Leafs

This is what diminished expectations have come to in the city of 24 Stanley Cups:

An overtime loss to the second-worst team in the league is the occasion for sighs of relief, high-fives and much merriment in the watering holes of Crescent St., the Main and St. Denis.

And why not?

Your Montreal Canadiens are riding their three-game losing streak right into the playoffs.

Never in doubt!

And a salute to the fans

Good.

Maybe we can stop talking, at least for now, about overtaking Buffalo or making a deep run in the playoffs.

Your Montreal Canadiens played badly – down to the level of their opposition, as was the case against Edmonton – and they salvaged a point.

With Philadelphia and Ottawa losing, the Canadiens had a chance to jump up the Eastern Conference standings.

Their failure to do so is not cause for excessive worry.

A bit of tweaking and they'll be ready for a HUGE four-pointer against Ottawa on Monday.

CSI Toronto is dusting the Air Canada Centre for prints.

No shortage of witnesses to the crime. You can get about 18,000 in that joint.

And they all had a clear view of Andrei Kostitsyn firing one of his wicked wristers past The Monster in OT, giving the Canadiens two points they didn't deserve.

Visors are optional in the NHL, but the Canadiens should have been wearing ski masks.

What a heist!

But what the heck, two points.

And for the first time in his last three visits to the ACC, Andrei Markov got through the game without being injured.

The Boxing Day robbery!

Unreal.

One month down, five more and 10 days of a sixth month to go.

And that's just the regular season.

So what have we got here?

Contender or pretender?

October was bookended by two wins against the hated Leafs. But neither was easy.

Carey Price – remember him? – was the hero on opening night at the ACC, stopping 43 shots through 64:17 before Josh Gorges, of all people, scored in the dying seconds of OT. The joy of starting the season with a W was severely tempered by an injury to Andrei Markov, who hasn't played since and won't until February at the earliest.

Last night, a comfortable 4-2 Canadiens lead evaporated in three and a half minutes, and the barber-pole boys – for the love of God, BURN THOSE UNIS!! – needed a shootout to take two more points. Against a team that will be golfing in April, the Canadiens coughed the puck up a mind-biggling 31 TIMES – once for each day in October.

Then as if hideous vintage jerseys and all the centenial bushwah weren't sufficient hubris and an affront to the Gods of Hockey, the fans had to start serenading Toronto with the Na-na-na-na Goodbye song.

And of course, it turned out the game was not over when the fatuous people sang.

The Cardiac Canadiens, a team that should NEVER be saluted until the final siren sounds.

4-4 game.

OT

Shootout

Cammalleri: Wrister. Goal

Stempniak: Easy save

Gomez: Shelf

Kaberle: Save

Steve Kerley, aka 24 Cups, lives in Stouffville on the northern fringes of Leaf Nation.

He sends this report:

• Tonight’s game is the final contest of a five game road trip that has seen Toronto travel from Vancouver to Anaheim and then into Dallas before returning to the east coast to play Buffalo and Montreal.  Toronto has four points in their last three games.  They may get weary as the game goes on but they are showing signs of life.  It won’t be a gimme.

• Last night’s recap for the Toronto-Buffalo game as reported by the Pension Plan Puppets. “Good news: The Leafs are finally coming together. This was a third straight great effort and complete domination of the Sabres.  Ryan Miller is the only reason that Buffalo got one point let alone two.”

• Here’s another take on the game.  

• And the Toronto Star's report

I'll leave the heavy-duty analysis for my learned colleagues, Messrs Hickey and Stubbs, who'll be doing a post-game podcast.

Here's what I liked:

• Carey Price could not have hoped for a better start. 43 saves, could not be blamed for any of the Toronto goals. Cool and confident all night. And great quip on his pal's career-first OT winner: "It's about time."

• The toughness of Georges Laraque and Travis Moen, who saw to it that the Canadiens were not run out of the ACC. And Moen scored a goal.

• Glen Metropolit: a goal, an assist and almost 15 quality minutes.

• Ryan O'Byrne continues to stake a claim on a Top 6 D job

• Mike Cammalleri saved his best for last, the final seconds of OT. And has probably won promotion to the top line.

• Tomas Plekanec did not disappear in a rough game. Au contraire, skated all night and tied Cammalleri for team high five SoG.

• Two PP goals with Mike Komisarek in the box. Komo had 15 PiM and could have been called for four other infractions.

