Ann 2Game 40 Review: Skill Trumps Strength As Silky Canadiens Steamroll Physical Leafs 6-2
January 12th 2009 00:03
The memory of their 6-3 defeat at the Air Canada Centre still fresh in their minds, the Montreal Canadiens kept their cool against the overly aggressive Toronto Maple Leafs to get their revenge a satisfying 6-2 victory.
The Leafs showed their indiscipline early in the game as Andre Deveaux took a penalty in the first minute of the game. One minute later, Sergei Kostitsyn scored on the powerplay to give the Canadiens a 1-0 lead. By the fifth minute of the game, it was 2-0 Canadiens and the gap in talent between both teams was clearly apparent. The period ended on the score of 3-1, Tomas Kaberle scoring the lone goal for the Leafs and Guillaume Latendresse adding his seventh of the season with less than one minute to go in the first.
The tone of the game went up in the second period as the Leafs stopped competing on the ice, resorting instead to their fists to prove they belonged in the same league as their hosts. Two fights broke out in the span of two seconds halfway through the period. First, Jamal pounded the crap out of Tom Kostopoulos who for all his heart and courage will never win a fight in this league. Then, Brad May, in his first game with Toronto, decided to go head-to-head with Francis Bouillon, not knowing that the small but bulky Canadiens defenseman is a tough nut to crack. This fight ended in a draw despite May's size advantage. Fourteen penalties were issued in this period spread evenly between the two teams, and that was excluding the five penalties (including two game misconducts) given after the final whistle of the first period. Through all this turmoil, the Canadiens added two goals (via Kovalev on a delayed penalty and Andrei Kostitsyn on the powerplay) to give themselves a 5-1 lead. Max Pacioretty scored his second of the season halfway through the third period and Matt Stajan made the scoreline more respectable by potting in the Leafs' second of the game with less than two minutes to go.
Through it all, 140 minutes of penalty were issued in the game including eight instances of misconduct (ten-minute penalties by Mikhail Grabovski twice, Sergei Kostitsyn twice also, Guillaume Latendresse, Tomas Plekanec, Ian White, and Jason Blake), four fighting majors (Tom Kostopoulos, Jamal Mayers, Francis Bouillon, and Brad May), two unsportsmanlike conducts (Maxim Lapierre and Andre Deveaux), and one game misconduct (Mikhail Grabovski who lost his mind after the final whistle); not to mention the regular hooking, tripping, hi-sticking, etc. penalties. At the center of all this tension was two Belarusian players Mikhail Grabovski and Sergei Kostitsyn who went from best friends last season to hating each other's guts this season to the point of rekindling the famous Leafs-Canadiens rivalry. Although both players were pretty wild during the game, Grabovski didn't play smartly by picking up penalties in the most unfortunate times of the game. His 14 minutes spent in the box deprived the Leafs of their best player, a trap that Montreal didn't fall into of course, Montreal has more than one heavily skilled player so it wouldn't matter anyway, but that's a different story.
On a more positive note, the Habs have scored eighteen goals in their last three games, a sign that its slumping offense is finally getting back on track and is geared for a great second half of the season.
My 3 Stars:
3. Patrice Brisebois
2. Sergei Kostitsyn
1. Andrei Kostitsyn
The Leafs showed their indiscipline early in the game as Andre Deveaux took a penalty in the first minute of the game. One minute later, Sergei Kostitsyn scored on the powerplay to give the Canadiens a 1-0 lead. By the fifth minute of the game, it was 2-0 Canadiens and the gap in talent between both teams was clearly apparent. The period ended on the score of 3-1, Tomas Kaberle scoring the lone goal for the Leafs and Guillaume Latendresse adding his seventh of the season with less than one minute to go in the first.
The tone of the game went up in the second period as the Leafs stopped competing on the ice, resorting instead to their fists to prove they belonged in the same league as their hosts. Two fights broke out in the span of two seconds halfway through the period. First, Jamal pounded the crap out of Tom Kostopoulos who for all his heart and courage will never win a fight in this league. Then, Brad May, in his first game with Toronto, decided to go head-to-head with Francis Bouillon, not knowing that the small but bulky Canadiens defenseman is a tough nut to crack. This fight ended in a draw despite May's size advantage. Fourteen penalties were issued in this period spread evenly between the two teams, and that was excluding the five penalties (including two game misconducts) given after the final whistle of the first period. Through all this turmoil, the Canadiens added two goals (via Kovalev on a delayed penalty and Andrei Kostitsyn on the powerplay) to give themselves a 5-1 lead. Max Pacioretty scored his second of the season halfway through the third period and Matt Stajan made the scoreline more respectable by potting in the Leafs' second of the game with less than two minutes to go.
Through it all, 140 minutes of penalty were issued in the game including eight instances of misconduct (ten-minute penalties by Mikhail Grabovski twice, Sergei Kostitsyn twice also, Guillaume Latendresse, Tomas Plekanec, Ian White, and Jason Blake), four fighting majors (Tom Kostopoulos, Jamal Mayers, Francis Bouillon, and Brad May), two unsportsmanlike conducts (Maxim Lapierre and Andre Deveaux), and one game misconduct (Mikhail Grabovski who lost his mind after the final whistle); not to mention the regular hooking, tripping, hi-sticking, etc. penalties. At the center of all this tension was two Belarusian players Mikhail Grabovski and Sergei Kostitsyn who went from best friends last season to hating each other's guts this season to the point of rekindling the famous Leafs-Canadiens rivalry. Although both players were pretty wild during the game, Grabovski didn't play smartly by picking up penalties in the most unfortunate times of the game. His 14 minutes spent in the box deprived the Leafs of their best player, a trap that Montreal didn't fall into of course, Montreal has more than one heavily skilled player so it wouldn't matter anyway, but that's a different story.
On a more positive note, the Habs have scored eighteen goals in their last three games, a sign that its slumping offense is finally getting back on track and is geared for a great second half of the season.
My 3 Stars:
3. Patrice Brisebois
2. Sergei Kostitsyn
1. Andrei Kostitsyn
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