“They play us tough,” Christopher Higgins said of the Leafs, who have beaten the Canadiens in their two meetings this season. “I don’t know why they don’t play that way against the rest of the league.”

Matt Stajan broke a 2-2 tie with 94 seconds left in a game that could have gone either way … but didn’t.
Outshot 34-31, Toronto scored their first and last goals on long shots that eluded Cristobal Huet.

“It was frustrating to lose at the end of the game that way,” said the Canadiens goaltender. The winner, he added, was “definitely not a great goal … I’d like to see the shot again.”

His coach agreed.
“They got a lucky bounce on the second goal,” Guy Carbonneau said of a Mats Sundin shot that ticked in off Mathieu Dandenault’s stick.
“The other two, I’m sure Cristobal would like to see them back.”

Carbonneau highlighted Toronto’s 39-23 edge in faceoff as a factor that had the Canadiens “chasing the puck all night.” He was satisfied, however, with his team’s overall effort and said it was a positive to build on for Monday’s visit by the Sabres.

“It was a tough one to swallow,” said Higgins. “I thought we were working really hard.
“We had some good looks, and (Vesa) Toskala made some nice saves.”

“Every time we lose, it’s a tough one,”" said Saku Koivu. “It doesn’t matter how we lose or when they score the winner.”

• • •

Woo-hoo!
648 Comments and counting!
My dog gets to eat for another few days.
I love you!
I love you!
I love you!
(Visualize Boone blowing big wet ones out of the Bell Centre pressbox.)

• • •

Third Period 0:11 Mad scrambles, but no chances. And Carbo takes a timeout.

Third Period 1:34 Huet!!!!
Matt Stajan.
3-2

Third Period 2:31 This is looking llike OT … says tthe old Jinxmeister.

Third Period 4:20 Latendresse is getting feisty.

Third Period 4:49 Get up Antropov, you slug!

Third Period 6:09 Canadiens have 32 shots, but a lot fewer bona fide chances.

Third Period 7:00 Ryder back on the top line. Maybe they’ll complete thhree passes. And maybe not.

Third Period 8:53 Tight period. Shots are 4-4 through 11 minutes.

Third Period 9:58 Two idiots just got thhrown out of seats three rows up for throwing a flag on the ice.

Third Period 10:10 10 minutes to go, 448 comments. Uh-oh, phone call from my boss.
I’m not answering.

Third Period 10:31 Sundin looks dangerous on every shift.

Third Period 12:06 The ones scored from behind, under thhe net don’t count.

Third Period 13:52 How is that ccross-check from behind on Kostopoulos NOT a penalty?

Third Period 15:30 Ryder on the fourth line. Kostopoulos on the first.
And what a glove save by Huet.
I take it all back.

Third Period 16:30 Should Pleks have maybe dished off on that 2-on-1?

Third Period 18:39 Too many men.

Third Period 20:00 Well, this should be some fun.

• • •

Brisebois and Mark Streit have four shots each.
Jason Blake has six.

Comment on the second Toronto goal: “That’s what Dandenault gets for backchecking. You wouldn’t catch Kovalev doing that.”

• • •

This just in, via e-mail:
Dear Mike:
I am 8 years old. I have been following your blog, here in the hospital.
Doctors say I will make a full recovery if you reach 600 Comments, but I see you’re at 379 after two periods.
Do you think you’ll hit your target before I hhave to go to bed?
Your friend,
Timmy

Second Period 00:00 End of the period had Leafs surging. Shots are 24-24

Second Period 4:14 I think Pleks is in a bit of funk.

Second Period 6:08 Shots this period: 16-4 Toskala’s on fire.

Second Period 6:42 I haven’t much noticed him. Is that kid Tlusty, the one-man Toronto youth movement, any good?

Second Period 7:19 Leafs slow and ponderous? Not tonight. Real good game. End to end, great scoring chances.

Second Period 10:46 Toskala, on the other hand …

Second Period 12:08 Let me be the 500,000th to suggest it: Get Ryder off the first line.

Second Period 13:48 Let me be the fiirst to suggest it: Nov. 13, ACC: Carey Price.

Second Period 13:56 We’re stumped on how that went in.
2-2

Second Period 14:40 Close. Huet juggles a shot by Hal Gill.

Second Period 16:01 The thing about a derisive “VE-SA!” chant is it sounds like a middle-European “We suck!”

Second Period 16:41 Shots are now 12-12. That PP is something to behold.

Second Period 17:27 Sheldon Who? Higgins cashes the rebound of a Markov point blast.
2-1

Second Period 18:23 Latendresse hits the post annd Boyd Devereaux goes for a slash.

Second Period 19:21 Sundin for hooking.

Second Period 20:00 I’m sure Carbo unburdened himself of several words of one syllable … in both languages.

• • •

Unlike our beloved hockey team, bloggers were ready for this game.
258 Comments … and counting.
Looking good for 600 … but just in case, I’ve got Jerry Lewis to do a PSA late in the third period.

Chris Higgins had three of Canadiens’ seven shots.

Someone forgot to tell the Canadiens Saturday games start at 7:05.

The home team showed up late in the first period and Mike Komisarek brought the crowd back into the game with a seeing-eye shot from the blue line, after Tomas Kaberle bagged his 765th career goal against the Canadiens to open the scoring.

First Period 00:00 TOTAL domination by the Koivu line. Canadiens seem to have finally shown up for the game

First Period 1:59 No goal? Sequence is being reviewed. Net came off its moorings.
No goal.

First Period 3:14 Off some banging by the third line, Komisarek snakes one through a crowd.
1-1
Fifth SoG.
Komisarek’s first of the season.

First Period 5:28 Oscar for the best portrayal of Patrice Brisebois, circa 2001: Mark Streit. And MMichael Ryder is officially snakebit.

First Period 5:53 First PP.

First Period 6:52 21,273 … of whom 20,500 are getting more pissed off by the minute.

First Period 8:30 Which of thse teams played, lost and traveled last night?

First Period 11:00 It’s Atlanta redux. Shots are 10-1 (a Breezer 56-footer) for the team in white. Si la tendance se mantient, 60-6 on the game.

First Period 14:00 Why does Chad Kilger always look like the high first-round draftt choice he was against thhe Canadiens?

First Period 15:20 When Hal Gill pinches to pick off your Globbetrotters pass, you’re in trouble.

First Period 17:47 Worst start of a game this season? Gets my vote.

First Period 18:42 Weird one. Kaberle the Hab Killer takes a pass of the boards and beats Huet with one he should have stopped.
1-0

First Period 19:16 Dandenault for tripping.

• • •

Smolinski line – with Dandenault and Bégin instead of Kostitsyn – to start against Sundin, Blake and Ponikarovsky.

• • •

Canadiens.
Leafs.
Saturday night.
Salle comble.
One national anthem.
Hockey madness, a mari usque ad mare

Does it get any better than this?
No.

I’m so nervous I left my laptop’s power cord at home and will have to power share with my pal Dave Stubbs, the Energizer Buddy.

Hope the Canadiens are better prepared than Blog Boy.

WiFi isssues at the Bell Centre will make it hard for me to get to Comments during the game.
You’re on your own. kids.
No running with scissors.

• • •

Pre-game videos: Cristobal Huet and Yvan Cournoyer.

• • •

Competing chants of Go Habs/Leafs Go in the cheap(er) seats already.

• • •

Good 5-on-5 team?
Pavel Kubina and Nik Antropov are plus-9, Mats Sundin is plus-8, Matt Stajan is plus-7.
Saku Koivu tops the Canadiens at plus-6. Roman Hamrlik is plus-5.
Thank heaven for that PP.

• • •

Guys who watched the Leafs game on TV last night said the announced crowd of 16,00 in New Jersey’s new arena was a joke.
“Maybe 12,000,” said one pressbox sage. “I don’t know whhaat possessed them to build a hockey rink in Newark, where no white person has gone of his own volition since 1967. Maybe there’ve been a couple kidnappings …”

• • •

The Leafs and Carolina Hurricanes are the only teams that have shut out the Canadiens PP, which has scored in 10 of 12 games this season.

• • •
Francis Bouillon skatted this morning but didn’t try to shoot.
He was on CKAC this afternoon decrying the number of hits from behind we’ve seen this season, including the one Sergei Gonchar laid on him.

Let’s get ready to RUMBLE!

Now listen up:
I want 60 minutes of effort tonight. No lapses. Any let-up and you’ll be watching this blog from the bench.
Our goal: 600 Comments.
It’s do-able, if we all pull our weight … starting with me.
Of course, I have special incentive. If the Comment count starts to slip, I could be sent to the Hamilton Spectator … or taken out to the back 40 to be Old Yellered.

So let’s have a fun-filled evening, shall we?
And let’s hope the Leafs had a laugh-filled late night at Buona Notte after their flight got in from New Jersey.

It shouldn’t have come down to that … and the Canadiens knew it.

“We didn’t show up in the first two periods,” said Saku Koivu. “We were pretty lucky and very happy to get a point.
“We didn’t play anywhere near where we can – and where we have to.”

Coming off two wins on the road and four straight Ws, the Canadiens were flat for 40 minutes. Koivu characterized the team’s early play as “lazy … taking shortcuts, not getting the puck deep … not doing the things that made us successful early in the season.”

“We can all agree,” Koivu concluded, “we’re happy with a point.”

And Christopher Higgins was happy he wasn’t among the 21.273 paying customers at the Bell Centre … or the audience tuned to RDS and TSN.

“If I were watching this game on television,” Higgins said, “I’d have turned it off.”

Both Canadiens goals came on their league-leading power play.
Both Atlanta scores were at even strength.
So the Canadiens were a team minus-10 on the night.
No extra minuses, however, for Andrei Markov and, most egregiously, Josh Gorges, whose giveaways led to the Thrashers’ goals.

• • •

Giveaways: Atlanta 5, Canadiens 15.
Blocked shots: Atlanta 24, Canadiens 12

• • •

Ilya Kovalchuk played almost 24 minutes and had six shots in regulation time and the OT … not to mention the shootout winner.
What a horse!

• • •

And what a Hossa!
When they anounced Marian Hossa as the game’s second star,, all the media people – waiting for the elevator down to dressing room level, wondered why.
He had eight shots.

• • •

Kozlov stopped
Pleks stopped
Little scores on a nifty backhand
Koivu dekes and scores
Kovalchuk scores … rather easily, with a wrister
Kovalev stopped

• • •

Christopher Higgins scores on the power play to tie the game and the teams batttle through OT and head for a shootout.