• Scott Gomez took a while to get untracked but had good shifts toward the end of the game.

• Max line had some good energy shifts. The goals will come.

• Jaroslav Spacek played a heroic 24:32. Heroic for an older player who got smacked around all night. And he'll help the PP.

• My Man Josh Gorges was the only plus-2, blocked five shots and picked a very opprtune time to pinch in OT.

• Jacques Martin, who got a nice birthday present and then calmly told Luc Gelinas there's much work to be done. This man is a very good coach. But how many of us were asking what the heck Glen Metropolit was doing on the PP ... just before he scored.

• François Beauchemin – the defenceman Bob Gainey should have signed because he's great and speaks French and phones his mother every week and speaks French and loves dogs and children and speaks French – was on for EVERY CANADIENS GOAL!

Trouble spots?

Lots of 'em ... starting with Markov's injury.

The D in general and Hal Gill in particular had a rough night but will improve when Roman Hamrlik returns. Gill and Paul Mara are too slow to be bridge partners, let alone a defence pairing.

46 Toronto SoG. Another 25 were blocked and there were 21 missed shots. That's 92 shots worth of territorial domination. When does the Jacques Martin system kick in?

Faceoffs: Gomez went 7-12 and lost some important ones. There was a sequence, at the end of the game, when the Leafs committed three straight icings ... and the Canadiens lost every O-zone draw. Not good enough.

MacPacioretty a Top 6 winger? I'm not sold.

Andrei Kostitsyn an earthling? I'm not sold.

Don't get me started on the reffing.

Or the CBC.

But hey, two points from a game in which the @#$%ing filthy Leafs – Komo: this means you! – had a 46-27 shot advantage.

On to Buffalo

While you were sleeping, Christopher Higgins was on Late Night with David Letterman – reading the Top 10 list (he was number 4: "For good luck, I lick the puck") and joining his Rangers teammates to carry Madonna onto the set) – and Steve Kerley, aka 24 Cups, was compiling the first of his scouting reports on Canadiens opponents this season.

Take it away, Steve:

Forty two years and counting.  What are the chances of the Toronto Maple Leafs breaking this record of futility?  Well word on the street is that many laff fans are signing up to be put into a biostasis state after they die so they can be maintained at cryogenic temperatures.  They can then be brought back to life at some time in the distant future when Toronto finally wins a Cup.  There’s no mention if Ted Williams was (or is) a big Maple Leaf fan.

Mission accomplished.

Two games against bottom-dwellers, two impressive Ws – and a springboard into what will be an interesting final week.

The Canadiens have picked a very good time to be playing their best hockey of the season.

They're in seventh place, three points up on the Rangers with a game in hand and five ahead of ninth-place Florida.

On March 21, the last time they played Toronto on a Saturday night, the Canadiens were smoked 5-2 at the Bell Centre and looked like a team that would be booking mid-April tee times.

Since that miserable night, they are 5-0-1,

More impressive than the two-week record is the way the Canadiens have played: Smart, disciplined hockey – under the guidance and in the mold of their coach.

After the game,  Luc Gélinas of RDS talked to Maxim Lapierre about the team's revival.

"How do you explain this?" Gélinas asked.

Using a rhetorical technique favoured by my people – i.e. answering a question with a question – Lapierre replied: "How do you explain February?"

Cross your fingers and cross your toes:

Neither Mathieu Schneider nor Andrei Markov were around at the end of this 6-2 laugher. 

Canadiens will have a Sunday off to savor the win, which solidified their hold on seventh place, and get ready for Ottawa at the Bell Centre on Monday night – first of a grueling four games in six nights to end the regular season.

How can a team that got 104 points last season lose a must-win game to the Toronto Maple Leafs on national television?

From coast to coast to coast, as Peter Gzowski used to say, fans are asking: "What's wrong with the Canadiens?"

Got any answers?

Try this one on for size: They just aren't very good.

Your Montreal Canadiens have two promising young goaltenders who have to be perfect for the team to have a chance at winning.

They have a great defenceman, a competent defenceman, an overpaid defenceman, a defenceman whom someone else will overpay, two geezers and a mistake-prone big galoot.

Up front, they are led by a second-round, 61st overall draft choice who, last night, played like he was the only guy on the team who gave two squirts of urine whether they won or lost. He is joined by some adequate supporting players and several undrachievers.

