Ann 2Game 9 Review: Canadiens Grab First Regulation Win Against Islanders
October 26th 2009 21:44
Habs celebrate a goal
After stealing two games at the beginning of the season, the Montreal Canadiens embarked on a road trip to the West coast where they lost three in a row including a shameful display in Vancouver where the Canucks won 7-1 after losing their three previous games. The Canadiens came back to Montreal only to lose close-fought games against the surprising Colorado Avalanche and the Ottawa Senators. They finally ended their five-game losing streak with a shootout win against the Atlanta Thrashers. Finally, on Thursday, the team that kept losing games due to a lack of scoring finally exploded offensively when the New York Islanders came to town.
For the first time this season, the Habs scored twice in the first period. Gomez opened the scoring by stealing the puck from defenseman Martinek and beating Biron from close-range. The goal came during a dominating shift by the Gionta-Gomez-Cammalleri line and after a great play by Jaroslav Spacek who twice stopped the puck from exiting the Islanders' zone.
The Canadiens' newest acquisition, Marc-Andre Bergeron, scored his first goal of the season on the powerplay to put the Habs 2-0 up. The defenseman's rocket shot will be a welcome addition to a powerplay that's clearly missing Andrei Markov.
After a great first period, the Canadiens played a flawless second period where they limited the Islanders to five shots and scored another goal to put their lead at three. Max Pacioretty was the scorer in this period, getting his first goal of the season and consequently putting a huge load off of his shoulders. The last time the rookie had scored a goal was way back in January and he was slowly losing confidence this season as his play wasn't bringing any result. For the first time this season, the Habs had the lead after two periods and were completely dominating their opponent.
Unfortunately, the Islanders got a break early in the third when Jaroslav Halak mishandled the puck, allowing Josh Bailey to score in an open net during a Canadiens' powerplay. The goal revived the Islanders' spirits and the momentum was slowly shifting in their direction when Mike Cammalleri scored his second of the season during a powerplay halfway through the third period. Unlike the Habs of the last year, the team didn't sit back after Cammalleri's goal. Indeed, Maxim Lapierre (converted to a winger for this game) also got his first of the season by taking care of the garbage after Andrei Kostitsyn's shot. At 5-1, it was clear that the Islanders weren't going to come back and at the final whistle, Halak only had himself to blame for losing the shutout.
Although the team they faced was only the Islanders, the win comes as a relief for the Habs who were possibly starting to feel the pressure. The addition of Marc-Andre Bergeron has made the powerpaly more lethal but the real unsung hero of that game was Glen Metropolit who came back from a rib injury. Metropolit was a force in all three zones, showing some veteran smarts that is clearly missing from Chipchura's game. Flanked by Moen and Pacioretty, he had an excellent game, ending his night with two assists.
My 3 Stars:
3. Thomas Plekanec
2. Marc-Andre Bergeron
1. Glen Metropolit
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