MTL v DAL - WIn 3-1

Well, I got the score right, but the result wrong. I must say, I'm happy to be wrong.

So it was an absolutely abysmal first period, with terrible penalties, no grit, and feet of stone for the Away Team. Steve Ott was like a dog marking his territory, with every Hab acting as his fire-hydrant. Stewart finally came out and settled Ott down with a few punches; it ended the period with the Habs down 1-0, and 5-on-3 to start the 2nd.

I doubt the coaches had to say anything; with the Captain and both Assistant Captains in the box with bad penalties, and the rookie Stewart acting as the only proud member of the team -- not to mention Price having a good game -- I'm pretty sure the Canadiens finally looked around the room and said: we are better than this!

And they were. They killed the penalties, and didn't take another until 1:45 minutes left in the game. They generated some good offence, about 4 excellent chances off the odd-man rush, and would have recorded more shots if Andrei Kostitsyn hit the net on his many, many, many chances. (Can't be too mad, he scored the tying goal).

The rest of the game was strong, until the last 5 minutes where the Stars had them running around a bit again. Higgins goal was a gift, but when you are unlucky for so long maybe you are owed one.

The Good
I thought Tanguay had a great game, and Price was his calm, cool, collected, unphased self. I certainly hope that Carbonneau keeps these line combinations together; they seemed to work, and they need to gel. It would be good to build on this.

The Bad
Andrei Kostitsyn really gotta hit the net; but keep him with Tanguay and Koivu, and he could get over 30 gaols this year. Maybe. Also, is there a goaltending contreversy in Montreal now? I hope not...

The Ugly
Everyone in the first period. Except Stewart.

So, lets see if they can keep the momentum for the next game. Maybe I'll keep predicting losses, see if that helps.