The only "stars" are two guys on the downslope of their careers, one of whom is lambasted in the French press for leadership lacuna, the other of whom is having a very difficult time with the crucial adaptation that faces all players over the age of 35, i.e. tailoring his once-great game the diminution of his abilities.

No need to name names.

Anyone who reads Habs Inside/Out, anyone who loves this hockey team and has watched them play can fill in the blanks easily.

Your Montreal Canadiens have not hit rock bottom – but they can see it from here.

In losing 5-0 to the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday night, Toronto had 16 shots on goal.

aAt the Bell Centre last night, the Leafs had 18 shots in the first period.

When the final siren mercifully sounded, accompanied by boos from many of the increasingly less faithful, Toronto had 41 shots. The Canadiens blocked another 17, and the Leafs had seven muffs.

Add it up: an 11th-place team with no chance of making the playoffs had control of pucks in shooting positions in the Canadiens' defensive zone no fewer than 65 times.

Brutal.

And still the Canadiens cling to fourth place. If the playoffs began tonight, the Canadiens would open at home.

Against the Philadelphia Flyers.

Care to bet your house on the outcome of that series?

The Ol' Blogger had a worse night than Carey Price.

WiFi service at the Bedll Centre conked out early in the first period and didn't come back until late in the third.

I'll try to play catch-up in About last night ... tomorrow morning.

Apologies to all fans.

It was a terrible game – a total goon show from which few meaningful conclusions can be drawn about your Montreal Canadiens.

To their credit, the home team was not intimidated. The Canadiens played smart hockey against a stupid opponent; and once Guillaume Latendresse made it 3-1 in the dying seconds of the first period, it was all over but the crying ... and the fighting.

The Leafs' performance must have  pleased their new general manager. I expect it will encourage Brian Burke in his imminent ethnic cleansing of the Toronto roster:

It's Crazy Burkie's Boxing Month Sale!

He's got a Russian, a Belarusian, a Ukrainian and a Kazakh.

He's got two Finns, two Czechs and two Swedes.

They're priced to move, and they've all got to go to make room for Crazy Burkie's new stock of 2009 Brad Mays.

Canadiens win 6-2.

Mikhail Grabovski goes berserk. 

BGL: Phone home ... soon! 

The Canadiens welcome their fans to an Open Practice today at the Bell Centre.

What the adoring public, winners of various supermarket contests and the like, ought to witness is Guy Carbonneau bag-skating his Stanely Cup contenders for an hour.

No pucks. Just round and round, contemplating their sins till the crowd gets bored and boos rain down.

That game in Toronto was some kind of ugly.

Carbo was embarrassed and said so.

Hall of Fame game. A parade of immortals, including Yvan Cournoyer and Larry Robinson. War veterans. Amazing Grace on the bagpipes.

And then that mess?

Guy Carbonneau called it "the most embarrassing game in my 2 1/2 years of coaching this team."

No argument from me.

6-3 ... and it wasn't that close.

Shots were 41-20. 

Mikhail Grabovski looked like wayne Gretzky.

Luke Schenn looked like Denis Potvin.

Our Stanely Cup contenders?

They looked like crap ... on national television.

If Team T beats Team D and Team C beats Team T, then Team C will beat Team D, right?

Well, we'll find out if logic prevails on Nov. 26 when the Canadiens visit Detroit. 

A lot can happen between now and then, but the team that beat the team that beat the Stanley Cup champions looked like the contender they're supposed to be.

Two games: three of a possible four points.

On the road.

Two goals by SK74 and singles by Roman Hamrlik, Alex Kovalev, Alex Tanguay (who added three assists) and Guillaume Latendresse (two assists).Three assists by Saku Koivu.

A power-play that looked like the 1976-'77 Canadiens.

Great special-teams all around.

Very, very impressive.

And hey, 700-plus comments.

Thanks, guys.

How do the Canadiens improve on perfection?

That's their challenge when the playoffs begin on Thursday.

They've ended the regular season with three flawless games, in Ottawa and at home against Buffalo and Toronto. In each instance, players executed a sound game plan drawn up by Guy Carbonneau and his staff.

In none of the three games was the opposing team able to play its game.

Ottawa was held to 27 shots and shut out. Buffalo  and Toronto each scored once on 27 shots.

