credit Habs inside-out

Alex Kovalev and Guy Carbonneau had a heart to heart talk before the game. It’s not lie this should have changed everything in this team as L’artiste was hardly the only reason the team was playing so badly recently. Still, the whole team played with a vigour and smart hockey sense like I haven’t seen in a long time. When Alex Kovalev is flying on the ice like he was tonight, the whole teams follows him.

From the beginning of the first period until the end of the game, I really was looking at the 2007-2008 edition of the Montreal Canadiens. A team that fought hard for their puck, battled for puck possession, imposed a rhythm… their rhythm. From beginning to end it was clearly THEIR game.

The first period started well for the Habs, even with Pittsburgh scoring only 2 minutes into the game following a hit attempt by O’Byrne that turned badly. I’ll still take that over indecision any day of the week. But after that goal, it took Pittsburgh 11 minutes and two powerplays before shooting one net again. In the same span Montreal didn’t have a single powerplay but had 8 shots and one goal. And what a goal it was. Sergei Kostitsyn who seemed to play like he found a purpose again stole the puck from Fleury before sending it all the way back to Hamerlik who benefited from Fleury’s excursion behind his net.

But after such a great first period, our Glorieux had to fall into deep sleep mode, right? Actually no they didn’t. They kept playing solid, convinced hockey like they should. The second goal was another thing of beauty. Shorthanded, Chris Higgins stole the puck from Letang and kicked it up in higher gear to zip one right over Fleury’s shoulder. But Saku Koivu determination to follow his teammate was gorgeous to watch and it helped make sure the separation Chris acquired remained when the captain placed his body between his teammate and his opponent.

A mere minutes later Max Pac showed that he deserved to be on this team. His play along the boards has been solid, he has been physical and again tonight he managed to get a puck from outside the corner to the front of the net for Maxime Lapierre. As with D’Agostini, I want to see what will happen when the “Lune de miel” runs off and he lives through his first slump. But by the look of things, Max should get through even better than Matt.

If there is one side of the Habs game that didn’t go too well it’s on the penalty side. They took a total of 7 penalties allowing their dangerous opponent 4 powerplay opportunities. And quite frankly, it’s not something you can give to Malkin and Crosby without paying the price at some point. In middle of the third period the league scoring leader managed to beat Price who looked bad on that one. But he wouldn’t make another mistake like that tonight.

A mere 5 minutes later the reunited Plekanec-Kovalev-Kostitsyn line connected like they did last year and produced the final goal of the game with a great tic-tac-toe play. The whole line played great, especially Alex Kovalev who finished the game with 6 shots. The game wouldn’t even be close from there.

A very honourable mention to Alex Henry who may be a better answer to Montreal’s need for physical presence. Nobody will be scared of Henry like they are of Laraque but then again, they also know the guy will fight just about anyone if needed.

The Habs don’t need the superstar heavyweight… they need somebody ready to get the job done.

The Habs don’t need a superstar player… they need Kovalev focused on getting his jobe done.

Just like last year…