Carey Price must be getting used to these.

OT 00:00 ANOTHER shootout
Final shots: 33-33

OT 2:30 Wow! Chipchura in OT.

Third Period 00:00 Hossa on the short side .. Stopped.
OT

Third Period 1:27 D-zone faceoff.
CRAZY game.
Chipchura, Koivu, Kostopoulos.

Third Period 1:58 Chris Higgins scores on his 22nd shot of the game.

Third Period 2:10 Smolinski, Bégin, Kovy. Penalty to Atlanta.

Third Period 3:20 I think we’re going to find out how fast that big galoot can skate to the bench for an extra tttacker

Third Period 4:00 Latendresse, Pleks, Grabovski

Third Period 4:19 Canadiens’ 25th shot by Pelks … right at Hedberg … again.

Third Period 5:31 Chris Higgins is just snakebit.

Third Period 5:47 Another good set-up, and Higggins can’t score from in cllose.

Third Period 6:22 5-on-3. Nice set-up, but MMarkov shoots righ at Hedberg.

Third Period 7:30 Just pray Markov isn’t injured.

Third Period 7:52 Pleks line reunited.

Third Period 9:00 Dandenault, Grabovski, Smolinski

Third Period 10:00 The 18th shot was by Josh GGorges, and it travelled the length of the ice.

Third Period 10:47 Best part of the Canadiens tonight: the PK.

Third Period 12:00 17 shots, most of them harmless, in 48 minutes at home.
Weak.
Very weak.

Third Period 13:29 The rejigged lines are playing like they met in a bar half an hour before the game.

Third Period 13:48 Ryder, Chipchura, Latendresse.

Third Period 14:49 Price has made 24 saves. Atlanta is gettting chancces as Canadiens press.

Third Period 18:00 Here we go with the Carbo Show. Beegin with Pleks and Kovy. Then Smolinski, Kostopoulos and Grabovski. Then Higgins, Dandenault and Koivu.

Third Period 19:00Ryder! He’s killing me.

Third Period 20:00 Well, this should be fun.

• • •

Where do we wants Latendresse in the third period?
The pressbox.

• • •

Is Atlanta this good?
Was Bob Hartley that bad?
The Thrashers are winning the races for loose pucks. They’ve pounced on mistakes and turned them into goals.
They’re forcing the Canadiens to make poor passes and bad decisions.
The visitors are outhustling a team that has to hustle to win.
And it ain’t pretty.

I knew this game wouldn’t be easy.
But I didn’t suspect it would be this hard.

• • •

Second Period 00:00 I like Smolinski, but what was he doing on the power play?

Second Period 1:00 5-on-3 here. Canadiens are up to 12 shots.

Second Period 2:47 And even more brutal giveaway by Gorges, and Slava Kozlov makes it 2-1.
The crowd is not enjoying this.

Second Period 3:44 Brutal giveaway by Andrei Markov. Price had no chance on Eric Perrin
1-1

Second Period 4:02 Grabovski with Plekanec and Kovalev.

Second Period 5:52 Weird game. No rhythm. A bunch of white guys trying to dance.

Second Period 7:21 Signs of offensive life. Atlanta has to open up a bit to gget a goal. So we’ll see odd-man rushes.

Second Period 9:40 Another great PK Shots are 19-5

Second Period 11:40 Brisebois for delay of game.

Second Period 11:50 Kovy takes his sweet time teeing up and ..
1-0
On the Canadiens’ fourth shot of the game. Unassisted. His sixth.

Second Period 12:55 Obvious makeup call on Nilas Havelid

Second Period 13:25 Price makes his 17th save. Why do I think he’ll need a shutout to get a W tonnight?

Second Period 13:30 Price pounes on a puck in the crease, after four giveaways by his teammates. Shots are 16-3.

Second Period 15:00 PK’s been great.

Second Period 16:28 Third shot. Kyle Chipchura, shorthanded. Forces Hedbberg to make a ttough stop.

Second Period 17:12 Ryder get his stick up and sits for two.

Second Period 20:00 Fearless prediction: No free wings tonight.

• • •

First Period 0:00 Yahoo! An effective PK.

First Period 3:00 Second shot. A 100-footer. Crowd goes wild.

First Period 5:00 C’mon guys, do something. I’ve got a blog to write here.

First Period 5:58 They didn’t like Eric Boulton crowding Price … who has made eight saves.

First Period 6:31 First chant of “BORING!”

First Period 8:28: Canadiens have one SoG.

First Period 9:41 117 comments. Are we gonna hit 400 … against ATLANTA???!!!!
Keep your powder dry for Toronto on Saturday.

First Period 10:48 Gorges on the PK, takes a swipe at Darren Haydar for harassing Price.

First Period 12:11 Smolinski for a hit from behind. Colin Campbell is in the house.

First Period 12:30 Fashion note: I can’t read the names on the Atlanta unis.

First Period 12:38 Good puck movement on the PP but no chances.
Shots are 3-1 Atlanta.

First Period 14:52 First PP.

First Period 15:15 Good positioning by the kid, but that was a dangerous chance for Kovalchuk

First Period 16:30 Another great shift by the fourth line.

First Period 18:00 Komisarek stands strong on Kovalchuk.

First Period 20:00 Okay, roll up the carpet and let’s play hockey

• • •

Ceremony honouring 1,000-game guys, Scattered boos for Colin Campbell; big cheers for Henri Richard.
11 Stanley Cups, for crying out loud.
Honourees: Roman Hamrlik, Bryan Smolinski, Alex Kovalev
The Bell Centre LOVES Kovy … till the first bad pass.

• • •

At least two poppies tonight: mine and Charles-Prévost Linton’s

• • •

Grabovski in, Kostitsyn out. I must have been having acid flashbacks during the warmup.

• • •

Pre-game videos by a good guy and a Great Guy: Mathieu Dandenault and number 10.
Number 25 does the player intros.
Huge applause for Koivu.
Hey Guy Bertrand: why don’t you blow 21,273 hockey fans?

• • •

Don’t know what it means, but there’s a battalion of scouts here tonnight.

• • •

Brutal numbers on the Thrashers roster:
Steve McCarthy: minus-12
Jim Slater and Alexei Zhitnik: minus-7

• • •

I see Kostitsyn, not Grabovski, in the warmup.

• • •

Josh Gorges takes the place of injured Francis Bouillon and will play with Mark Streit. Patrice Brisebois will play his 800th NHL game, partnered with my man Roman Hamrlik.
Mikhail Grabovski will play LW on a line with Bryan Smolinski and Matheu Dandenault.
Andrei Kostitsyn is a healthy scratch.
Are the Canadiens in the process of screwing this kid up?

• • •

Johan Hedberg, who has never beaten the Canadiens and is 0-5 at the Bell Centre, will be in nets for Atlanta.
Kari Lehtonen is injured … and he sucks when he plays.
Hard to figure this guy as the second overall draft choice (behind the solid-gold Rick Nash) in 2002.

• • •

I expect many astute comments tonight, since the game is coast-to-coast (I think) on TSN.
Commentators are Gord Miller and Pierre McGuire, two good ones.

Wonder if Don Waddell will use Carey Price’s start as motivation for the Thrashers:
“This is what they think of us, a 20-year-old goalie … yada-yada-yada”

Dressing room oratory or not, Atlanta will be a challenge.
There are no gimmes in the league anymore – at least none for your Montreal Canadiens.
If the home team works hard and avoids penalties for 60 minutes, they can play competitive hockey against anyone in the league.

If the Canadiens let up … well, it just doesn’t bear thinking about.

Third Period 7:30 Just pray Markov isn’t injured. Good time for a great PP.
And 79 is out there.

Third Period 7:52 Pleks line reunited.

Third Period 9:00 Dandenault, Grabovski, Smolinski

Third Period 10:00 The 18th shot was by Josh GGorges, and it travelled the length of the ice.

Third Period 10:47 Best part of the Canadiens tonight: the PK.

Third Period 12:00 17 shots, most of them harmless, in 48 minutes at home.
Weak.
Very weak.

Third Period 13:29 The rejigged lines are playing like they met in a bar half an hour before the game.

Third Period 13:48 Ryder, Chipchura, Latendresse.

Third Period 14:49 Price has made 24 saves. Atlanta is gettting chancces as Canadiens press.

Third Period 18:00 Here we go with the Carbo Show. Beegin with Pleks and Kovy. Then Smolinski, Kostopoulos and Grabovski. Then Higgins, Dandenault and Koivu.

Third Period 19:00Ryder! He’s killing me.

Third Period 20:00 Well, this should be fun.

• • •

Where do we wants Latendresse in the third period?
The pressbox.

• • •

Is Atlanta this good?
Was Bob Hartley that bad?
The Thrashers are winning the races for loose pucks. They’ve pounced on mistakes and turned them into goals.
They’re forcing the Canadiens to make poor passes and bad decisions.
The visitors are outhustling a team that has to hustle to win.
And it ain’t pretty.

I knew this game wouldn’t be easy.
But I didn’t suspect it would be this hard.

• • •

Second Period 00:00 I like Smolinski, but what was he doing on the power play?

Second Period 1:00 5-on-3 here. Canadiens are up to 12 shots.

Second Period 2:47 And even more brutal giveaway by Gorges, and Slava Kozlov makes it 2-1.
The crowd is not enjoying this.

Second Period 3:44 Brutal giveaway by Andrei Markov. Price had no chance on Eric Perrin
1-1

Second Period 4:02 Grabovski with Plekanec and Kovalev.

Second Period 5:52 Weird game. No rhythm. A bunch of white guys trying to dance.

Second Period 7:21 Signs of offensive life. Atlanta has to open up a bit to gget a goal. So we’ll see odd-man rushes.

Second Period 9:40 Another great PK Shots are 19-5

Second Period 11:40 Brisebois for delay of game.

Second Period 11:50 Kovy takes his sweet time teeing up and ..
1-0
On the Canadiens’ fourth shot of the game. Unassisted. His sixth.

Second Period 12:55 Obvious makeup call on Nilas Havelid

Second Period 13:25 Price makes his 17th save. Why do I think he’ll need a shutout to get a W tonnight?

Second Period 13:30 Price pounes on a puck in the crease, after four giveaways by his teammates. Shots are 16-3.

Second Period 15:00 PK’s been great.