Earlier in the season, Canadiens routinely surrendered 35 to 40 shots a game.

That was then. This is now.

With a team assembled by Bob Gainey and coached by Guy Carbonneau – seven Selke Trophys between them, and Doug Jarvis won another – the Canadiens are stifling opponents.

They're doing it without Saku Koivu, Mike Komisarek, Francis Bouillon and Michael Ryder.

And they're doing it without turning into the New Jersey Devils. Unless Detroit scores nine goals against Chicago today, Canadiens will end the regular season as the NHL's highest-scoring team.

And as impressive as 262 goals – so many of them highlight reel beauties – are, the key stat is differential. On the season, Canadiens are plus-40. Only Detroit's plus-70 is better, and the Red Wings play home games on Betelgeuse.

Gregory Stewart said he'd never heard anything like it in his life.

The 21-year-old rookie grew up a Bruins fan in Kitchener. Last night, he was in the Bell Centre, 13 shifts and trading late-game punches with veteran Toronto defenceman Bryan McCabe and listening to roars of appreciation from the Canadiens' 141st straight sellout crowd.

The kid used "electrifying" and "unbelievable" to describe the atmosphere in the raucous building. The crowd was on its feet with 70 seconds to go, the ovation engulfing the building and lasting until the Canadiens gathered at centre ice to wave their sticks and acknowledge the adulation.

"My body was just tingling when we first went out on the ice," Stewart said. "I watched the game on Thursday and I wanted to be out there so bad. It was a dream come true.

"This is the best place in the world to play hockey."

In addition to his fight, Stewart had a few scoring chances. He did not look out of place on a line with Maxim Lapierre and Mathieu Dandenault.

"They're in the right position all the time and making the right passes," Stewart said. "You've got to be in your position and focus on your job. Our whole line kept it simple and created a lot of energy.

"I can stay at this level if I skate hard and work hard."

Stewart said he finished his check on McCabe, who responded with two slashes and a spear.

"I asked him if he wanted to go," Stewart said, "because I don't take that."

• • •

Unless Detroit scores nine tomorrow, Canadiens will end the regular season as the NHL's highest-scoring team with 262 goals.

"I don't think most people thought we'd have the offensive explosion we've had this year," said Christopher Higgins, who scored twice to raise his season's total to 27. "It seems we've had scoring from all different sources and, of course, the power play.

"I think it's the balance. It's such an advantage for our team."

Higgins had five shots, as did Alex Kovalev and Andrei Kostitsyn. In addition to his two goals, Higgins hit the post twice.

He would not comment on the upcoming playoff series against Boston – we'll talk about that on Monday " – but Higgins is looking forward to "a fun time of year, especially in this city."

And especially in this building.

•  •  •

At least Toronto tried.

Playing at home agasainst a team that's out of the playofffs, Boston lost 3-0 and had 17 shots – three in the third period.

The no-show guaranteed Bruins will play Canadiens. Is that what they 

wanted? 

Canadiens lost and, as my friend Stubbs points out, the sun still rose in Montreal this fine Sunday morning.

No need to panic ... at least not until the medical reports are in. Storm clouds, however, are gathering in the distance.

The Canadiens need one point to clinch first place in the Northeast Division. They have three games in which to do it.

Shouldn't be a problem. And yet ...

Canadiens got two of a possible four points on their short road trip, but let's be honest: they sucked in both games. And if Saku Koivu, Mark Streit and Francis Bouillon are out for a while, that clinching point may prove elusive.

And the playoffs may be – in the words of that great old hockey coach, Thomas Hobbes – nasty, brutish ... and short.

Canadiens got another dying-seconds goal.

This time it was totally meaningless. Toronto had built a 4-1 lead in a game they controlled pretty much from opening puck-drop to final siren. 

Canadiens played without Saku Koivu and Mark Streit. The captain's absence disrupted the forward lines, and Streit was REALLY missed on the power play.

The manpower situation was complicated by a match penalty assessed to Ryan O'Byrne in the first period. 

Canadiens avoided serious injuries for most of the season. But they're dropping like flies – including Francis Bouillon, who took a shot on his ankle during the third period. 

A point would have clinched the Northeast Division title. That will have to wait ... maybe for a while. 

A terse and pithy (yeath, it will have great pith) edition of ALN because I have to dash downtown to join Mio, Hickey and Stubbs for the Habs I/O podcast.

