Welcome back dear readers to another Habs game review. Hope your Christmas was as good as it could and you enjoyed this time with your loved ones.

On Saturday we were treated to a battle between two of the most talented teams in the NHL, both led by franchise players drafted 3 years ago. I am talking of course of Guill… I mean Carey Price and Sidney Crosby. While Sidney Crosby choice as first overall was a given, the Montreal pick of Price was heavily contested at the time, much less today. Actually, this could lead to a great discussion: who would YOU pick… but that would be an article for later.

I am happy to report that tonight, Bob Gainey’s pick proved to be the best man on the ice. Many Habs played a solid game but none better than the masked one. Pittsburgh fired 34 shots but Carey held the fort beautifully stopping 32 of them, 17 in the third period alone. He was by far the best player killing penalties, again especially in the third when he had to save the game on three of Pittsburgh power play opportunities.

Sidney Crosby had a good game with a goal and an assist but it just wasn’t enough. Pascal Dupuis also played a very good game but on the other hand, Malkin looked shaky all night long. Marc-André Fleury is another one who had an off night with 3 goals on only 19 shots and allowed a goal he should have stopped for the game winner but he also kept his team in the game when he stopped Maxime Lapierre on a shorthanded breakaway in middle of the third when Malkin was stolen the puck at the Habs blueline.

Andrei Kostitsyn was also exceptionally good tonight scoring his first hat trick. On the first goal he initiated the attack when he delivered a good body check to keep the puck in the zone and then took advantage of Thomas Plekanec passing. On the second goal he simply took advantage of Plek passing. But it’s on the third one that he was most impressive.  He took the puck right off Crosby’s stick and then deked him with a spin before getting to the offensive zone and do what I asked of him so many times: shoot the puck on net. He has such a great shot I don’t understand why he doesn’t use it more often.

Speaking of Plecky, he was a lot more patient with the puck tonight than he’s been in a long time. Maybe the week off was just what he needed. On the first goal I fully expected him to shoot the puck as soon as he got it, about a foot from the post, which would have probably resulted in nothing good but instead he wrapped around the net before finding Kostitsyn. And on the second goal I again expected him to shoot, especially considering how little time there was left on the clock, but instead he went behind the net, turned around and again found his teammate Andrei in front of the net who buried it with less than two seconds left to the period.

There is another player I want to talk about, one who has been impressive or quite some time already, it’s Maxime Lapierre. If I was Bob Gainey, I’d sign the kid to a long term contract. I could see him as the third center of the team for the rest of his career, like a Guy Carbonneau with less skill but more grit. He does so many little things well, especially on the penalty killing, and everybody knows this guy will never make more than 1.5M or maybe 2M a year. Then again, maybe that’s why I’m not General Manager…

Now, not everybody played a good game. Patrice Brisebois and Francis Bouillon were shaky all night long and it may be time to bring back Ryan O’Byrne in the lineup, giving a night off each to the two other veterans, just to remind them they aren’t guaranteed a spot in the lineup. Besides, the next two opponents aren’t exactly dangerous offensively. Florida is depleted and Tampa Bay has only one real line.

Before I go, there is one last player I want to mention. And it’s strange because the man was invisible for most of the night, until he took a bad penalty with only three minutes left to the game: Alex Tanguay. I know he had four points in the last two games before tonight but quite frankly, I think he look lost on the ice. He doesn’t look sharp and I think he has to give a lot more to the team than he is doing. If there is one guy on this team who misses Saku Koivu, that must be him.

So Florida is next on Monday, hun? Can’t wait to see if we’ll have the usual bad performance against a bad team or if the Habs will finally develop a killer instinct.