Second Period 16:28 Third shot. Kyle Chipchura, shorthanded. Forces Hedbberg to make a ttough stop.

Second Period 17:12 Ryder get his stick up and sits for two.

Second Period 20:00 Fearless prediction: No free wings tonight.

• • •

First Period 0:00 Yahoo! An effective PK.

First Period 3:00 Second shot. A 100-footer. Crowd goes wild.

First Period 5:00 C’mon guys, do something. I’ve got a blog to write here.

First Period 5:58 They didn’t like Eric Boulton crowding Price … who has made eight saves.

First Period 6:31 First chant of “BORING!”

First Period 8:28: Canadiens have one SoG.

First Period 9:41 117 comments. Are we gonna hit 400 … against ATLANTA???!!!!
Keep your powder dry for Toronto on Saturday.

First Period 10:48 Gorges on the PK, takes a swipe at Darren Haydar for harassing Price.

First Period 12:11 Smolinski for a hit from behind. Colin Campbell is in the house.

First Period 12:30 Fashion note: I can’t read the names on the Atlanta unis.

First Period 12:38 Good puck movement on the PP but no chances.
Shots are 3-1 Atlanta.

First Period 14:52 First PP.

First Period 15:15 Good positioning by the kid, but that was a dangerous chance for Kovalchuk

First Period 16:30 Another great shift by the fourth line.

First Period 18:00 Komisarek stands strong on Kovalchuk.

First Period 20:00 Okay, roll up the carpet and let’s play hockey

• • •

Ceremony honouring 1,000-game guys, Scattered boos for Colin Campbell; big cheers for Henri Richard.
11 Stanley Cups, for crying out loud.
Honourees: Roman Hamrlik, Bryan Smolinski, Alex Kovalev
The Bell Centre LOVES Kovy … till the first bad pass.

• • •

At least two poppies tonight: mine and Charles-Prévost Linton’s

• • •

Grabovski in, Kostitsyn out. I must have been having acid flashbacks during the warmup.

• • •

Pre-game videos by a good guy and a Great Guy: Mathieu Dandenault and number 10.
Number 25 does the player intros.
Huge applause for Koivu.
Hey Guy Bertrand: why don’t you blow 21,273 hockey fans?

• • •

Don’t know what it means, but there’s a battalion of scouts here tonnight.

• • •

Brutal numbers on the Thrashers roster:
Steve McCarthy: minus-12
Jim Slater and Alexei Zhitnik: minus-7

• • •

I see Kostitsyn, not Grabovski, in the warmup.

• • •

Josh Gorges takes the place of injured Francis Bouillon and will play with Mark Streit. Patrice Brisebois will play his 800th NHL game, partnered with my man Roman Hamrlik.
Mikhail Grabovski will play LW on a line with Bryan Smolinski and Matheu Dandenault.
Andrei Kostitsyn is a healthy scratch.
Are the Canadiens in the process of screwing this kid up?

• • •

Johan Hedberg, who has never beaten the Canadiens and is 0-5 at the Bell Centre, will be in nets for Atlanta.
Kari Lehtonen is injured … and he sucks when he plays.
Hard to figure this guy as the second overall draft choice (behind the solid-gold Rick Nash) in 2002.

• • •

I expect many astute comments tonight, since the game is coast-to-coast (I think) on TSN.
Commentators are Gord Miller and Pierre McGuire, two good ones.

Wonder if Don Waddell will use Carey Price’s start as motivation for the Thrashers:
“This is what they think of us, a 20-year-old goalie … yada-yada-yada”

Dressing room oratory or not, Atlanta will be a challenge.
There are no gimmes in the league anymore – at least none for your Montreal Canadiens.
If the home team works hard and avoids penalties for 60 minutes, they can play competitive hockey against anyone in the league.

If the Canadiens let up … well, it just doesn’t bear thinking about.

The Canadiens score five power-play goals en route to a 7-4 win over the Hurricanes.
Four teams in the NHL have fewer PP goals ON THE SEASON!!!!

Mark Streit called it “un match fou” – a crazy game.
That’s about right.

Carolina – which lost for the first time in regulation this season – made it mildly interesting in the third period, cutting the Canadiens’ lead to 6-4 before Mathieu Dandenault used his speed to catch up to a puck and bag an empty netter.
But this one was all over but the crying after 20 minutes, by which time the Canadiens led 5-1.

Tomas Plekanec had two goals and two assists.
Andrei Markov had three assists.
Streit had a goal and an assist.
Guillaume Latendresse had three assists.

12 different players got on the scoresheet.

On to Pittsburgh.

Sorry everybody. I managed to lose my third period blogging … again.

The last 20 minutes were fairly uneventful.
Canadiens eased up, which is inevitably when a team jumps out to an early and large lead.

Carolina came on, but it was – stand by for cliché – too little, too late.
(But not too little to make the Canadiens minus-6 on a game they won by three goals.)

Guy Carbonneau didn’t like his captain falling asleep on Carolina’s third goal. On the next shift, Kyle Chipchura centred Christopher Higgins and Michael Ryder. Koivu played a shift with Steve Bégin and Tom Kostopoulos.

Great work by the second and fourth lines.
Solid play by all six defencemen. They don’t give up the blueline, and unlike last season, they don’t panic.
The transition game is MUCH better.

Tomas Plekanec has rediscovered his form from the second half of last season.
If Alex Kovalev had playedhis first 999 NHL games the way he played his 1,000th, he’d be a lock for the Hall of Fame.
Mikhail Grabovski looks more comfortable in every game.
Bryan Smolinski plays textbook positional hockey.
Kyle Chipchura, Steve Bégin and Tom Kostopoulos play like they’ve been together five years.

Just because they were afraid P.J. Stock would lose interest, Carolina tried to goon it up.
It didn’t work.

A very satisfying win.

Third Period 20:00 Cheerleaders. How pathetic is that?

• • •

Benoit Brunet didn’t like Justin Williams jumping on non-combatant Mark Streit.

Rod Brind’Amour and Matt Cullen are 16-9 on faceoffs.

Roman Hamrlik has played 16 minutes, Andrei Markov 15:27

J.T. on the second period:
What a boring period…only two goals. Okay, yeah, I’m kidding.

Begin kills penalties like John Wayne killed bad guys.
• • •

Carolina had a 14-6 edge in shots during the second period.
Canadiens let the Hurricanes come to them a bit.
I guess it’s hard to keep pedal to the metal with a 5-1 lead.

Last time the Canadiens scored five PP goals in a game was in 1975 en route to a 12-3 rout of Chicago.

Second Period 20:00 TOMAS PLEKANEC!
6-2
I guess they must have imported the Bell Centre boards.
And how about Kovy taking a Mike Commodore check to make a pass?

Second Period 4:02 Justin Williams goons Streit and goes to sit.

Second Period 5:10 PENALTY SHOT!
Eric Staal
Goal.
Hold onto your hats.

Second Period 5:30 Just get out of the period without giving them a second goal.
Tis isn’t Toronto, right?
Right??????

Second Period 6:05 Haven’t seen that in a while. A fight wipes out a goal.

Second Period 6:40 Cristobal: DON’T HANDLE THE PUCK!!!!

Second Period 7:11 Easy PK. And Nokisarek is back.

Second Period 8:35 Big PK here. Can’t let Carolina back into this thing.

Second Period 9:30 Don Larsen redux. Tomas Plekanec is laying a perfect game.

Second Period 11:30 RDS quiz: Who gives the Canadiens the most troube, Martin Brodeur, Daniel Alfredsson or IErik Cole.
I say Brodeur.

Second Period 11:31 Almost halfway through the period, and the home team hasn’t roared back. Best chances to score have been by the Might Machine in white.

Second Period 14:00 Komisarek has gone for repairs, so it’s Breezer and Markov.

Second Period 15:00 Wonder what’s going through Andrei Kostitsyn’s mind.

Second Period 17:08 That will key their comeback. Matt Cullen cross-checks Komisarek in the mouth.
Idiot.

Second Period 20:00 Ward out (GAA has gone from 1.85 to 2.37). John Grahame in.
Four PP goals in a period ties a team record.

• • •

Carolina will come hard to start the second period.
Keep them off the scoreboard and this sucker’s over.

• • •
Canadiens play their best first period since … oh, about 1978 to take a 5-1 lead over the Carolina Hurricanes.

Kyle Chipchura who’s 5-1 on faceoffs) started the deluge, followed by Tomas Plekanec (who added two assists), Alex Kovalev (800th point of his career, in is 1,000th game), Saku Koivu and Mark Streit.

Four of the goals came on Canadiens power plays

Alex Kovalev is playing like his hair is on fire.
So’s Tomas Plekanec … and he has a buzz cut.
Christopher Higgins’ news stash may catch fire.
And Tom the Bomb Can’tstopoulos is going to burn down the RBC Arena.
Nine Canadiens on the scoresheet.

And I have to correct something I posted before the game began: Peter Laviolette doesn’t let his players fight … unless they’re being blown out of their own building.

J.T.’s notes on the first period:

Apparently, Cam Ward doesn’t like his dad much. Laviolette is wishing he could go to Gerber.

I want to see the moonwalk. Go Kovy!

First Period 1:24 If this were a fight, they’d stop it.
5-1.

First Period 1:54 Tic-tac-toe The Captain makes it 4-1

First Period 3:41 What a sequence. Michael Ryder makes a great pass to Higgins and Eric Staal takes a tripping penalty.

First Period 5:20 Houde and Pedneault are riffing on Montsre Mash being played on the PA. “Not White Christmas,” Houde says, “but a great song for Halloween.”

First Period 5:25 High-flying they may be, but the Hurricanes do not have a great defence corps.
Or is it just that the Canadiens’ forwards are channeling the 1990 Edmonton Oilers?

First Period 7:36 Break up this dynasty! Kovy’s 800th point is a one-timer off a pass from Andrei Markov … and a great, sprawling play by Plekanec.
3-1

First Period 9:39 Jeff Hamilton gets behind my man Roman Hamrlik and cashes an Eric Staal pass
2-1

First Period 11:20 What a machine! Mark Streit, takes a pass from Latendresse, smokes one from the right point, Plekanec jumps on the rebound and bangs it home.
2-1
Two goals on two shots

First Period 11:51 Chris Higgins wins a battle on the boards wth Justin Williams and Carolina takes a penalty.
First PP
Will this be Kovy’s 800th point?

