ATL v MTL - WIN 6-3 Summary

Well there it was; Opportunity knocked, and the Montreal Canadiens finally got off the Porcelain Throne to answer the door.

This was a fantastic win, no doubt about it. Lets not break out the riot gear just yet for the Stanley Cup parade, but if you are gonna crap on guys when they do bad, you have to praise them when they do right.

The Good
Alex Tanguay took this team by the scruff of the neck and shook it loose. Kovalev, despite ending well, continued to struggle early with turnovers; all is forgiven. Koivu, with 2 bad penalties based on lazy play, certainly paid back what he owed. Higgins had a huge game, although not on the score sheet -- he was masterful killing those penalties. Metro and Dandineault had strong games with him; and the Lapierre/LaTender/Tommy K line had a strong game also, at times (there were some definite weak shifts). Even Komisarek got back to his shot blocking shovey old self. Price played a solid game, all the way through. He let in 3, only the last one was a muligan (off a terrible defensive breakdown). He made some excellent saves when the team needed him, and here we are...

A regulation win, with authority


The Bad
Oh yeah... the two 3-on-1 rushes (one of which was on the penalty kill) and several 2-on-1s. Brisebois giving up 2 great scoring chances, one in the first minute, one with a cross-crease pass to Kovelchuk who was all alone. Koivu's sloppy penalties, one of which got converted on and threatened the positive energy from the go-ahead goal.

There was plenty to pick on in this game, if you felt like it. But its all old news. This was a good win.

The Ugly
Andrei Kostitsyn had an unlucky game. It looked like he was playing with a hole in his stick. Sergei played well, and this line could get something going if they keep working at it, I have hope.

Is this the blip on the radar, or is the pendulum starting to swing the other way?

Dunno. But great win. I can sleep tonight.

Update: Mike Boone has a great game write-up. In answer to his question: if I didn't live in a town with a brewery down the road, I would have drank the place dry.