Sabres

Jacques Martin has the best seat in the house – even though he's in standing-room.

From his vantage point behind the Canadiens' bench, martin thought he watched a pretty good game.

"Playoff hockey" was his description.

Hey, he's the coach.

From where I was standing, it was a snoozer for about 55 minutes. Then, trailing 1-0,  the Canadiens generated some excitement through sheer desperation.

The game resembled the weather today in Montreal: tough, mucky slogging ... and it was to get home.

And a third shutout

A little something from video scout Jarred Friedman to get you in the mood for 3 p.m. hockey.

"Heartaches by the number, troubles by the score ..."

Jacques Martin wasn't wearing a Stetson and string tie or carrying a guitar when he faced the media after the loss. But he may as well have been warbling the country classic while talking about his personnel problems.

When someone asked what Martin could do drive home the message that dumb, undisciplined penalties would not be tolerated, the coach laid out the grim numbers:

He has 12 healthy forwards, 11 of whom are useful. (BGL's contribution to the game was four first-period shifts, 2:20 ToI).

Martin has six defencemen, of whom one is playing hurt (Jaro Spacek), one began the season out of hockey (Marc-André Bergeron) and one – Ryan O'Byrne – can't keep his big, lumbering *** out of the penalty box.

Can't take penalties all night against a team like Buffalo

The Montreal Canadiens (5-5-0) are currently sitting in the 9th spot in the Eastern Conference. In the Northeast Division the Habs are third, behind a strong Buffalo squad and the competitive Senators.

We all know where the Leafs are in the standings.

The Habs have picked up their play but their stats still show a low-level team. Montreal scores an average of 2.60 goals/game but allows 3.00. Carey Price and Jaroslav Halak have a combined 0.892 SP which isn’t the worst in the league, but is far from the top. The boys have been short-handed 37 times (20th-NHL), which is much better than the league leading Hurricanes (58), but don’t have the best penalty-kill (78.4%). The powerplay is currently striking at 17.1%, but has definitely been improving over the last couple of games (Marc-Andre Bergeron is on pace for 50 PP goals).

Anyone like their chances in Calgary on Tuesday night?

No Andrei Markov. Ryan O'Byrne gone with a knee sprain, Glen Metropolit nursing a rib injury to be re-evaluated today in Cowtown.

OK, let's accentuate the positive: Two games, four points. Heading west 2-0 is MUCH better than strolling into the lion's den 0-2 ... because we remember last season's western swing, don't we?

But no matter what happens in Calgary, Vancouver and Edmonton, I doubt we'll see Jacques Martin pulling a Carbo, i.e. showing up for his post-loss scrum looking like Jimmy Carter in the depths of the Iranian hostage crisis, throwing up his hands to announce he has no answers to explain why his team keeps losing.

Jacques Martin will have answers, like the one he gave in French tonight to demystify another horrendous first period. The coach said his team was guilty of "slow execution." The aggressive Buffalo forecheck caused turnovers and made it difficult for the Canadiens to get the puck out of their own end.

During the second period, Martin said, the Canadiens were faster and more adept at puck movement. The coach praised his team's "good spirit", especially the work of his depleted defence corps.

Amen to that. (And thanks to Howtathor for video suggestion)

Brian Gionta.

In OT.

Two games: four points.

Without Andrei Markov.

Unreal. And Captain aHab comments "I just had a Giontasm!"

Me, too.

And it felt Carey good.

Shots 37-15

Another robbery

•  •  •

And on L'Antichambre, they're all over Mara and Gill, who played solid games.

What a collection of schmucks.

The Baron? Please.

Norman Flynn? Gimme a break.

I'm only watching because of Chantal .. and Jacques Demers

Take away the first 11 minutes of last night’s game against the Buffalo Sabres and Carey Price is poised to start the season as the Canadiens’ No. 1 goaltender.

Price hasn’t played as well as Jaroslav Halak through most of the exhibition schedule, but he settled down and turned in a strong performance after a shaky start last night.