First Period 14:07 Huet looks a tad shaky. Pedneault says he has trouble with pucks close to him.

First Period 15:10 Grabovski hauls down Kaberle in the offensive zone. Bad play.

First Period 16:42 Great shift by the fourth line. And Chipchura goes top corner, glove side on Ward.

First Period 19:18 Great chance early. Cam Ward stops a Tomas Plekanec backhand. Very nice feed by Guy!

• • •

Benoit Brunet says Canadiens are better prepared mentally for games this season.

• • •

Kovy wants to play until he’s 50 … which will jeopardize Guy Carbonneau’s chances of living until 60.
Kovy’s first NHL game: Oct. 12, 1992 – against the Hartford Whalers, who became the Carolina Hurricanes.

• • •

No Chantal Machabée tonight!
Quel dommage.

• • •

I didn’t know Pascal Leclaire played junior with the Montreal Rocket.

• • •

Devils finally move into their new Prudential Centre tomorrow … in beautiful Newark, N.J.
Danny Markov has signed with Dynamo Moscow.

• • •

Nice feature on the great Rod Brind’Amour.
First ballot Hall of Famer, guaranteed.

• • •

Yikes.
Zdeno Chara demolished Chicago’s David Koci. He’s on the DL with face injuries.
Why would any sane person fight that big galoot?
Let me rephrase that: Why would anyone fight?

• • •

Woo-hoo!
Attention Don Cherry Nation:
Fight clips after the commercial break … in HD on RDS.
Another reason why I like Carolina coach Peter Laviolette: he won’t let his guys fight.

• • •

Benoit Brunet says Michael Ryder shouldn’t be carrying the puck. It causes problems for his linemates.
Jacques Demers says it’s a “question of time” before Ryder starts scoring.
How much time?

• • •

What the difference with Alex Kovalev this season?
“Bob Gainey,” says Yvon Pedneault.
The GM has Kovy motivated.
Gainey has been busy this week: watching gamesin New York, Washington, back in NY and in Raleigh today.
Compiling a book, Pedneault says, on what’s going on in the league.

• • •

The great Jean Béliveau talks about pride in playing 1,000 games – a milestone he hit in 1969.
• • •

Hurricanes have their parents down in Carolina this weekend.

• • •

Hey, Higgy is growing a moustache!

• • •

“Big weekend for the Canadiens, Luc.”
Luc Gélinas nods sagely.
Christopher Higgins says the team “never got down to the source of the problem” that would explain difficulty in back-to-back games last season.
It’s only October, but the Canadiens will play their second and final regular-season games in Carolina and Pittsburgh tonight and tomorrow.

Weird schedule.
The Canadiens play the Leafs and Sabres three times each in November. Next month
shapes up as crucial: 11 of the Canadiens’ 14 November games are against Northeast Division opponents.

• • •

These games are the first of 10 back-to-back sets the Canadiens will play this season.
There were 15 in 2006-’07 – and the Canadiens were swept five times, scored one sweep and split 10 back-to-backers.
They were 4-11 in first games, 6-9 in seconds.
The Canadiens will play back to back games against Tampa Bay and Florida Dec. 27-28 and and not again until Feb. 12-13 (another double in the Sunshine state).
During crunch time, there are two sets: Feb. 29-March 1 (at Buffalo, home to New Jeresy) and March 28-29 (at Buffalo and Toronto).
• • •

La Presse’s François Gagnon on Alex Kovalev’s milestone 1,000th game tonight:
“At the risk of drawing the ire of big Kovi’s defenders, Alex Kovalev has the reputation of playing one game out of three, which means tonight’s he’ll be playing the 334th game of his NHL career. Some say he plays one in four … others one in five, but I’m in a good mood today.”

And a happy owner. George Gillett popped into congratulate his employees.

I still can’t believe a team that has the devil’s own time scoring managed to pot six on 20 shots. Is this how the Soviet national team used to win games.

J.T.’s final comments:
FINALLY! I’d forgotten what it was like to not sweat through the last three minutes of a Habs game.

Biggest smile: Me. My early-morning colleague is a B’s fan.

Third Period 0:57 Savard goes for a slash. Jerk.

Third Period 2:26 Scrum in the creasse in a 6-1 game. Rdiculous

Third Period 6:05 Ference squares off with Grabovski. What a tough guy!

Third Period 7:21 Break up this dynasty! Andrei Markov makes it 6-1.
Manny Being Manny has a glittering .667 save percentage.

Third Period 8:56 Another PP And Grabovski makes a nice pass. Kostitsyn could be eating hot dogs for a while

Third Period 9:45 In the time I’ve been blogging this is the most highlight reel goals I’ve seen the Canadiens score.

Third Period 10:26 Just one beauty after another. Mathieu Dandenault beats Chara (who’s about minus-10 tonight) and sends Smolinski away to feed Grabovski for the first of his career.
5-1.

Third Period 12:00 Milan Lucic outmuscles Breezer and dings one off the post. That kkid can play.

Third Period 13:19 Alone in the slot, Dennis Widemann makes it 4-1 on the PP.

Third Period 14:42 Mark Streit for holding. If the Bruins don’t score here, they’re done.

Third Period 16:24 The Bruins haven’t scored at the Bell Centre for 10 months.

Third Period 18:15 Man, that was prettty. Tic-tac-toe, and Breezer makes it 4-0. Another PP goal. An assist for Kovy.

Fearless prediction for the third period: If it goes to 4-0, stand by for a goon show.

Chara has played 16:59 – 10 seconds more than Markov (who will erase the deficit while the big guy sits in the box to start the third period).

J.T.’s notes on the second period:
Okay, maybe Kostopoulos’ hands are a more malleable stone than originally thought. Maybe a nice soapstone.

The Bruins have 22 shots on Cristobal Huet. He’s stopped them all.
Manny Fernandez has been beaten on three of the Canadiens’ 14 shots.
There’s your game story, right there.

The Canadiens have – stand by for sports cliché – made the most of their opportunities.
The Higgins and Bégin goals travelled a total of three feet. Kovalev’s was from the faceoff circle.
The Bs have done some buzzing, but Huet is hot – as is his new best friend, Roman Hamrlik.
The new sheriff in town plays the headiest D we’ve seen in these parts for a long time.
Hamrlik doesn’t have Andrei Markov’s speed. But he reads the play superbly, is never out of position and makes intelligent passes.
Best acquisition of the Bob Gainey era.
• • •

Second Period 0:11 Chara goons Komisarek and goes to sit.

Second Period 2:12 Goal of the year! Kostopoulos zooms past Chara for loose puck, wheels around sprawling Aaron Ward, feeds Bégin
3-0

Second Period 3:19 Not a great icing. End of shift for Koivu line.

Second Period 4:49 Latendresse outmuscles Ference in the corner. He’s much better on thhe second line.

Second Period 5:25 Shots are 10-2 Boston this period. Huet’s been brilliant.

Second Period 5:25 Another Breezer moment, backing in with the puck at his feet. He ain’t great tonight.

Second Period 8:02 I guess you call that a good penalty. Francis Bouillon hauled down Marco Sturm, in alone.

Second Period 9:40 Markov played a shift with Streit.

Second Period 10:09 Huet has made 15 saves, Fernandez eight.

Second Period 10:29 That’s hockey: Hamrlik and Komisarek cllean Bruins out of the front of the net.

Second Period 13:32 The value of winning faceoffs. Pleks to Kovy
2-1

Second Period 13:33 A great Higgins shhift … again. I wish Ryder were more of help to him.

Second Period 15:08 Hamrlik foils a Bruins rush. The crowd is starting to notice this season’s 44 can play

Second Period 17:00 Why does the first PP out of a break – even a two-man advantage – always suck?

Second Period 19:10 Man, that was dumb. Marco Sturm for cross-chhecking.

• • •

J.T.’s incisive notes on the first period (I’ll save you scrolling down the comments):
Dandy beats icings the way a fat kid makes it to the last hot dog.

Grabovski needs to get his first goal very soon. I can’t help but feel he’s on borrowed time.

Canadiens play well after a jittery start. Bruins had six of their nine shots in the first 11 minutes, the Canadiens six of their eight thereafter.

The most egregious error of the period was a Patrice Brisbois pass right onto the stick of Glen Metropolit.

Canadiens are 4-9 on faceoffs.
Patrice Bergeron is 5-2.
But one of Saku Koivu’s two wining draws produced the game’s only goal.

First Period 0:15 Chuck Kobasew takes a late interference penalty.

First Period 3:00 A lonely cry from the cheap(er) seats: “Kostopoulos!” Magic Tom had lain a pretty good hit on Dennis Wideman.

First Period 6:33 Brilliant. Steve Bégin hustles Marc Savard into an idiotic penalty on the Bruins PP

First Period 7:46 Koivu wins the draw back to Komisarek, Fernandez stops the shot and Higgins is there for an opportunistic tap in.
1-0

First Period 9:00 Shots are 6-2. But Latendresse just flattened Andrew Ference to get one of the few cheers of thhe evening.
These aren’t the slowpoke Bruins of yesteryear. Julien has them playing an aggressive forechecking and tight defensive style. Canadiens won’t see many odd man rushes tonight. Boston has had a few already.

First Period 10:48 Huet saves a goal … and Breezer’s ass. A perfect pass from Brisebois to Glen Mtropolit. JT is laughing

First Period 12:35 Nice stretch pass, Bouillon to Higgins.

First Period 13:30 Roman Hamrlik and Patrice Brisebois are in total control when they’re out there. No panic. Great zone clearances. A joy to watch.

First Period 16:30 A good shift by the third line.

First Period 18:33 Bruins have the first three shots.

First Period 20:00 Introduction of Lucian Bute. The joint goes wild.
Wonder if he could take Lucic.

OK, that’s enough happiness for the great city of Boston.

Tonight at the Bell Centre, the Canadiens will try to dampen the irrational exuberance that reigns in the Hub (has anyone called Boston that since Dick Young died?)

Ominous note: Claude Julien is undefeated against his former employers. His New Jersey Devils beat the Canadiens four times last season.

Hopeful note: The Bruins have not scored at the Bell Centre since 19:09 of the third period on Dec. 12, 2006. They lost that game 4-3 and were subsequently shut out twice by Jaroslav Halak.

• • •

Henri Richard in the pre-game Heritage video.
Tonight’s “This is my team” narrator is Mike Komisarek. Ends with “La ville est hockey …”

• • •

Bruins are letting Manny be Manny.
Fernandez gets the start in goal tonight.

