk. And then he tried to play a couple of puck behind the net and the difference was quite evident. I can’t fault him on any of the two goal. I never point the finger to a player on a deflected shot. As for the second goal, it is absolutely unimaginable to let two players stay behind both defensemen at even strength. It was technically Hamrlik player who ended up scoring but either him or Brisebois or both should have been a lot more alert and not let those two opponents unchecked right in front of Halak

Andrei Kostitsyn will be at the All Star game… one day. After a slow start, which could be caused by the injury he suffered at the beginning of the season, he picked up right where he was at the end of last year. He is a strong player who keeps is play a lot simpler now than he used to. He use his shot a lot more and keep finding new ways to score. Since playing with his brother and Robert Lang, this line has been the most consistent offensive threat of the Montreal Canadiens.

The powerplay was 1 for 3 tonight and is coming back to where it used to be. I know I’ve said it before and I’ll probably have to say it for the next couple of years, it wasn’t Sheldon Souray that was making the powerplay a force to be reckoned with. It wasn’t Mark Streit either. And no it wasn’t Kovalev. The reason the powerplay has worked so well in the past is thanks to one man only and he’s signed until 2010-2011: Andrei Markov. He still is one of the most underrated player in the game. He is second in points amongst NHL defensemen, very reliable in his own zone, can support an offensive rush when needed and plays almost 25 minutes a game. Out of his seven goals this season, 3 of them were game winning goals and that’s not even taking into account the two games he helped the Habs win by scoring in the shootout. But most importantly than anything it’s his vision of the ice that makes him an elite player. The passes he makes, either to the other point man for a one-timer, or like he did today across the whole defensive box are pretty much always spot on

One last comment on the game, I absolutely loved Kovalev, Brisebois, Lang and pretty much anybody else who played in the last minute and a half of the game. At many point I saw a clear opportunity for a player to take a shot from their own side of the red line or a shot from the backhand with heavy traffic in front. But every time the player opted to kill more time by keeping the puck a little bit longer, often passing to a teammate. This, my friends, is a great example of what a coach like Guy Carbonneau can bring to his players… and why Shane Corson is NOT behind a bench

Well that’s it for tonight boys and girl(s). Halak gave a solid performance to help a sketchy Habs team steal a victory that wasn’t fully deserved. But then again, they played well enough to win against Boston. I guess things even out in a season

Now let’s see how bad they can destroy Ottawa!