Ann 2Game 41 Review: Canadiens Grab Late 5-4 Win Against Capitals In Thrilling Game
January 13th 2009 05:45
Apart from the Boston Bruins, the Washington Capitals were the hottest team in the Eastern Conference before their meeting against the Montreal Canadiens Saturday night. The previous meetings between the two teams both ended in victory for the Capitals as the Canadiens struggled to score. With an offense finally reaching up to its potential in the last three games, Guy Carbonneau and his troops were firmly waiting for the Caps at the Bell Centre to get their revenge. The result was nail-biting, high-intensity game which didn't let up until the final whistle.
Nine goals were scored in this confrontation, five in the third period only. Washington were first to get on the mark in the period via Alexander Semin but Tomas Plekanec brought things level less than two minutes later by scoring his third shorthanded goal of the season while Alex Kovalev was serving a two-minute penalty for high-sticking. The Capitals took the lead again halfway through the second period when Semin stole the puck from defenseman Patrice Brisebois in the Canadiens' zone to easily beat Halak.
A 5-on-3 opportunity early in the third period gave the home side a lead for the first time of the night as Robert Lang and Andrei Kostitsyn both scored on the powerplay. However, less than two minutes after Kostitsyn's goal, Tomas Fleischmann beat Halak with a wrist shot to put the score at 3-3. Just fifteen seconds later, Plekanec scored his second of the game and the Habs were back in the lead 4-3. To sum it all up, four goals were scored in the span of three minutes which gives you an idea on how fast-paced this game was. At the 12th minute of the period, during the Capitals' fifth powerplay, Nylander's skate deflected the puck past Halak while the forward had no idea what was going on, putting both teams back to square one at 4-4. About three minutes later, you could tell that the visitors' stance had changed. Although they hadn't given up on a win, they were playing a lot more safely with and without the puck. With less than one minute to go, the puck made its way back to the Caps' blueline as they attempted to keep possession in the last minute in same manner as the Habs did during the game against Toronto. They didn't count on Sergei Kostitsyn's second effort.
With seconds running down the clock, the younger Kostitsyn pressured the Caps' defensemen. Giant blueliner Milan Jurcina lost the puck in his skates and instead of keeping his eye on Kostitsyn, he let his head down, frantically looking for the puck. Like a cat waiting to pounce on his prey, Sergei stole the puck and released a quick shot just as Jurcina dropped him down with a crosscheck. The weak shot somehow made its way under Brent Johnson's pad with 21 seconds left to go, giving the Habs their eighth win in ten games.
The win not only put the Canadiens one point closer to the Capitals in the standings (and ten points behind Boston), but it also sends Guy Carbonneau to the All-Star game at the end of the month as the assistant-coach in the place of Washington coach Bruce Boudreau by virtue of a better record. The Canadiens will now see five members of the team going to the All-Star game instead of the four players who were voted in (more on that in another blog entry). Up next, it's the big bad Bruins who suffered their first consecutive defeats in a long while last week, and whose injury list is getting longer and longer.
Oh, I almost forgot. Useless trivia of the day: all goals were scored by European players. Some naysayers might not appreciate that fact.
My 3 Stars:
3. Alexander Semin
2. Tomas Plekanec
1. Sergei Kostitsyn
Nine goals were scored in this confrontation, five in the third period only. Washington were first to get on the mark in the period via Alexander Semin but Tomas Plekanec brought things level less than two minutes later by scoring his third shorthanded goal of the season while Alex Kovalev was serving a two-minute penalty for high-sticking. The Capitals took the lead again halfway through the second period when Semin stole the puck from defenseman Patrice Brisebois in the Canadiens' zone to easily beat Halak.
A 5-on-3 opportunity early in the third period gave the home side a lead for the first time of the night as Robert Lang and Andrei Kostitsyn both scored on the powerplay. However, less than two minutes after Kostitsyn's goal, Tomas Fleischmann beat Halak with a wrist shot to put the score at 3-3. Just fifteen seconds later, Plekanec scored his second of the game and the Habs were back in the lead 4-3. To sum it all up, four goals were scored in the span of three minutes which gives you an idea on how fast-paced this game was. At the 12th minute of the period, during the Capitals' fifth powerplay, Nylander's skate deflected the puck past Halak while the forward had no idea what was going on, putting both teams back to square one at 4-4. About three minutes later, you could tell that the visitors' stance had changed. Although they hadn't given up on a win, they were playing a lot more safely with and without the puck. With less than one minute to go, the puck made its way back to the Caps' blueline as they attempted to keep possession in the last minute in same manner as the Habs did during the game against Toronto. They didn't count on Sergei Kostitsyn's second effort.
With seconds running down the clock, the younger Kostitsyn pressured the Caps' defensemen. Giant blueliner Milan Jurcina lost the puck in his skates and instead of keeping his eye on Kostitsyn, he let his head down, frantically looking for the puck. Like a cat waiting to pounce on his prey, Sergei stole the puck and released a quick shot just as Jurcina dropped him down with a crosscheck. The weak shot somehow made its way under Brent Johnson's pad with 21 seconds left to go, giving the Habs their eighth win in ten games.
The win not only put the Canadiens one point closer to the Capitals in the standings (and ten points behind Boston), but it also sends Guy Carbonneau to the All-Star game at the end of the month as the assistant-coach in the place of Washington coach Bruce Boudreau by virtue of a better record. The Canadiens will now see five members of the team going to the All-Star game instead of the four players who were voted in (more on that in another blog entry). Up next, it's the big bad Bruins who suffered their first consecutive defeats in a long while last week, and whose injury list is getting longer and longer.
Oh, I almost forgot. Useless trivia of the day: all goals were scored by European players. Some naysayers might not appreciate that fact.
My 3 Stars:
3. Alexander Semin
2. Tomas Plekanec
1. Sergei Kostitsyn
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