• • •

Mark Streit is minus-5.
Boston’s Phil Kessel is minus-4. Chuck Kobasew tops Boston at plus-5.

Kobasew, Patrice Bergeron, Kessel and Marco Sturm have three goals each.
Alex Kovalev is the only Canadien who’s scored three times. Saku Koivu, Christopher Higgins and Andrei Markov have two.

• • •

RDS ran a video feature called “On aime les detester” featuring the five Bruins Canadiens fans most love to hate (or love to hate most … or something)
Anyhow,
5. Ken Linseman
4. Hal Laycoe (clocks the Rocket and starts the sequence of events that ends in the Richard Riot)
3. Terry O’Reilly
2. Stan Jonathan (but the video cuts off before the little guy decks Pierre Bouchard); and
1. Don Cherry.

• • •

Guy Carbonneau stands pat with the lineup that beat Buffalo.
Forward lines: Christopher Higgins/Saku Koivu/Michael Ryder, Guillaume Latendresse/Tomas Plekanec/Alex Kovalev, Mikhail Grabovski/Bryan Smolinski/Mathieu Dandenault, Steve Bégin/Kyle Chipchura/Tom Kostopoulos
Defence pairings: Andrei Markov/Mike Komisarek, Roman Hamrlik/Patrice Brisebois, Francis Bouillon/Mark Streit
Goal: Cristobal Huet
Healthy scratches: Andrei Kostitsyn, Josh Gorges

• • •

Michael Farber of Sports Illustrated has written a customarily excellent piece on five NHL people flying under the radar.
Canadiens Director of Player Personnel is Farber’s number 5.

• • •

The Bruins have informed the Vancouver Giants that their captain won’t be back in the Western Hockey League this season.
Milan Lucic, 19, is staying with the big club. A second-round Boston draft choice (50th overall) in 2006, the 6-4, 220-pound LW has played seven games for the Bruins.
On the team’s west-coast trip, Lucic recorded a Gordie Howe hat trick – a goal, an assist and a fight – against the L.A. Kings.
(The scrap was with Raitis Ivanans. Remember him? The kid gave as good as he got but did not fare as well as his teammate, Zdeno Chara, who broke Ivanans’ face in a fight two years ago.)
Lucic has 2 points and 17 PIM this season. He’s the kind of player they love in Boston.

And finally this season, a few bounces go their way.

The winner, for instance: a Roman Hamrlik shot that bounced off the glass behind Buffalo goaltender Ryan Miller and then ricocheted off a Sabres defenceman who was trying to tie up Christopher Higgins, then off Miller and in.
The goal, initially credited to Higgins, was Hamrik’s

“Not a very nice goal,” Hamrlik conceded. “But you know what? I’m going to take it.
“We won. We have two points. That’s all that matters.”
Hamrlik played almost 26 minutes, had two assists and was the game’s first star.
Higgins’ got a goal – an empty-netter that put this one away and allowed the With the win, Canadiens to leapfrog Buffalo in the Northeast Division standings.

Red Sox are leading 10-1 in the third inning.
Dice-K tomorrow.

And I’m off to Hurley’s to hoist a few with Habs I/O Summiteers.

Thanks everyone for 195 comments.
You rock!

Third Period 24.9 Chris Higgins ices it on a 70-footer into an empty net.
4-2

Third Period 1:27 Kostopoulos makes a big shot block

Third Period 2:12 Huet fails to clear and chaos ensues.

Third Period 2:47 Pleks, Dandy, Hamrlik, Bouillon

Third Period 3:16 Here we go. Kovalev for hooking. And Lindy Ruff calls timeout.

Third Period 4:07 Line changes and no penalties will be crucial here. Will Carbo shorten the bench?

Third Period 5:18 Anxious moments for Grabovski line.

Third Period 12:46 Still a PP for 1:06. But the goal is being reviewed.
It was in off Miller, so what’s the problem?

Third Period 7:22 Another rebound off the boards, and Chris Higgins is right there.
3-2

Third Period 8:16 Two-man advantage for 1:04. This is where they HAVE to put them away.

Third Period 9:04 Stafford goes for ooffensiive-zone high-sticking.

Third Period 10:08 Hamrlik for tripping. His first penalty of the season.
This will be tense.

Third Period 12:00 Buffalo sends a three-man forecheck that gives the Canadiens all kinds of trouble.

Third Period 12:46 The Sabres skate faster than I can blog. Bring on the Leafs.

Third Period 15:10 Chris Higgins comes close … again. He should have six this season.

Third Period 17:00 Markov has made more mistakes tonight than he made last season.

Third Period 19:00 Next goal wins it … maybe.

• • •

Mike Komisarek has five hits and the Canadiens have a 27-10 advantage.

Bryan Smolinski has four shots, four hits and has won four faceoffs (44%).

• • •

J.D. Drew: grand slam
Woo hoo!
I’m a huge Red Sox fan.

• • •

Francis Bouillon, Mark Streit and the Koivu lline are -2 tonight.

• • •

This is turning into an interesting game. It’s the toughest test the Canadiens defence has had this season, because Buffalo is a buzzsaw.

Should be a lively thrird period.
Will the Sabres, who played last night, have their legs.

Second Period 1:51 Sabres imitate the Canadiens’ PP. Passing on the perimeter, then a shot right on Huet.

Second Period 4:40 Afinogenov for roughing. And a frustrating PP with too mmuch passing.

Second Period 5:18 And Breezer gets four minutes for HS. But there’s a makeup call on Buffalo.

Second Period 5:18 Best end to end sequence of the season. The Buffalo shot looked in from up here.
Commercial break, and they’re reviewing it.
Off the crossbar.

Second Period 7:21 Andrei Markov is having an unusual number of brain cramps.

Second Period 7:34 Brutal PP.

Second Period 9:28 Another PP. And the crowd is alive.

Second Period 9:50 I can’t take 38 more Bell Centre car races. So idiotic and noisy.

Second Period 10:00 Sabres REALLY pass the puck well. And they’re in constant movement in the offensive zone. Even without Brière and Drury, they have a great system going.

Second Period 12:50 First shot, first goal.
Chipchura’s first of his career
2-2

Second Period 14:20 All the energy has been sucked out of a very large building.
Through six minutes, the Canadiens don’t have a shot … or anything that looked like one.

Second Period 15:39 Derek Roy pounces on a giveaway for his fifth of the season.
2-1.
Three shots, two goals for Buffalo

Second Period 15:48Paul Gaustad redirects a Tim Connolly shot past Huet’s right pad.
1-1

Second Period 16:21 Lindy Ruff POed about something.

Second Period 16:25 Second Buffalo PP

Second Period 16:44 Great backcheck by Dandy. No shots yet.

Second Period 18:39 Live from the neutral zone: It’s Saturday Night!

• • •

My favourite new guy, Roman Hamrlik, played 9:31 of the first 20 minutes.
Mike Komisarek played 8:13 and Alex Kovalev 7:50.
Canadiens outshot the Sabres 12-t and outhit the visitors 14-6

• • •

First Period 02:00 A Tom Kostopoulos breakaway!
He didn’t score, but all is forgiven.

First Period 06:09 Cristobal: DON’T HANDLE THE #$%^ing PUCK!

First Period 9:46 Pleks hustles another penalty but takes one himself, crashing Miller on the continuation.

First Period 10:40 Steve Bégin loses his stick, gets one off the
bench and hustles back to block a shot.

First Period 11:49 Koivu gets stripped on the PP and takes a tripping penalty. This used to happen a lot last season.

First Period 14:27 Everyone is hustling. Dandenault raced down to prevennt an icing.

First Period 16:45 Smolinski-Grabovski (who got his first point of the season)-Dandenault
Chipchura-Bégin-Kostopoulos

First Period 17:26 Bing-bang-boom. Rebound off the boards and Bryan Smolinski smacks it home. PP
1-0

First Period 19:20 Plekanec hustle produces a Tllender penalty

First Period 20:00 Standing O for the King Clancy Trophy winner, Saku Koivu.

First Period 20:00 Kovalev, Latendresse and Plekanec to start.

• • •

Kostitsyn a healthy scratch.
Hmmmmm …

• • •

Pinch-hitting for his unilingual captain, Francis Bouillon does “Voici mon équipe …” on the big screen

• • •

Players are wearing Hockey Fights Cancer decals on their helmets.

• • •

Nice video segments with Francis Bouillon and Dickie Moore on what it means to play for your Montreal Canadiens.

• • •

Ryan Miller starts. He played last night also.

• • •

The game tonight is dedicated to people fighting the good fight against cancer.
There will be a pre-game ceremony featuring Saku Koivu.

• • •

I wish Tomas Plekanec would go back to wearing number 35.
14 has too much negative Rejean Houle karma.

* * *

Saku is in uniform.
Chantal Machabée is interviewing him at the Canadiens’ bench.

• • •

Is George Gillett in for a double?
Liverpool edged Everton 2-1 to win the Tyneside Derby today.

• • •

Two words you don’t like to read in the same sentence: “Canadiens” and “flu”.
So how about these five words to strike terror into your heart:
Saku Koivu has the flu.

Or maybe he doesn’t.
It might just be a bad cold that kept the captain, off to a spectacular start this season, away from the team’s morning skate.
Whether Koivu plays or not will be game time decision. If he can’t go, Tomas Plekanec will move up to the top line, with Christopher Higgins and Michael Ryder. The “(Belo) Russian line of Mikhail Grabovski, Alec Kovalev and Andrei Kostitsyn would remain intact, with Bryan Smolinski centreing the third line and Kyle Chipchura dressed to centre the checkking unit.

• • •

Hockey is a funny game.
The Sabres totalled 95 shots in wins over Washington and Toronto then managed just 21 in a shutout loss to Columbus – in Buffalo! – last night.

• • •

Should be a good one with the Sabres at the Bell Centre tonight.

Buffalo plays an up-tempo skating game … as does the home team.
Both clubs could use a win. They each have six points and are bringing up the rear in the Northeast Division.

Tonight’s live blog may be lacking a crucial element: fan commentary.

The first annual Habs Inside/Out Fan Summit is happening today, and many of my most faithful correspondents – including Jay in PA, JT, Yeats, Jim M, Nailah Jinnah, Pleks-Andrew – are in town for the festivities and attending the game.
With all my most reliable posters in the Bell Centre and away from their computers, the over/under on Comments is 50.

