Rangers

Magic.

That's what Dany Dubé was calling it on the CKAC post-game show. But for me and maybe for 21,000 deliriously happy fans in the Bell Centre (there were a couple hundred Rangers supporters), it was more of a 21st century religious experience:

Woodstock Meets Triumph of the Will

"Olé! Olé! Olé! Olé! .... and BTW, Avery sucks!"

The revivalists and I bore wiitness to something that had never happened in the long and often glorious history of the Montreal Canadiens. The team had never come back from 5-0 to win a hockey game.

Not with Maurice Richard.

Not with Jean Béliveau.

Not with Guy Lafleur.

The greatest comeback in 99 years of Montreal hockey was keyed by .... organ flourish, please ... Michael Ryder.

There is a God – and He loves Newfoundlanders

Bob: About that trade ...

Links updated Wednesday at 6:28 a.m.

Happiness is a 6-5 comeback shootout victory. Canadiens goalie Cristobal Huet leaps into the arms of defenceman Mike Komisarek after the win.
Christinne Muschi, Reuters

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Incredible. Impossible. Unbelievable. Find your own adjective, folks.

The Canadiens scored five straight goals tonight to rally from a 5-0 deficit, then got a goal from Saku Koivu in the shootout and Montreal goalie Cristobal Huet stopped all three New York shooters, giving Montreal a 6-5 victory over the visiting Rangers.

Michael Ryder and Alex Kovalev scored two goals apiece, with Mark Streit adding another before Koivu scored the only goal in the shootout, Huet stopping New York's Brendan Shanahan, Chris Drury and Jaromir Jagr to seal the remarkable victory. It was the first time in the Canadiens' 99-year history that the club has rallied from a 5-0 deficit to win a regular-season game, and the first time in their history that the Rangers had blown a five-goal lead to lose.

Canadiens president Pierre Boivin brought a special guest to the winning room: Montreal Symphony Orchestra conductor Kent Nagano.

When the maaestro's small hand disappeared into Alex Kovalev's for the grip-and-grim photo op, Nagano saiud how much he'd enjoyed the game.

"You should come more often," Kovalev quipped.

This was the 1812 Overture, the Eroica Symphony and the Ride of the Valkyrie – all rolled into 37 minutes of insane, come-from-behind hockey.

"My ears are still ringing," said Mike Komisarek. The Bell Centre was that loud – and the rally that improbable. It left Komisarek at a loss for original words.

"I hate these clichés, guys," he said apologetically to the media scrum. But the game embodied every cliché in sports – especially the ones that pertain to never quitting.

"At a certain point," he said, "we had nothing to lose. Everyone was pulling in the same direction – going to battle, winning the battles and working hard ... Everyone went to war."

Josh Gorges said he sensed a comeback was possible when Michael Ryder scored hhis second goal to make it 5-2. Then, toward the end of the second period, Komisarek noticed the scoreboard read 5-3. It made him feel anything was possible.

"5-2 or 5-3, we get the next one we're right back in it."

Komisarek spoke of "being desperate and finding that urgency in our game." Kirk Muller, he said, had bucked the team up after the second period by stressing that there was nothing to lose.

As Bob Dylan sang, back when his hair was as full as Kent Nagano's, "when you ain't got nothin', you got nothin' to lose. You're invisible now, you got no secrets to conceal.

"How does it feel?"

On this night, pretty darn good.

"What a great feeling at the end of the game," Komisarek said. "It was awesome, man. Guys went to war for each other. There's no better feeling than that."

The way I see it, the Canadiens lost their first playoff game of the 2007-'08 season.

When the Rangers cranked up the intensity and played post-season hockey, the home team wilted and allowed a thre-goal lead to evaporate.

It was a great game. Skating, hitting, skill and plenty of nastiness.

Canadiens denied that the Rangers' physical play took them out of their game, but what are they gonna say?

"Yes, they threw a few hard checks, jawed at us after the whistle and we got scared."