Was it just a couple weeks ago we were talking about the Canadiens' three scoring lines?

Now they have one. And if anything – slump, injury, ominous horoscope – happens to Tomas Plekanec-Alex Kovalev-Andrei Kostitsyn, this team is in deep sewage.

On the day La Presse decided he should be traded, Saku Kovu played a very good game: skated hard, plenty of energy, battled for pucks, no offensive-zone penalties.

But for the love of Michael Ryder, get the Captain some wingers!

The Sergei Kostitsyn/Guillaume Latendresse experiment was a disaster. The kids had no clue as to where they should be or where Koivu was or what the centre might set up for them. The line played like they'd met each other for the first time in a bar an hour before the game.

By the third period, Christopher Higgins was back with Koivu and Sergei K. I think Guy Carbonneau should leave this line intact, at least through the upcoming road trip.

Failing that, the coach should reunite Koivu, Higgins and Ryder and play Sergei with Maxim Lapierre and Latendresse. The Kid Line showed promise before Carbo, the compulsive tinkerer, started futzing around with it.

Let's hope Roman Hamrlik is back for the game in Ottawa tomorrow. But Patrice Brisebois wasn't bad last night, and Carbo may be tempted to move Mark Streit up front to give the Bryan Smolinski line some punch.

Canadiens made it close: 14 shots in the third period, a shorthanded goal by Alex Kovalev (his 25th). But Darcy F. Tucker scored his second of the game into ann empty net, and the team that lost 8-0 at home against Florida beat the team that defeated Ottawa earlier this week.

On any given night ...

Josh Gorges, who played 18 strong minutes, remembered an 8-0 loss when he was a San Jose Shark last season.

"You come out the next game ready to play," Gorges said. "You go all out. Nobody likes to be embarrassed.

"We knew that was going to be the case here tonight. We knew they'd come out and push hard. We didn't respond.

"We waited until the third period and got some pressure going. But it was too late."

"Overall, I don't think we created the pressure on the forecheck like we've done lately," said Saku Koivu. "They were waiting for us. They had four guys a lot of the time waiting at the blueline. And when we got the puck in we didn't get the proper forecheck going. We made it a bit too easy for them."

The captain said Vesa Toskalaa saw a llot of the Canadiens' shots and "if there was aa rebound we didn't get on it quick enough.

"Their D played well in front of him."

As to his own goaltender:

"I thought (Carey Price) played well," Koivu added. "Some of the shots were tough and came from tough angles. It's never easy to come back and play your first game after a while."

"I felt good," Price said. "After the first period I felt pretty comfortable. In the second period, you don't get a couple bounces ..." 

How would you like your orange juice this fine morning?

The glass is half-full because:

• Carey Price is everything he's cracked up to be. What a stud ... Cool Hand Carey.

• Alex Kovalev scored his 12th goal in the Canadiens' 24th game – a mark he reached in their 48th game last season.

• The Captain played his heart out. 

• Kyle Chipchura gets better every game. What an intelligent hockey player!

• Guillaume Latendresse looked at home on the first line, where his job is simplified – bang the boards, lean on  defencemen, create traffic in front of the net – and therefore do-able.

• The Canadiens were 31-30 on faceoffs, incuding some very key wins by Bryan Smolinski down the stretch.

• Andrei Markov is earning every nickel of his salary. The pass that set up Kovalev's first goal was perfect ... a typical Markovian tape-to-tape laser. (Why aren't his shots on goal that accurate?)

• Andrei Kostitsyn skated all night and his shootout goal was a honey. 

• The PK killed four shorthanded situations. 

The glass is half-empty because: 

• The Canadiens gave up 46 shots to a slow, demoralized crap team with one of the worst defence corps in the league.

• It  was the fourth consecutive game in which the Canadiens surrendered 30 or more shots.

• 5-on-5 still sucks. The team is minus-35 to date.

• Andrei Markov, Canadiens' best and most valuable player, is minus-6 on the season.

• Mark Streit is playing like he yearns to taste pressbox hot dogs.

• Michael Ryder worked hard but still can't buy a goal.

• That sucker should have been wrapped up and deposited in the ATM long before Mats F. Sundin scored the tying goal that we all knew was coming.

• Christopher Higgins and Tomas Plekanec have had better games.

• Until he finished strong, Roman Hamrlik was playing like Sheldon Souray on a bad night. 