Christobal Huet stopped 24 of 25 but was beaten by Jozef Stumpel on Florida’s third shot of the shootout.
And the Canadiens get one point when they deserved two.

“We did a great job in terms of putting in a 60-minute effort,” said Alex Kovalev, who scored the Canadiens only goal but was stopped by Vokoun in the shootout.
“I think of the five games we’ve played, this was our best,” Kovalev added. “We’re playing prettty good. The chances will be there if we keep playing this way.”

And these things even out. Down the road, the Canadiens will be outplayed and steal a W.

The Shootout Higgins (Miss), Koivu (Miss), Kovalev (Miss)
Peltonen (Miss), Horton (Miss), Stumpel (GOAL, backhand)

• • •

Oh yeah.

First shootout of the season?

Slick passing: Breezer to Smolinski to Higggins.
But no goal.

OT Mike Komisarek, this is nnot your night.

Third Period 0:10 Ahh, you just knew it. All that heroism and Horton pops one.
1-1

Third Period 2:14 Komisarek giveaway. Komisarek penalty.

Third Period 5:21 Third line gets another shift. Carbo is brave.

Third Period 6:29 Too many icings. Playing with fire here.

Third Period 6:54 Great backcheck, Michael Ryder.

Third Period 07:35 Ouf! A mad scramble in the goal mouth, but the puck stays out.

Third Period 10:00 I’m surprised Grabovski is on in a one-goal game.

Third Period 11:13 Shots are 30-14. This one should be over.
It’s not.

Third Period 13:24 Kostitsyn looking more at ease on the PP.

Third Period 14:10 Andrei Markov blocks a shot! Woo-hoo!

Third Period 15:19 Florida is coming on a bit here. Canadiens could really use a second goal.

Third Period 18:16 That’s a new one. Grabovski misses a hurry-up faceoff.

Third Period 19:00 Manny passes to phantoms in the slot.

Third Period 20:00 This is agonizing. One flukey crap goal and this sucker is tied up.

• • •

It’s early in the season, but Canadiens’ defence corps is a MAJOR upgrade on last year’s group.
The new number 44 is not a human turnstile.
Mike Komisarek is more experienced.
Francis Bouillon is healthy.
Patrice Brisebois is reborn.
Mark Streit is playing hhis favoured position.
And Andrei Markov is Andrei Markov.

Dump-ins and aggressive forechecking, which destroyed the Canadiens last season, is being handled with aplomb.
No one (least of all Roman Hamrlik) panics.
The forwards get back to help.
Result: Zone clearances are quick and efficient.

Andrei KKostitsyn has four shots.
Mark Streit, uncharacteristically, has three giveaways.
Kyle Chipchura, who didn’t win a faceoff against Carolina, is 4-3 tonight.

Second Period 0:36 13 shots, but Huet has had to be alert.

Second Period 3:07 First square-off of the season. And Tom Kostopoulos manages to fling Noah Welch down and land one.

Second Period 3:35 Bryan Smolinski makes very smart plays. An excellent pick-up, Bob.

Second Period 8:28 24 shots … one goal. This should be 4-0.

Second Period 10:00 Shots are 21-9 … but just the one steenking goal.

Second Period 10:21 Grabovski just passed to himself. Man, the little guy is exciting.

Second Period 11:40 Off a Brisebois giveaway, Huet stones Nathan Horton on the backhand. Wow!

Second Period 13:09 Commercial break. Are the Canadiens tis good, or is Florida awful?

Second Period 13:49 Good old Zee. Two for slashing .. on the PP.

Second Period 14:29 I don’t get that call. Dandenault for hooking? Invisible to the naked eye.

Second Period 16:26 Finally, a Canadiens penalty. Richard Zednik on the PP for Florida

Second Period 18:06 Ineffectual PP, as they offtenn are at the beginning of a period.

• • •
Alex Kovalev taps in a Roman Hamrlik rebound to give Canadiens an early lead in a game they are totally dominating.

Contrary to the direst predictions (mine), the Canadiens have reacted to the benching of Steve Bégin and Guillaume Latendresse by playing perhaps their best 20 minutes of the season.

And this is why Guy Carbonneau is behind the bench and I’m in the pressbox.
Shots are 15-4, Canadiens
Faceoffs are 16-10 (Koivu and Plekanec are 12-4).

This is a Jacques Martin team?
The Florida writers say Bryan Allen (-7 this season) is playing the worst defence they’ve seen all season.

I like Smolinski on the second line.
And I REALLY like Roman Hamrlik and the Breezer.

First Period 00:00 Shots were 15-4. Score is only 1-0, because Vokoun has been hot.

First Period 0:44 What a flurry. Florida, particularly Bryan Allen, looks worse than Toronto’s.

First Period 3:38 Shots are 9-2. Panthers playing like morning skate was at Chez Paree.

First Period 4:35 Grabovski is playing like he wants to stay in the lineup.

First Period 4:56 I like Chipchura tonight.

First Period 7:22 Shots are 6-2. Less than spellbinding action here.
(Like I paid to get in.)

First Period 8:39 Slick pass from Kostitsyn to GGrabovski. Offside, but beautiful to watch.

First Period 10:32 No Canadiens penalties. That’s an improvement. And another PP.

First Period 12:17 The crowd loved that. Grabovski skated down a cleariing pass off the boards, broke in, pulled a spinerama and got off a backhand

First Period 12:51 Two icings for the first line.

First Period 13:24 First commercial break. Canadiens are playing with great jump, all four lines … but especially Koivu’s. He beat Jokinen on the game-opening faceoff and hasn’t slowed down.

First Period 14:07 Shots are 5-1 for the home side. A very good start.

First Period 14:55 GREAT set-up by Ryder, but the Captain mmisfires.

First Period 16:08 Garth Murray stumbles in the neutral zone and the grumbling begins.

First Period 17:07 \ Big rebound off a Roman Hamrlik shot, and Kovy is right there.
1-0

First Period 18:47 Kovalev hustles Mike Van Ryn nto a holding penalty. Smolinski on first wave of the PP

First Period 19:30 Quick change: Ryyder off for Kovalev.

• • •

Special guests: Patrick Carpentier and Guy Lafleur.

• • •

Canadiens taking their time coming out of the room. And no pre-game player videos.
Odd.

• • •

Florida D: Jay Bouwmeester, 6-4, 212; Noah Welch, 6-4, 218; Bryan Allen, 6-4 220.
Any volunteers for going to the net tonight, guys?

• • •
With Steve Bégin in the pressbox, how will your Montreal Canadiens fare against Florida tonight?

And how will your intrepid EEEEE-mailer fare?
I’ve been up since 6 and I have to watch a team coached by Jacques Martin.
Coffee, anyone?

And with two francophone players out of the lineup, Bert Raymond AND Réjean Tremblay have deigned to attend the game.
Humiliation, anyone?
In their last six games against Florida, the Canadiens have scored five goals.
Garth Murray will fix that.

• • •

Cristobal Huet is 2-2 against Florida, with a GAA of 1.14 and a save percentage of .961.

• • •

Christopher Higgins has two assists but no goals in six games lifetime against Florida.

• • •

Mr. October … NOT!
Guillaume Latendresse has yet to score a point in the first month of a hockey season. In 15 October games, Guy! Guy! Guy! is -8.

• • •

Olli Jokinen, one of my favourite non-Canadien NHL players, has never been in the playoffs through 646 games in the NHL.
The record is is 734, set by Guy Charron.
More surprisingly, Jokinen – who plays a take-no-prisoners physical game – has an iron-man streak of 298 games, dating back to Dec. 23, 2002.
Fearless prediction: Jokinen will pick up at least a point tonight to move ahead of Scott Mellanby and become the Panthers all-time leading scorer.

• • •

Tomas Vokoun has never beaten the team that drafted him in the ninth round in 1994.

• • •

In today’s La Presse, Matthias Brunet has a nice piece on Ryan McDonagh.
The authoritative Inside College Hockey has tabbed the Canadiens’ first-round draft choice as the most promiosing first-year defenceman in the U.S.
Brunet quotes Kevin Patrick, assistant coach at the University of Wisconsin, raving about McDonagh. In addition to praising his on-ice talent, Patrick lauds the kid’s maturity, willingness to learn and ease in expressing himself.
Sounds like Trevor Timmins found another first-round gem.

• • •

Here’s Toronto Star hockey writer Damien Cox on poor Bryan McCabe.

We don’t get any tropical storms at this latitude.
Good thing.
The Carolina Hurricanes came north and beat Toronto, Ottawa and the Canadiens.

Cristobal Huet stood on his head and stopped 35 of the 37 shots he faced, but his heroics went for naught as the Canadiens lost 3-1 and sent a sellout crowd home surly.
It was Carolina’s eighth straight win, regular season and playoffs, at the Bell Centre.

Why the dominance?

“It was our own fault,” said Christopher Higgins, whose first goal of the season was the only one the Canadiens could get past Cam Ward. “We got away from our game.”
Higgins thought the Canadiens tried to be too fancy in their neutral zone play.
“Carolina is a good team,” he said. “They eat those kinds of plays up and go on transition.
“We’re a lot better when we play simple and move the puck forward. We made too many cute plays.”

Patrice Brisebois, who got a warm reception from fickle Canadiens fans, offered a similar analysis.
“Too many fancy plays in the neutral zone,” Brisebois lamented. “That team is so quick. We should have done what they did, forecheck and go after loose pucks.”

Third Period 00:00 Chad Larose’s empty-netter made it 3-1.

Third Period 1:42 Wallin high-sticks Latendresse. No call.

Third Period 2:22 Kostopoulos, Latendresse and Smolinski

Third Period 3:26 I’m getting tired of blogging this: Great work by the first line.

Third Period 4:22 Shots are 37-22. Good scoring chances aren’t that cllose.

Third Period 5:21 Off a Kovy giveaway, Huet stones Scott Walker. L3eft leg extended, stick flying. He’s made 35 saves tonight, none better than that.

Third Period 7:15 I don’t like the line juggling. What’s Kostistyn going to do playing with Smolinski and Kostopoulos? And hhow can Latendresse keep up with Plekanec and Kovalev?

Third Period 8:30 Koivu beats Brind’Amour clean on a faceoff. They don’t even get a shot.

