Game #22Good Start To Tough Weekend; Who Saw That Coming?

Details

Date: 20/11/09
Opponent: Capitals
Location: Washington


Win: 3-2

Habs Goalie: Price (W)
Opposition Goalie: Neuvirth (L)

Habs goalscorers: Moen, Plekanec, Cammalleri
Opposition goalscorers: Fehr, Morrison

Play of the game

When playing the Caps in Washington it is a good idea to have more than a one-goal lead coming into the home-stretch. So, getting a PP with 8 minutes to play presented a very interesting possibility for the Habs. A goal here could really kill two birds with one stone. It served as a chance to get the PP going and gave us the opportunity to jump ahead in the game. The whole time it seemed like the idea was to get the puck to Camms. So, there the puck came, from Pleks, to Mara at the point and then to Mike. He was able to unload a perfect one-timer that gave us the breathing room we would eventually need.

Dome hockey team

The 6 players we're playing in a no changes, do or die contest in the dome



Forwards

Tomas Plekanec - Game Puck
Dominant again. I wouldn't say that he was more noticeable than Ovechkin, but he was definitely in the same league. He scored a goal, picked up an assist and was once again our best on the PP and the PK. Can someone give this man the 'C'? Please.

Mike Cammalleri
Mike showed his true worth on the PP with a tantalizing one-timer. We are going to need that type of shooting on a near-nightly basis as the forwards continue to drop like flies. He also picked up an assist on Moen's goal and was entrusted with more than 20 minutes of ice-time.

Andrei Kostitsyn
I felt that Andrei, along with Pleks and MaxPac formed our best line all night. They were offensively threatening and pretty decent in their own end. Andrei made a couple of great passes - one ended in a goal, another in a 'how-did-you-miss-that' by Pacioretty. A single point tonight by Kostitsyn may not seem like much, but seeing as he is more and more engaged I don't really care how many points he collects.

Defencemen

Paul Mara
Paul is quietly playing some decent hockey as of late. He has been our 4th best defender all year and tonight was a top two. He contributed offensively tonight with an assist and a few good passes. He was very solid in his own end and was a reason that Ovechkin was held off the scoresheet.

Roman Hamrlik
If you needed a bigger reason why Ovy didn't get a point (other than Plekanec's sublime coverage of him on the PK) you needn't look further than Hammer. He, along with Price, controlled our own end. We may have let up 34 shots, but let's not forget that a shot isn't always a shot. Tonight, when Roman was on, the shots weren't too difficult for Price to control.

Goaltender

Carey Price
I am very happy with Carey tonight and as of late for that matter. This was the Price I was calling for before, this was the goalie I knew we once had and that I knew, somewhere, somehow, still existed. He looked so comfortable in goal and never backed down from anyone. He played the odds on goal #1, but that is his style and inevitably a few will go in. That is OK though because the rest of his game was great.

Comments

The Habs didn't play a great game tonight (outshot 34-22), but they competed and that is a big step from this club. To be able to go into one of the toughest buildings in hockey and to play it's greatest player and come out with a regulation win is quite the feat. It seems that we may have to deal with yet another injury though as Gomez left at some point and didn't return. Our team is doing well to find results with it's limited resources, but I feel that it can only last for so long. At some point we need to catch a break and have no new injuries and get more players back or the team will suffer, for real. Speaking of which, O'Byrne and Laraque made their returns tonight. Ryan played a decent game and I think we can all see a slight upgrade from Jay Leach. Georges was his usual self; didn't add much and had a boring fight. All in all it was a better team than we iced on Tuesday, so there is hope for us yet. Tomorrow is a huge test as Detroit roles into town. A win against them would make this a perfect week and would give us reason to think playoffs again. A loss, however, wouldn't be the end of the world as I feel we are still holding our own in the race to April.