Price gave up two softies on the first six shots he faced, although he didn’t get much help from his defence on either. But he held the fort for the remainder of the game as the Canadiens rallied for a 3-2 win in their last game before the regular-season opener Thursday night in Toronto. Price finished the night with 29 saves on 31 shots.

• Dave Sidaway's game photos (including this shot of goalscorers Maxim Lapierre and Brian Gionta)

No Andrei Markov.

No Mike Cammalleri.

And, coming off a strong performance, no Sergei Kostitsyn.

Or Yannick Weber. Or Mathieu Carle, who was pretty good against the Bruins on Thursday

The lineup, per RDS:

Pacioretty-Gomez-Gionta
A. Kostitsyn-Plekanec-D'Agostini
Latendresse-Lapierre-Moen
Pyatt-Metropolit-Stewart

Gill-Gorges
Hamrlik-Mara
Spacek-O'Byrne

Live game blog

It would be news if he didn't.

The coach was particularly pleased by displays of team character and spirit throughout the pre-season.

As an example, he cited Ryan O'Byrne jumping on Patrick Kaleta after the rugged Sabre had laid out Tom Pyatt with a head shot.

Martin also said a major objective of the upcoming team retreat will be development of leadership.

For his part, Glen Metropolit – who set up Gregory Stewart's winning goal – said he senses a new spirit in the Canadiens' room this season.

AUDIO: Jacques Martin  Brian Gionta  Carey Price  Glen Metropolit  Paul Mara  Gregory Stewart

Now we know why there are no shootouts in the playoffs.

The Canadiens and Sabres played 65 minutes of superb, scintillating, postseason-level hockey.

Then it was decided by a defenceman cruising in from centre ice to find Carey Price's five-hole in the sixth round of a shootout.

And after a beautiful spring day in Montreal and a great evening of hockey, everyone – including the Canadiens – went home from the Bell Centre feeling disappointed.

It was the Canadiens' third consecutive shootout loss. They haven't won one since Jan. 17 (which was their third straight shootout win).

Still .... a valuable point left the Canadiens one up on Florida (damn those Stars!) and one behind the Rangers, with a game in hand on each.

Both teams played like they wanted the game last night.

Buffalo needed the W more, and the Sabres got two points to keep their playoff hopes alive.

65 minutes of great up and down hockey produced 72 shots and a 3-3 tie.

So Canadiens can't tumble out of eighth, no matter what happens in the shootout.

Will they go high glove on Price?

Connolly: Glove save

Kovy: Backhand, save

Stafford: Backhand, save

Tanguay: High

Pominville: Wide

Koivu: Backhand, save

Roy: Save

Markov: Save

Vanek: Save

Plekanec: Wide

Lydman: Goal! Five hole

Lapierre: Wide

Damn! 

At 4 p.m. yesterday, Bob Gainey said he was happy with his hockey team.

Wonder how he felt six hours later.

Was the general manager thinking he could use a big centre, kind of like that Paul Gaustad guy who ran roughshod and scored twice for the Sabres?

Nah, the Montreal Canadiens don't need a big centre. Playing to their full potential, Smurfs down the middle can get the job done.

How about a defenceman who can hit and/or move the puck?

Nope, we're solid on defence – as evidenced by Patrice Brisebois's 14 minutes and Mike Komisarek playing 19 minutes and having zero – count 'em, ZERO – hits last night.

Gainey says the Canadiens will be fine if the current roster plays to potential.

Which will happen when?

Tomorrow in Atlanta might be a good occasion for all hands to be on deck, because that's where the good ship CH began to list and take on water.

It wasn't all Carey Price's fault.

There was plenty of suck to go around.

But The Franchise is in a funk: Price has allowed five or more goals seven times.

And the team Bob gainey was happy with at 3 this afternoon limps on to Atlanta.

... Carey Price is great in Buffalo?

Assuming Jaro Halk has recovered, who starts Friday night in Atlanta?

I say Price.