No. And it probably wasn't entirely the case. But down 3-0 and being outskated, the visitors used muscle to channge the momentum of the game, and I thought it worked.

There was also complacency. Canadiens made it look so easy through 30 minutes: three goals, 50-foot tape-to-tape passes, buzzing around the NY end. It was natural they'd think this one was in the W column, especially after the emotional lift of Sergei K's penalty shot goal.

Then the captain took a penalty on the PP, and the Rangers began their five-goal comeback.

Canadiens goalie Cristobal Huet flat on his back. Puck in his net. Say no more.
André Ringuette, NHLI via Getty Images

Updated by Kevin Mio; Links updated at 7:50 a.m., Feb. 4

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It started well this afternoon for the Canadiens as they grabbed a 3-0 lead on the New York Rangers with a little less than six minutes gone in the second period. But then it all fell apart.

New York scored five unanswered goals and took control of the Bell Centre game after Montreal’s third goal, beating their hosts 5-3 and denying the Canadiens a chance to close to within one point of the Ottawa Senators atop the Northeast Division.

The Canadiens got first period power-play goals from Andrei Markov and Alex Kovalev, and Sergei Kostistyn scored with a quick shot on a oenalty shot as the Habs looked to be in complete control with a 3-0 lead 5:40 into the second period.

But the Rangers weren’t about to go quietly. The scored three goals in a span of seven minutes to tie the game 3-3 before the end of the second period.

An unSuper Sunday for your Montreal Canadiens, who blew a 3-0 lead and watched the Rangers score FIVE unanswered goals in the second and third periods.

"I think they just picked it up and started to skate more," said Saku Koivu in response to aa suggestion that the Rangers' physical play  had turned the game around.

"In the first period we got pucks in their end and were able to get chances because of that. Then in the second half of the game we weren't skating as well and we didn't get the pucks deep. We kind of got away from our game plan."

 "You couldn't ask for a better start," said Mike Komisarek. "We have to find a way to bury a team and close the gate."

The Canadiens defenceman said the Rangers began to win battles along the boards as the game progressed. Echoing his captain's analysis, Komisarek said the Rangers' physical play hadn't intimidated the Canadiens.

"When we're prepared to battle, we can play that kind of game. It's more of an attitude and mentality we have to have, to keep pushing. You can't let a team like that back in the game.

"We tried too many fancy things instead of sticking with what worked for us."

Christopher Higgins said the Rangers began to win neutral-zone battles in the second half of the game.

"They clogged it up and we played right into it," Higgins said. "Instead of chipping it by them we were trying to make those cute passes. Instead of making them go the whole length of the ice, they only had to go half the ice.

"We stopped skating. That's what it comes down to." 

"These are the kinds of lessons we have to learn as the season goes on and into the playoffs," Komisarek added. "When you have a team down you have to bury them."

Was there a sense that things were slipping away?

"I don't think so," Komisarek said. "It was just a hard-fought game. Playoff atmosphere, the buzz in the building, the intensity, the battles.

"They got better as the game went on. As a team, we have to feel that pressure and push back." 

Let's hope the Sunday brunch menu includes Valium.

It was just one game in a long season, right? But man, did your Montreal Canadiens suck or what?

The Rangers dominated every aspect of the game, most notably desire. They wanted it more.

Home teams usually do – not that it helped the Boston Bruins. But this was different.

The Rangers came out skating, hitting and battling for every loose puck. The Canadiens came out soft, slow (did you ever see so many of them fall for no apparent reason) and tentative.

The power play was 1-for-8 including two lengthy 5-on-3s – and by the time it clicked, the Rangers were up 4-0 and the issue was no longer in doubt. If other teams pick up on the technique of pressuring Alex Kovalev, the PP will need adjustment.

As will the attitude. Canadiens were due for a bad game, but there are bad games and there are no-shows.

This team isn't good enough to win with anything less than 60 minutes of hard-working, high-energy, ultra-competitive hockey.

Thus endeth the Sunday sermon.

So enjoy your morning OJ and tranquillizers. There's no need to panic ... yet.