OK, enough negativity.

It's a female pig, an SOW, and two points in the bank.

On to beautiful Newark .... where Martin F. Brodeur awaits. 

After watching Mats F. Sundin tie the game with seconds left – and score in the shootout – the Canadiens pick up two hard-fought points when Carey Price makes his 46th (43 in regulation and OT) save of the game on Jason Blake after Andrei Kostitsyn beat Vesa Toskala.

Alex Kovalev scored twice in regulation time – including a third-period go-ahead goal that looked like it would stand up – and once to start the shootout.

What a game!

Jacques Demers said he has never seen a 20-year-old goaltender play with greater sang-froid than Carey Price ... and ol' Jacques has seen some coldblooded goalies, including his beloved Patrick Roy.

Ice time: Bryan McCabe: 35 minutes

Andrei Markov: 27 minutes.

Zamboni driver: 40 minutes

Never in doubt, right?

Carey Price made 37 saves.

Bryan McCabe, the $7-million defenceman, made a lazy, crap pass in OT and Mike Komisarek – who makes $5 million less – made 'em pay.

The Canadiens stole two points tonight.

And they'll take them.

 •  •  • 

UN-FREAKIN'-BELIEVABLE!!!

Mike Komisarek scores on a breakaway ... and that bloody Toronto monkey is off the Canadiens' backs.

• • •

3-on-3 because of the penalties.

• • •

Canadiens get at least a point out of this.

Not that they deserve one.

Carey Price and the Pleks line have saved them so far.

• • •

Crazy action in final seconds. Koivu and Stajan penalized.

And we're off to OT

• • •

Price has made 33 saves.

Raycroft 21

• • •

Those over-the-net HD replays are breathtaking

• • •

Raycroft robs Koivu.

Signs of life from the guys in the red jerseys.

They's ading back those lost years.

• • •

What a play by Plekanec.

End-to-end.

Gilbert Perreault out there.

And Kovy cashes the pass.

3-3

• • •

4-on-4 ... and the Canadiens don't touch the puck.

Brutal.

• • •

Man, these Toronto games are taking years off my life.

And it's not like I've got any to spare.

• • •

Roman Hamrlik gets away with a penalty, but Pleks line stays out too late and Ian White shoots from the point and the shot is deflected in by Devereaux.

Was his stick too high?

No

3-2

• • •

Jason Blake has played a helluva game.

And great PK shift by Chipchura – a sign of things to come.

Kid is going to be terrific.

• • •

Great.

Sundin outmuscles Komisarek, no easy task, and Markobv takes his FOURTH penalty.

• • •

Mike Komisarek blocked Wellwood's third goal.

• • •

How does Alex Steen outmuscle Streit AND Bouillon on the same shift?

• • •

Ryder passes into Higgins' skates.

He's killin' me.

• • •

First time I've seen Price mishandle the puck.

But no damage.

• • •

Third period.

I think I'll just curl up in the fetal position under my desk and await the inevitable.

• • •

No matter what happens tonight, you can draw comfort from David Shoalts' story in the Saturday Globe and Mail, comparing the two franchises.

Jacques Demers is uncharacteristically critical. He says one line is working and the team has not shown up for a big game.

• • •

David Perron has two goals for St. Louis tonight – and four in eight games.

Man, I hope Max Pacioretty pans out.

• • •

Just when it looked like the Leafs – riding Kyle Wellwood's two goals – were primed to run the Canadiens out of the ACC, Andrei Kostitsyn caps an outstanding shift by his line to tie the game and set up a great third period.

And what's with Andrei Markov?

One goal and three penalties. Is he heading toward the Gordie Howe hat trick?

• • •

He should be able to do that 40 times a season.

Andrei Kostitsyn scores off some great pressure by his line.

2-2

• • •

Kyle F. Wellwood.

2-1

Canadiens have played one of their worst periods of the season.

• • •

That was really dumb. Markov goes for roughing Tucker.

His third penalty.

Canadiens have three shots in this period.

Leafs have 11.

• • •

Great. Ryder knocks Smolinski to the ice.

• • •

Woo-hoo!

PK kills a 5-on-3

Heroic work by Price, Hamrlik, Bégin

• • •

Worse time for a penalty, Andrei

• • •

Bad time for a penalty, Frankie.

