Game 1: Canadiens 4 – Maple Leafs 3 (OT)
First of all, my apologies for the lack of updates during the game and the late recap! Live in-game updates start tonight via Twitter!
The Habs season opener left me with mixed emotions, to say the least. Back-and-forth goals lead to an overtime that saw Josh Gorges pot the winner following a strong push to the net by Mike Cammalleri but the boys were outshot 46-27, an ugly reminder of much of the second half of last season.
Awesome
Carey Price left fans worried over the summer following a terrible second-half of the season and a quick and ugly sweep from the playoffs. Much (but not all) of my concern was wiped away by Carey’s big performance against the Leafs as he stopped 43 of 46 shots sent his way, giving the team the opportunity to stay in it when it appeared the tide was turning.
Brian Gionta has quickly become my favorite acquisition of the off-season. After a strong camp, our little 5′7″ monster continued to be the most enjoyable player to watch on the ice against Toronto, potting the first goal of the game on another sweet Cammalleri pass.
Tomas Plekanec bore the brunt of the “soft Euro” argument used by many Habs fans after a weak 2008-2009 season but Pleky showed some real pluck in the season opener, finishing with a +1, 2 assists and 5 shots on goal.
Awful
Hal Gill. Is this guy really a professional hockey player? I’ve never seen a player so slow and and it his gaffe that lead directly to the first Leaf’s goal. We’ll see how he progresses over the next few games.
Andrei Markov is our for 3-4 months after having a tendon is his foot lacerated by the skate of Carey Price during a scramble in Price’s crease. Given the dramatic and dire predictions given by the pundits in the couple of days since the announcement, I’m not even going to get into it. Markov is arguably our best player but we have to remember that one player is still one player. Do we have the depth to cover the loss? I think so. We’ll miss him but we’ll get by.
Mike Komisarek spent 15 minutes in the penalty box for the Leafs after playing an ugly, dirty game – there appears to be more bad blood between Komi and his former teammates than I would have guessed. His repeated stays in the box lead to two Montreal goals, including the game-tier with four minutes left in the third period.
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The majority of the Canadiens team played another gutless game, leading to a 5-2 rout by the Maple Leafs and the fifth straight loss for the Habs. The few upsides:
Chris Higgins put two past Andrew Raycroft and Mark Streit added another as the Habs finished out their season with a 3-1 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs, putting them in the top spot in the Eastern Conference.
The Montreal Canadiens play host to the Toronto Maple Leafs in their final game of the 2007-08 regular season on Saturday (on CBC HNIC nationwide!). The Leafs are out of the playoffs and on a two-game losing streak while the Habs are in a must-win situation if they hope to continue to challenge the Pittsburgh Penguins for top spot in the Eastern Conference.