The game on Long Island will be very important. Guy Carbonneau would not commit himself as to who will start in goal on Tuesday.

And down on the farm, Carey Price was beaten five times on 13 shots and was yanked halfay through Hamilton's 7-3 loss to Rochester.

So it was a crap Saturday night all around, unless you're a New England Patriots fan or a Leafs-hater:  they blew a 2-0 lead in San Jose, and the front office massacre should come tomorrow. 

Links updated Sunday 6:40 a.m. 

New York Rangers' Petr Prucha beats Canadiens goalie Cristobal Huet up under the crossbar for the home team's third of four goals.
Mike Stobe, NHLI via Getty Images

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The Canadiens came into Saturday's Madison Square Garden game against the New York Rangers having won five of their last seven, impressive 5-2 victors over the Boston Bruins on Thursday to begin a four-game road trip. Their Big Apple hosts, meanwhile, had lost five straight.

All of which goes to show that any National Hockey League team can beat another on any given night. Especially when one forgets to take off its skateguards.

The Canadiens’ league-leading power play went a dismal 1-for-8, getting nothing on two lengthy 5-on-3s, and a fired-up Rangers squad took full advantage of its opportunities to hand a 4-1 loss to a visitor that was outshot 41-19 and showed little interest in putting up a fight.

The Brothers Kostitsyn click on the power play – Andrei to Sergei – to deprive Henrik Lundqvist of a shutout.

Canadiens managed all of 19 shots in their 4-1 loss. The Rangers had 41.

Canadiens PP was 1-for-8 – including two blown 5-on-3s.

The only unembarassed player in a white jersey was Jaroslav Halak, who stopped all 13 shots he faced after relieving Cristobal Huet in the third period.

Wait'll next year!

It used to be the eternal plaintive cry of long-suffering Brooklyn Dodgers fans. But in Montreal, we can say it with a bit more conviction.

There won't be a Stanley Cup parade in 2008, but Canadiens are on the come. They're young, they're talented and they're going to get better.

Exhibit A: Last night's game. Down a defenceman, lacking their captain, dressing only 17 skaters and facing a hot team and a well-rested goaltender, Canadiens took it to the Rangers for 54 minutes. Had Tomas Plekanec and Alex Kovalev – who were brilliant, along with linemate Andrei Kostitsyn – cashed a third-period 2-on-1, the Canadiens would have won in regulation.

As it was, they got a very well-deserved point to complete an outstanding 3-0-2 road trip.

Captain Alex Kovalev, wearing the C in the flu-bug absence of Saku Koivu, is ridden along the boards by Rangers' Paul Mara.
Bruce Bennett, Getty Images

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The record book won’t show that the Canadiens played shorthanded for 60 minutes tonight, but in a very real sense that was the case in the Habs’ 4-3 overtime loss to the New York Rangers.

Brendan Shanahan, who irked Canadiens fans last season by choosing to sign with New York instead of Montreal as an unrestricted free agent, took advantage of a Roman Hamrlik giveaway to beat Habs goalie Cristobal Huet with a high, glove-hand breakaway shot at 1:06 of overtime to give the Rangers a come-from-behind win.

The 19-man Canadiens – using 17 skaters, 11 up front – wrapped up their six-game road trip, the longest they’ll have this season, with a mark of 3-1-2 and eight points of a possible 12. And given how the club has fared in recent holiday-season sojourns away from the Bell Centre, you’d better believe they’ll happily take it.

Bulldogs callup Corey Locke was supposed to in the lineup tonight in place of flu-bitten Saku Koivu, who will watch the game from his New York hotel room.

But while Locke made it to Madison Square Garden at the last minute, his equipment didn't. The Canadiens will play with 19 men.

A great effort.

Canadiens blow a 3-2 lead with six minutes to go and lose in OT. But playing without Saku Koivu and dressing only 17 skaters, the team hung tough and came away with a well-deserved point.

The traditionally fatal holiday road trip yielded eight of a possible 12 points.

No too shabby.

On to '08.