Third Period 8:39 If everyone on this team played as hard as Francis Bouillon …

Third Period 10:16 Another good catch: Tom Kostopoulos. Not exactly Maurice Richard from the blueline in, but GREAT work ethic.

Third Period 11:47 Roman Hamrlik NEVER panics. Real good acquisition.

Third Period 12:29 Shots this period are 6-1, but they’re all right at Ward.

Third Period 12:38 If it weren’t for the first line, there’d be no Canadiens offence tt all. This is troubling and has long-term implications.

Third Period 15:44 The PP is hopeless … and the crowd is not pleased.

Third Period 17:00 Looks like Carbo will go with three lines, two of them reconfigured

Third Period 18:20 Smolinski, Dandenault and Kostitsyn.

Third Period 19:32 Latendresse with Kovy and Pleks? Is this a message to Kostitsyn? Hope it’s not lost in translation.

Third Period 20:00 Can the Canadiens win ONE period tonight?

• • •

Rod Brind’Amour has five shots and is 15-7 on faceoffs.
Through two periods, Kyle Chipchura hasn’t won a faceoff.
The Canadiens have taken seven penalties, and the crowd can boo all they want, the parade to the box is an indication of the difficulty they’re having keeping up with the Hurricanes.
Cam Ward could have brought his iPod and a six-pack.

Second Period 0:33 Carolina’s 30th shot, by Matt Cullen beats Huet.
The Canadiens have 8.
2-1

Second Period 02:29 No way to treat a senior. Tom Kostopoulos flattens Glen Wesley. And his penalty gets the game first “Bull—t!” chant.

Second Period 04:00 Kovy put on a PK clinic. He’s smokin’ tonight.

Second Period 04:22 That five-forward Carolina PP is scary. All kinds of puck movement and good shots.

Second Period 5:41 How dull has this period been?
Wild applause for a Mathieu Dandenault forecheck.

Second Period 07:00 The first Breezer giveaway. Huet saves his butt.

Second Period 9:29 The car race.
Does anything suck more than the car race?
Oh yeah, the Wave.
The Wave sucks more than the car race. But it’s quieter

Second Period 10:21 “Has there been a faceoff tonight,” asks Carolina beat guy Luke DeCock, when Tomas Plekanec WASN’T thrown out of the faceoff circle?”
He’s 1 for 4 against Brind’Amour, 0 for 4 againstt the linesman.

Second Period 12:54 Kovy is just dominant on every shift. He and Plekanecs are MUCH more in sync this season.

Second Period 14:04 That’s a slash? By big, bad Christopher Higgins?
Weak.
I don’t think the Kiss Cam will feature Carbo and the refs.

Second Period 14:20 Another PP … dumb Matt Cullen cross-check in the O-zone.

Second Period 15:31 Cole tries to go wide on Bouillon.
Unh-unh.

Second Period 18:23 That’s the way to do it. Pressure yields PPs.

Second Period 19:20 Carolina’s defence, hardly the league’s best, keeps steering Canadiens forwards outside.
Gotta go to the net and bang these guys.

Second Period 20:00 Positive sign: Alex Kovalev looks VERY motivated. Great on a late-period PK.

• • •
Chris Higgins scored his first of the season during an early flurry in which his line was all over Carolina.
Play shifted to the other end of the rink thereafter.
The Canadiens took three penalties, the Hurricane pelted Cristobal Huet with 13 shots and Cory Stilllman tapped one in from the crease to tie the game.

Canadiens outhit Carolina 10-5.
Does that stat mean anything?
More significantly, faceoffs were 14-7 for the visitors.

Rod Brind’Amour is 10-4 on faceoffs. Koivu is 4-4, Tomas Plekanec 2-2, Bryan Smolinski 1-2, Kyle Chipchura 0-4.
The kid needs some quality time with Doug Jarvis.

News Flash: Montreal fans love Patrice Brisebois. Huge applause in the pre-game intros. Huger applause for some alert plays during the first period.
The test will come after the first giveaway.

First Period 00:00 Well, 1-1 isn’t bad,, considering the big Carolina edge in shots.
I’m totally bummed here after losing the pre-game ceremony plus the first 12 minutes off my blog.

What happens is I get automatically bumped off the Bell Centre WiFi, and in the process of signing back on the blog somehow reverts to an earlier (MUCH f—ing earlier) version.

I’ll figure out a way around it. In the meantime, apologies to everyonne reading.

First Period 02:15 Another penalty. To Koivu. Carbo is having words (of one syllable?) with ref Kelly Sutherland during the commercial break.

First Period 02:46 Shots are 13-4. Not good.

First Period 04:08 Nothing much Huet could do. That five-forward Carolina PP is a buzzsaw.
1-1

First Period 05:23 Huet strong on two Jeff Hamilton blasts. But Smolinskki, great on the PK, sits for hooking.

First Period 5:31 A bit of unpleasantness between Miike Komisarek and Rod Brind’Amour.

First Period 06:20 Erik Cole breaking around number 44.
Oh, it’s a new season.
Roman Hamrlik stays with him.

First Period 08:00 ANOTHER technical glitch at the Bell just wiped out the last hour of blogging.
I’ll try again from here on in.

Pre-game notes, freshly purloined from François Gagnon’s La Presse blog:
Tonight will be the Canadiens 90th home opener in the National Hockey League and the 10th since the team moved from the Forum to the Bell Centre.
The team’s record in home openers is 47 wins, 26 losses and 16 ties (including last year’s opener, which ended 2-2 affter regulation but was won 3-2 by Ottawa in a shootout).
The Canadiens’ home opener winnin percentage of .618 is good for fifth in the NHL, behind Colorado, Ottawa, New Jersey and Tampa Bay.

And Price – the Next One – is a 3-2 winner in his first NHL start.

“It was a lot of fun, the guys played great in front of me,” Price tells Renaud Lavoie of RDS.
Right … on both counts.
And he’s the coolest cuke since Georges Vézina.

So let’s get the goaltender controversy going:
Who starts Saturday night?

The answer, for me and a lot of fans has one syllable.

Jacques Demers says Scotty Bowman told him Carey Price is a can’t miss prospect.
And when Bowman talks, people – if they’re smart – listen.
There’s a coach, scout or usher in the NHL who doesn’t think Carey Price is going to be a star.

Men of the Match: Price, of course; Tomas Plekanec, Alex Kovalev, Roman Hamrlik (steady as a rock), Francis Bouillon, Saku Koivu, Christopher Higgins (four shots … and one has to go in eventually), Andrei Markov, Mark Streit, Mike Komisarek, Kyle Chipchura …
Oh, you know what?
The whole effing team.
What a win!

And how about five of a possible six points on the team’s season-launching road trip?

• • •

Third Period 00:27 Terrible icing by Smolinski

Third Period 00:43 Neutral zone faceoff. Fleury on the bench.

Third Period 01:35 First line, with Smolinski for Ryder, eats big minutes.

Third Period 03:00 HUGE saves by Price.

Third Period 05:11 Steelers coach Mike Tomlin in the crowd. RDS guys call him “Timlin”

Third Period 05:40 Whatever happens, this has been a heckuva start for Price. And the Canadiens have played great in front of him. This is what the team has to do every night.

Third Period 06:22 Smolinski with Pleks and Kovy. DEE-fence.

Third Period 07:41 Carbo is rolling four lines and throwing out short shifts.

Third Period 08:41 The fourth line has played a quietly effective game.

Third Period 10:33 Man, an insurance goal would do wonders for my blood pressure.

Third Period 11:45 How is that NOT a penalty on Roberts? He definitely got his stick up on Kostitsyn. First dirty hit of the game.

Third Period 14:00 Canadiens have 30 shots.

Third Period 15:00 The Koivu line has been just outstanding.

Third Period 16:12 Slick pass by Malkin to Talbot.
No chance for Price.
3-2
Now Pittsburgh will crank it up.

Third Period 17:09 No sooner do the RDS guys point out that Markov has four points in three games than he pots one from the faceoff circle.
3-1

Third Period 18:00 RDS guys point out what I’ve missed: Francis Bouillon has been great. They don’t think much of Gorges.

Third Period 18:40 Guy! Guy! Guy!, who’s been decent tonight, just had his first shot on goal of the season.

Third Period 19:30 Crosby hits the end boards and is shaken up.

Third Period 20:00 Will the Canadiens go into a defensive shell? That rarely works. Correction: with the Canadiens, it never works. Gotta hustle and get that third goal.

• • •

The mighty Columbus Blue Jackets have pumped three goals past David Aebischer.

• • •

Good game.
No cheap shots.
Lots of skating and skill.

• • •

Gut check time.
Pittsburgh scored first, after Crosby knocked Price down, and some teams would have folded.
This one didn’t. Tomas Plekanec and Alex Kovalev took charge, and the Canadiens are leading.

Benoit Brunet likes what he sees of Price. This is a galtender who has taken 40 minutes to show he belongs in the NHL.
He and Jacques Demers are less enamored of Gorges. Bad penalty on Crosby, jittery with the puck. I think they’re a bit hard on him.

• • •

Second Period 00:40 I should have shut up. Some puckhandling chaos nearly led to a Crosby goal.

Second Period 02:00 Price bails out Gorges, who was stripped by Sykora

Second Period 03:00 KOVY! From PLEKS! Fleury a bit weak.
2-1

Second Period 05:00 Man, can Price handle that biscuit or what! His ability to foil dump-ins makes a HUGE difference in the Canadiens clearing their zone. He’s played 35 minutes, and for me, the kid is Number One.

Second Period 06:53 TOMAS PLEKANEC!!! What a sequence of passing. I LOVE that guy.

Second Period 08:15 Finally, a Canadiens PP

Second Period 11:54 FIFTH Pittsburgh PP. Price loses his mask. Getting ugly here.

Second Period 12:52 Let the record show that Crosby flattened Price, creating the opening that turned into the first goal against in the kid’s NHL career.
Ryan Whitney
1-0

Second Period 13:25 Did Markov think he could get away with that shot on Crsoby?

Second Period 13:36 Play is opening up here, but still no goals. While I’m totally focused on Price, Fleury is making some good saves.

Second Period 15:20 Canadiens make the worst line change I’ve ever seen, but Price saves on Sydor.

Second Period 16:06 It’s official: Christopher Higgins is snakebit.

Second Period 16:42 Another Komisarek penalty. Third Pittsburgh PP. But Pleks hustles Ryan Whitney into a penalty.