(Unless, of course, the Canadiens wild and crazy general manager deals The Franchise in a blockbuster deal tomorrow).

On CKAC this afternoon, Martin McGuire reported Price has been working very hard in practice. He's the first one on the ice with the injured guys and often the last to leave.

Implicit in McGuire's praise is the notion that Price's work habits have not always been exemplary.

If the kid has the kind of pride I think he does, Price will be great against the Sabres.

•  •  •

Factoring in Robert Lang's injury and various shuffles to and from Hamilton, McGuire calculates the Canadiens have $3.7 million worth of wiggle room on an acquisition tomorrow.

To that you can add the salary of a player or players going the other way.

Mathieu Dandenault's $1.7. for example, would bring the ceiling value of an acquired player up to $5.4 million.

Ron Fournier, on the same broadcast, said the Canadiens might be interested in Michael Nylander, whose salary – $4.875 million against the cap, this season and next – Washington might want to shed in order to make another move.

Let’s call this “About tonight …” because it’s going to be tight-collar time at the Bell Centre.
The Leafs.
Hockey Night in Canada national broadcast.
Last home appearance before a six-game, two-week road trip that won’t make the season but could break it.

In short, a biggie.

After outshooting the Sabres 15-5 in the first period – and being denied by red-hot Ryan Miller – the Canadiens give up a softie 27 seconds into the middle period and never recover.

Tim Connolly scored the backbreaker early in the third period to make it 3-1.

Roman Hamrlik made the last few minutes interesting, but the home team was in control for the latter 40 minutes of the game. 

For play-by-play, cue the Beatles:

For the benefit of Mr. Kite
there will be a show tonight on trampoline
The Hendersons will all be there
late of Pablo Fanques' fair, what a scene

Over men and horses hoops and garters
and lastly through a hogshead of real fire
In this way Mr. K will challenge the world

And there's a good chance the celebrated Mr. K will perform his feats on Sunday as well, with Carolina at the Bell Centre.

Let's go to replay:

Saku Koivu suffers an injury.

Canadiens put the "C" on Alex Kovalev's jersey, and the riddle wrapped in a mystery inside a enigma comes to life, scoring goals and carrying the team on his broad back.

Coincidence?

The Artist took two minor penalties and then scored with 25 seconds left in overtime to give the Canadiens a morale-boosting W.

First star: Sergei Kostitsyn. Two goals and yeoman work on the power play.

The Canadiens bombarded Ryan Miller with 46 shots – six in OT.

And the power play produced two goals, including the OT winner.

It was a good, if not overwhelming, win – the foundation for what should be .... has to be ... a winning homestand.

Guy Carbonneau was reserved in his post-game remarks. He liked his team's intensity from start to finish.

But if I could apply some amateur psychology while sitting through the coach's post-game press conference (and blowing the audio due to a technical problem), I thought Carbo had not recovered completely from the profound disillusionment and seething anger he felt after that game in Washington.

The coach needs more convincing – and so do I.

One game into the season, you'll read mostly positivity from the Ol' Pessimist.

The glass is half-full because:

Canadiens will get at least a point.

Not sure they deserve one.

Kotalik: Backhand goal

Lang: Save

Stafford: Backhand goal, same as Kotaik

Koivu: Save

Loss ... but a helluva game, and a point.

Guest rant: Habhopeful:

Most Noticeable & Most Impressive-Robert Lang
Weakest Forward-Alex Tanguay(although its first game of the season so lets not jump all over him just yet)
Weakest Defensemen-Breezer (Komisarek had a a bit more than couple moments)
Strongest Defensemen-Hamrlik & Markov(Gorges & Obyrne Were Next)
Best Line-Lang, Skoz, Kosto
Price was Awesome tonight But if MIller keeps this play up, BUffalo will surprise(although i had them pegged as 7th place)

Now that was fun except for some nauseating moments, Im goin out to a bar! See ya folks tomorrow!

He wasn't one of the game's three stars, but Ryan O'Byrne shoud have been.