• • •

Brisebois pinches and gets caught because Ryder doesn't cover for him. The Leafs break and Hamrlik makes a decent play on the 2-on-1, then Price stops Wellwood, the trailer.

Great sequence ... but the Leafs keep coming close.

• • •

Finally, a shot on Raycroft. And some crease traffic.

• • •

Is Tomas Plekanec dressed for this game? Haven't heard his name all night.

• • •

This is gut check time.

Canadiens can't let momentum swing over.

But they's starting to suck here. Cement in their skates, says Yvon Pedneault on RDS

• • •

Here we go.

Smolinski blows coverage on Kyle Wellwood and it's 1-1

• • •

Ryder continues to struggle. How much longer will Carbo let him drag down Koivu and Higgins?

• • •

Canadiens have never trailed after a first period this season.

• • •

Second period begins. Can Canadiens keep pedal to the metal? Or are we in for another sad night at the ACC?

Price will have to be huge.

• • •

I'm getting tired of writing this:
Sheldon Who?
Andrei Markov scored his sixth of the season – a Sourayesque power-play blast, through a screen and past Andrew Raycroft – to draw first blood for the Canadiens. (Far more difficult for the circumspect scorer was his between-periods interview with Luc Gelinas).
Carey Price made 13 saves – a few of them spectacular during the first 10 minutes of the period.

Not much happened on the physical front. No big thumps ... yet.

• • •

That was a Harlem Globetrotters passing sequence, ending with a Roman Hamrlik shot on Raycroft.
• • •
Luc Gelinas interviews Guy Carbonneau during the game.
I don't like that. This isn't baseball.
Another Canadiens PP.
Total inpetitude, and Kovalev takes a TERRIBLE penalty.
• • •

First PP. Streit totally messes the bed at the blueline and the Leafs get a 2-on-1. But then Gill goes for Delay of Game . And Smolinski is on for the draw. Markov pulls a Sheldon Souray. Great screen by Koivu.

1-0

• • •

How did Markov miss that chance?
A textbook pass by Koivu on a 3-on-1.
How many of those will they see in a game?

• • •

Canadiens take another penalty, and the RDS guys talk about "a familiar scenario" in Leafs games.

But Price is on fire ... and will have to be.

• • •

Canadiens are 27th in the league in faceoff efficiency. Which explains why Smolinski took a defensive zone draw, then hopped off so Chipchura could rejoin his linemates.
• • •

Great shift for the Smolinski line.

Latendresse and Dandenault are getting scoring chances.

• • •

Blake belts Price.

No penalty?

No, Komisarek shoved him.

• • •

Weird to see Canadiens in red on the road, eh?

Smolinski feeds Latendresse in the slot but the pucks skips past him.

And Price makes an alert save on Alex Steen.

And Markov goes for high-sticking. Deserved.

• • •

Florida Panthers claim Garth Murray.

• • •

Good candid mike feature on now. Christopher Higgins drops an f-bomb, Carbo works the refs.

• • •

OK, the sound is back.

And RDS is running a Carey Price feature. Nice setting for the interview: the Old Port, right near Bonsecours church.

The footage must have been in the can for a while. The sun is shining, Price is wearing a short-sleeved plaid shirt and a John Deere hat.

On his iPod: George Strait, Holly Dunn, Garth Brooks.

Loves rodeo, but won't try bull-riding until he retires.

• • •

Here's my situation:

30 minutes before the puck drops, I can't live-blog and the sound doesn't work on ExpressVu. Other than that, I'm in great shape.

I don't know what's going to happen during the game. I'll try to update as often as possible, but fasten your seatbelts. This is going to be a rocky ride.

• • •

It's time for a statement game.

It's early November, and it's time to beat the Toronto Maple Leafs.

With Mike Milbury and Bobby Clarke safely ensconced in the TSN studios, where they can't screw up any franchises, there isn't a general manager in the league who would trade the Canadiens' lineup and farm system for Toronto's.

It's time for the talent to step up.

It's time to shut down Mats F. Sundin and Tomas F. Kaberle.

It's time to pressure one of the worst collections of defencemen in the NHL.

It's time to own the last 10 minutes of a hockey game.

It's time for your Montreal Canadiens to reach into their jocks and feel around for a scrotum and its content.

And if the search is successful, it's time to play with some self-belief at the Air Canada Centre.

Check back later for more pre-game ranting and live game blogging.