Ann 2Game 39 Review: Lang's Hat Trick Gives Canadiens 6-3 Win Over Rangers (Highlights Video Included)
January 9th 2009 22:10
After Andrei Kostitsyn, Maxim Lapierre, and Christopher Higgins, it was Robert Lang's turn to get a hat trick Wednesday night as the Montreal Canadiens defeated the New York Rangers in the teams' second encounter of the season (Montreal won the first meeting 6-2). With 15 goals to his counter, the veteran center is now the leading goalscorer of the Canadiens not bad for a guy who was brought as nothing more than a back-up plan when Bob Gainey failed to land Mats Sundin during the summer. All three goals came in third period and were scored in four different ways. His first came on the powerplay as the Habs carried out a two-man advantage (incidentally, the Canadiens' struggling powerplay went 2-for-5 as Andrei Markov scored his six early in the third to give the visiting team a 3-2 lead), his second was scored at even-strength an highlight-reel goal where he picked up the puck at his blueline, skated through the neutral zone, deked past Marc Staal and beat Lundqvist with a superb shot to give his team a 5-3 advantage. Finally, he scored his last in an empty net as the Habs were playing shorthanded. Other scorers for the Canadiens were Alex Kovalev (who got the first goal of the game), Guillaume Latendress (who benefited from a long rebound by Lundqvist), and Andrei Markov (who scored after only nine seconds into the powerplay).
Jaroslav Halak was given a third consecutive start in the absence of Carey Price and although he was a bit shaky, fans only had to look at Henrik Lundqvist's performance at the other end for reassurance. The Rangers goalie had trouble controlling his rebounds and his positioning wasn't all there either. Although Halak struggled with the puck, he made the saves when it mattered, including pushing the puck away from the goal line in the dying minutes of the game which then led to Lang's third goal. 33 saves on 36 shots isn't too shabby for a goalie who conceded nine goals in his last two games. It's a much better record than Lundqvist's 19 saves out of 24 shots.
Another thing that struck out during the game are the penalties. Only six minors were issued throughout the game none in the first period, one in the second, and five in the third. The lack of powerplay opportunities didn't really bother the two teams since the Rangers' powerplay ranked one spot ahead of the Canadiens' at the 26th position in the league. Montreal took no penalties through 46 minutes of play and although the press lauded the team for a disciplined effort, I'm not fanatical enough to deny that there were plenty of missed calls against the Canadiens that night. Remember that game against the Hurricanes where the Canadiens took 11 consecutive penalties? Well, it seems that Wednesday night's game balanced things out as the Rangers took four penalties before the referees realized that the rules also applied to the visiting team. The Canadiens' first penalty of the game coincided with the Rangers' fifth two minutes for roughing on both sides and they took two more with five minutes left to go to the game. But unlike the Habs, the Rangers couldn't score on their PP and suffered a painful defeat at the Madison Square Garden.
My 3 Stars:
3. Roman Hamrlik
2. Andrei Markov
1. Robert Lang
Jaroslav Halak was given a third consecutive start in the absence of Carey Price and although he was a bit shaky, fans only had to look at Henrik Lundqvist's performance at the other end for reassurance. The Rangers goalie had trouble controlling his rebounds and his positioning wasn't all there either. Although Halak struggled with the puck, he made the saves when it mattered, including pushing the puck away from the goal line in the dying minutes of the game which then led to Lang's third goal. 33 saves on 36 shots isn't too shabby for a goalie who conceded nine goals in his last two games. It's a much better record than Lundqvist's 19 saves out of 24 shots.
Another thing that struck out during the game are the penalties. Only six minors were issued throughout the game none in the first period, one in the second, and five in the third. The lack of powerplay opportunities didn't really bother the two teams since the Rangers' powerplay ranked one spot ahead of the Canadiens' at the 26th position in the league. Montreal took no penalties through 46 minutes of play and although the press lauded the team for a disciplined effort, I'm not fanatical enough to deny that there were plenty of missed calls against the Canadiens that night. Remember that game against the Hurricanes where the Canadiens took 11 consecutive penalties? Well, it seems that Wednesday night's game balanced things out as the Rangers took four penalties before the referees realized that the rules also applied to the visiting team. The Canadiens' first penalty of the game coincided with the Rangers' fifth two minutes for roughing on both sides and they took two more with five minutes left to go to the game. But unlike the Habs, the Rangers couldn't score on their PP and suffered a painful defeat at the Madison Square Garden.
My 3 Stars:
3. Roman Hamrlik
2. Andrei Markov
1. Robert Lang
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