As I was leaving the Bell Centre last night with Patrick V. Hickey, my friend and colleague raved about the monster game O'Byre had played.

At first I chalked Hickey's enthusiasm up to Celtic solidarity. Then I checked O'Byrne's game stats:

19 minutes, 35 seconds of ice time – a season high, and third among Canadiens blueliners behind Andrei Markov and Roman Hamrlik. Most significantly, O'Byrne played 4:10 on the PK.

Six hits, second to Steve Bégin's eight

Five blocked shots – no one had more.

Plus-2.

The latter shouldn't have surprised me. Since returning to the lineup after his hand injury, O'Byrne has had only one minus game, a week ago in Buffalo when he was minus-1.

With two Top Six defencemen, Mike Komisarek and Francis Bouillon, out of the lineup, Canadiens have not missed a beat. Josh Gorges and O'Byrne have stepped up huge. Mark Streit is back playing the position he favours. The frequently-maligned Patrice Brisebois has been quietly steady.

This team is loaded at a position where it is very good to have depth.

And the guy playing behind the D isn't too shabby either. 

Bob Gainey wasn't grinning like a Cheshire cat on the elevator heading down to dressing room level.

But he should have been.

Much maligned all season for signing Bryan Smolinski to a $2 million contract last summer, the Canadiens general manager is looking like a genius as the veteran centre cranks up his game for the late-season push.

Reggie Jackson was Mr. October. It's too early in the month to crown Smolinski Mr. April, but he's played two superb games on a shutown line with Steve Bégin and Tom Kostopoulos.

Smolinski's stall is just inside the door of the Canadiens' room. Scrums in that corner have been getting thicker as the games have become more meaningful.

"It's been a while and it's nice to get two," Smolinski said after sinking the Sabres with a pair of goals. It took 81 games to do it, but the 37-year-old veteran was named the game's first star.

"We're missing key players," Smolinski said of the Canadiens' injury-ravaged lineup, "and guys have to step up. Guys are playing different roles with different responsibilities."

Guy Carbonneau has stressed the leadership role his veterans will have to play. The coach has praised Smolinski and Mathieu Dandenault as players who excel at this pressure-packed stage of the season.

"This time of year is so much fun," Smolinski said. "You enjoy 82 games, as many as you can play. But there's no feeling like playoffs."

Smolinski said it was a "good sign" that his grinding line is getting good offensive chances while playing solid defence. Bégin led the Canadiens with five of their 25 shots on goal. The fourth line gave Carbonneau almost 14 quality minutes.

"We're keeping it really simple," said Kostopoulos, another UFA signing, "chipping it off the walls, supporting each other, getting pucks to the net. We've been getting some bounces lately."

Buffalo's only goal came on the power play, but Canadiens' red-hot PK killed four of five shorthanded situations.

"Yourr best penalty-killer is your goalie," Smolinski said. "I don't think (Carey Price) understands what the word pressure means. He's been outstanding."

•  •  •

Hey, great spoillers, those Leafs:

Ottawa got THREE shorthanded goals tonight. That's ludicrous.

OK, I'm signing off. Gonna hide in the bathroom to see the Harlem Globetrotters for free.

Now that's real basketball. 

A bad leg – an injury not specifically defined by the Canadiens – will keep Michael Ryder out of tonight's game vs. the Buffalo Sabres, as will the flu bug that's keeping Mikhail Grabovski down. Ryder is getting tests today, according to head coach Guy Carbonneau. Hamilton callup Matt D'Agostini is in for Ryder, making his NHL debut.

The six roster players not playing tonight: Mike Komisarek, who was on the ice with his teammates this morning; Saku Koivu; Francis Bouillon, who skated part of the morning session and hopes to be back on Saturday; Hamilton Bulldogs callup Greg Stewart; Grabovski; and Ryder.

Komisarek reported that his injured hip "feels great, and I'd love to play tonight ... but I don't think they'll let me." He was right on that score.