Second Period 19:00 Both teams are playing Jacques Lemaire hockey. Ryan Malone backchecked Ryder to foil a break.

Second Period 20:00 I sense an early goal here.

• • •

Okay, it just looked like five saves.
It was four saves.
Whatever, Price stopped nine shots in 20 minutes. He’s a big galoot and gets a lot of net coverage, even on his knees.
The Canadiens had five shots, which is a reflection of the defensive game they’re playing in front of Price.
No Pittsburgh penalties, an indication of little offensive pressure by the Canadiens. The only line that threatened was Koivu’s.

Mark Streit played a solid period, as did the other defencemen. Breezer is not being missed.
Alex Kovalev had two giveaways. And Andrei Kostitsyn was invisible. So that line is a work in progress.
Chipchura played 3:34 and did not look out of place.
Gorges played 5:30 and seemed to find his rhythm as the period progressed.

First Period 00:40 Price must have made five saves in that sequence.

First Period 04:26 Good work on the PK. Canadiens are cranking it up several notches on D to protect Price. They’re getting back, contesting the neutral zone. Playing like a Jacques Lemaire team … and there are worse things in the world.

First Period 06:26 Mike Komisarek goes for a retaliation slash on Crosby

First Period 09:00 Something else Price does well: puckhandling. He jumped on a dump-in behind the net and made a very smart pass to Gorges, who made another smart pass to clear the zone.
0-0 through two commercial breaks.
I’m breathing a bit easier.

First Period 12:24 Price slides to his right to rob Gary Roberts. The kid is very active back there.
And Gorges coughs one up. No damage though.
First commercial break, and so far so goofd. But Crosby is just buzzing out there.

First Period 14:12 First Penguins PP.

First Period 15:00 No sign of Gorges.

First Period 16:25 Price wears a white mask with no decoration. What’s with that?

First Period 18:20 The Koivu lines looks great … again. Teerific start to the season.

First Period 19:07 Bing-bing. Price makes two big saves on Recchi.

• • •

Tomas Plekanec last season before January, centreing Alex Kovalev and Sergei Samsonov: 12 points
After January, playing without Boris and Natasha: 35 points

• • •

Benoit Brunet sings the praises of Kyle Chipchura and compares him to Sammy Pahlsson.
We wish.

• • •

Father Knows Best: Sidney Crosby and Jordan Staal live with Mario Lemieux and Mark Recchi, respectively.

• • •

Yvon Pedneault, on RDS, says starting Price is a good idea.
He points out that Price and Kyle Chipchura weren’t kept in Montreal to accumulate air miles.
No point saving Price for an easy game, Pedneault added, because there aren’t any. Too much parity in the NHL.
And he adds a historical note: Ken Dryden and Patrick Roy (22 years ago today; he was 20) both started their NHL careers against the Penguins in Pittsburgh.

And Pierre Houde adds a note: 12 first-round draft choices in uniform tonight.
That’s the way to build hockey teams.

• • •

Yay! A practice video clip of my man, Josh Gorges.

• • •

Not everyone thinks this is a great idea … and there’s reason to suspect Guy Carbonneau is among the skeptics.
For the life of me I can’t figure out why the coach has announced Cristobal Huet will start the home opener.
What if the kid shuts out the Kid and the rest of the Penguins?
Does Carbo come back with Huet on Saturday night, with 21,273 fans chanting CA-REY! CA-REY! CA-REY! after the first Carolina goal?

I get the feeling that the coach and general manager are not on the same page this season – which is troubling, because if the Canadiens miss the playoffs again the Bell Centre printers are going to be spitting out CVs.

I somehow reverted to my 40-minute saved version.

Anyhow, you’ve been reading all night. So you know what I’ve been thinking and writing.

This was a great team win. Captain K scored twice, including the winner in OT. The power play produced three goals, and the PK killed off seven penalties, including two two-man advantages.

Players I REALLY liked: The Captain, Cristobal Huet, Mark Streit, Patrice Brisebois, Roman Hamrlik, Markov and Komisarek, Tomas Plekanec, Tom Kostopoulos, the whole darn fourth line, Francis Bouillon.

And once the (Belo)Russians get rolling … lookout

Fortunately, my bungling didn’t affect the Comments section.

So if you want a full picture of what happened tonight, read the posts.

The season just couldn’t start any better.

On to TO.

My bungling blew out the third period and the OT.

Suffice it to say it was a heckuva win.
Everyone worked hard.

Do it 81 more times, guys.

Two good periods for the Canadiens.
Huet has been excellent.
Maybe it’s early-season optimism, but I think the Canadiens are playing better team defence. There’s still some running around in their zone, but the forwards are generally diligent in helping out.
I’m still waiting to see some sustained offence. The Koivu line has had its moments, but the (Belo)Russians are having trouble getting untracked. I would have thought they’d wreak havoc on a Carolina defence that includes 56-year-old Glen Wesley.
They have to get some pucks on Ward.
Brisebois has played more than 14 minutes and I agree with Jacques Demers: he’s been the best defenceman out there.

Second Period 00:00: Great. PP to start the third.

Second Period 00:30: Great work by the fourth line … especially Dandenault.

Second Period 02:42: As was the case early last season, Huet is saving their ass.

Second Period 06:00: Canadiens manage a bit of a flurry toward the end of the PP. But most of it was a mess. I don’t know what Latendresse was doing out there … a confusion he seemed to be sharing.

Second Period 07:14: Ugly PP.

Second Period 09:14: HS on Breezer. Four-minute PP.

Second Period 09:00: Seven penalties. Two 5-on-3s. And the game is still tied. Go figure.
The D is SO much better than last season (Thanks Roman … and Patrice. And the forwards are getting back.

Second Period 09:21: Good shift by Kostopoulos. Very hard worker. Likes to hit.

Second Period 12:12: Let’s see some offence, guys.

Second Period 13:03: Carolina has the best of the early going. The penalties are brutal, Plekanec was great in the 5-on-3, but they’re playing with fire.
And memo to the posters who have bashed Brisebois tonight:
SHUT THE ^%$# UP!
He’s playing well.

Second Period 15:39: I hate that rule, but the Canadiens have to stop breaking it. Seven penalties already. Sheesh!

Second Period 16:22: Bad shift by fourth line ends in a Smolinski penalty.

Second Period 18:03: Two terrible line changes. That will cost them if they don’t smarten up.
• • •

Hey, great period … and the Canadiens looked pretty good.
The five penalties were a problem. That’s something they have to work on. But there were many positive signs:
• Canadiens competed 5-on-5
• Patrice Brisebois played a very solid 7:32.
• Guy Carbonneau rolled four effective lines
• I didn’t notice Roman Hamrlik (until his interview just now) … and that’s good for a defenceman. He played 8:08.
• Bryan Smolinski is better than Radek Bonk
• Michael Ryder, starting his campaign for a big UFA contract, is very involved.
• Huet is a thoroughbred.

Reffing is brutal. They’re killing the flow of two skating teams.

My dogs aren’t used to hockey season. I’m getting wicked dirty looks here because they know they’re not being walked till 10 o’clock or so.

First Period 01:55: What have we come to when Kovalev can’t deke Mike Commodore. And another Carolina PP.

First Period 02:58: Great PK work. Huet saw all the shots.

First Period 03:53: Teerible call. Streit for … what? Breathing on Andrew Ladd. Terrible.

First Period 04:14: Eric Staal strips Komisarek, who promptly hooks him. Another scary PP.

First Period 06:59: Who needs Souray? Nice screening of Ward, and Streit pops one. 1-1

First Period 07:54: Finally, a Canadiens PP.

First Period 07:31: Carolina PP is just killing the Canadiens. No goals on that one, but constant pressure. Please, NO MORE LAZY, CRAPPY O-ZONE PENALTIES!

First Period 10:47: They’re reviewing a miraculous stick save by Huet. Shot didn’t look like it crossed the line.

First Period 10:47: End to end and I can’t type fast enough. ANOTHER offensive zone penalty. And Carbo is on Kerry Fraser. That’ll help … NOT!

First Period 13:49: Canadiens are getting chances. Skky man Ward is hot.

First Period 16:24: Did Huet see that? Might have been redirected. Whatever … 1-0

First Period 16:37: Huet doing his best Aebischer imitation, flopping like a flounder on a Carolina PP.

First Period 18:12: Great sequence. Christopher Higgins feeds Koivu for a shot right on. Carolina defence is in chaos. Can’t handle Canadiens’ speed.

First Period 19:06: Carolina unis look too busy.

First Period 19:49: Nice tie, Guy

• • •

Whoah! Saku ended his interview with Rénaud Lavoie by saying “Merci.” That’ll keep the jackals at bay … for a day or so.

• • •

Pierre Houde and Yvon Pedneault looking good in HD.
Nice threads, guys.
No goofy logos, like the HNIC schmucks wear.
• • •

Here we go, live and in High Definition:

HD personnel decision,
Highly Dubious.

One of the pleasant surprises of the exhibition season was the happy combination of Tomas Plekanec, Guillaume Latendresse and Bryan Smolinski.
A slick centre, a big forward, a heady veteran. Pleks and Gui play up and doig in the offensive zone, Smo hangs back to protect against breakouts.
Nice skills combination.
And as a bonus, the Canadiens were entering the season with THREE lines that could score.

Well, it’s Game Day. And tonight in Carolina, Plekanec will centre Latendresse and Tom Kostopoulos. Smolinski moves to the fourth line, between Steve Begin and Mathieu Dandenault.

Why?

As an insurance policy for Patrice Brisebois. Having played exactly one exhibition game, Breezer may have his problems tonight against the skating and aggressive forechecking of the Hurricanes. If he falters, Dandenault can move back to defence.

I’m bummed already.

George Gillett is looking to go .500 on the day.
Liverpool lost its Champions League game to Marseille 1-0. First French club to win at Anfield.

• • •

Jacques Demers, who always sees the glass as half-full, says Patrice Brisebois will help the Canadiens because he makes good first passes.
Benoit Brunet likes Mikhail Grabovski.

• • •

Will Huet’s head be in the game?
His wife is in the hospital with complications in her pregnancy?

• • •

There are 25 pounds less of Cam Ward than there were last year.

• • •

Dany Heatley: six-year extension with the Senators. $45 million.

• • •

Luke DeCock, Hurricane beat guy, says Canadiens will finish 14th.

And no local TV. Fans in Raleigh are getting the RDS feed … en français, par exemple.