Post-skate audio follows. Carbonneau, beginning in midsentence, is speaking first about Ryder:

• Guy Carbonneau • Matt D'Agostini • Greg Stewart
• Francis Bouillon • Bryan Smolinski

I  hope the Canadiens made it through customs last night..

They  were travelling by bus to Toronto. It's a 90-minute trip unless you're tied up at the border, where the team would have been wise to declare the win they stole in Buffalo.

Steve Bégin joked after the game that Canadiens ought to sneak out the back door and not make too much noise, lest they attract the attention of the police.

It was a prima facie case of Grand Theft Hockey.

At least in their miracle five-goal comeback against the Rangers, Canadiens played a great third period.

Guy Carbonneau said his team played three minutes against the Sabres. The coach's math  be a little off: Canadiens got two points by scoring three goals in a shade over six minutes.

And the goals, Christopher Higgins said, "fell from the sky". It's not like momentum  had swung to the visitor's bench when Tomas Plekanec scored on a power play to launch the comeback. 

Sometimes you win games you're not supposed to. And sometimes you lose games you ought to have won. It tends to balance out over the course of a season. 

What's nice is when Lady Luck sidles over to your bench and whispers "Hi sailor" in late March. If she sticks around for a few drinks in April, who knows where it might lead in May.

Canadiens' Tomas Plekanec and Alex Kovalev celebrate Plekanec's game-tying goal, scored with 14.6 seconds left in regulation time.
Gary Wiepert, Reuters

Updated Standings | Lineups | AP Preview | Gazette Preview | Gazette Game Story | Game Summary | Event Summary | Boxscore | Boone

Someone tore the word "quit" out of the Canadiens' dictionary.

Tomas Plekanec scored two goals in a span of just over two minutes late in the game, his 28th and 29th of the season, and Christopher Higgins scored at 3:38 of overtime on a beautiful pass from defenceman Mark Streit to give the Habs a wild 4-3 come-from-behind win over the Buffalo Sabres and first place – again – in the Eastern Conference.

Streit assisted on all three of Montreal's third-period goals.

The Canadiens, nailed early and often by penalties that were and sometimes maybe weren't infractions, had a chance tonight to pull back into first place in the East. But they seemed not headed for that luxury, falling behind the Sabres 3-1 until late in the game.

With the win, the Canadiens vaulted the idle Pittsburgh Penguins into first in the conference, using their game in hand over the Pens to full advantage. They're now six points clear of the Ottawa Senators to lead the Northeast Division.

First the defenceman soils the bed to give Buffalo a seemingly insurmountable 3-1 lead.

Then, with less than three minutes left, Mark Streit went to work.

Shot from the point on the power play, tipped by Tomas Plekanec: 3-2

With seconds left in regulation and Carey Price on the bench, a Streit shot, a rebound and Plekanec: makes it 3-3

Finally, in OT: a perfect set-up for Christopher Higgins (and with Higgy, it has to be perfect).

Three assists in five minutes, and Canadiens bag a W and move past Pittsburgh into first place.

Wildest comeback since that crazy Rangers game. 

Carey Price made 35 saves and had no chance on any of the Buffalo goals. 

Did anyone foresee this?

The consensus among so-called experts was Canadiens would finish out of the playoffs again this season.

They still might. But it would take quite a tumble – all the way from first place in the Northeast Division.

So which combination of results would you prefer today?

• If Ottawa beats Pittsburgh and Canadiens beat New Jersey, the non-playoff team is first in the Eastern Conference.

• If Pittsburgh wins, Canadiens can open up a three-point lead on Ottawa if they beat the Devils.

Of course, if the Senators win or salvage a point in a tie and Canadiens lose ... I won't even go there.

No matter what happens today short of a total humiliation at the hands of Martin F. Brodeur and his very pissed-off teammates (who got all of 18 shots in a hame against Cristobal Huet last night), Canadiens will be going to the west coast with wind in their sails.

Not that they're actually making the trip by boat. They'll be flying to California, on Cloud Nine.