Habulous!
I have to admit at the start of the season I was really worried about Cristobal Huet. He had all of the symptoms early on that would indicate he would be embracing a sophomore slump. The boys on the Face Off Hockey Show had a great debate about this with Lyle Richardson from Spector's Hockey. They discussed how often keepers that have amazing first years, or incredible runs during the post season fall flat. The list was long and distinguished.....
Cristobal Huet of the Montreal Canadiens at one point was in danger of losing his starting role to backup goalie David Aebischer, but over the past month has more than ensured he will be number one in Montreal. Last night's performance, was yet another notch in his goal stick as he turned aside 42 Buffalo Sabres shots in a dominant 5-2 victory over the Eastern Conference's best club. The Habs have been one of the few teams that have had an answer for Buffalo's speed, defense, and goaltending (Ottawa being the other), and after trading several tight games with the Sabres, the Canadiens unleashed the KRACKEN!
Christopher Higgins who recently returned to the Habs lineup, scored twice, and Kovaleve, Lapierre and Bouillon also added tallies for the Habs. The Habs trail only the Buffalo Sabres in the Northeast, and would be in second place overall in the Eastern Conference if they weren't in the same division as their rivals.
Quick Shave:
Big night for the HTC. Boston Bruins forward Marco Sturm scored three goals to secure his place in the NHL HTC and help his club defeat the Ottawa Senators 7-2 last night. Zdeno Chara returned to Ottawa for the first time since leaving as a UFA. New York Islanders forward Jason Blake added three goals of his own to lift his team past the New York Rangers for the second time in 2 weeks 5-2....and of course was greeted by the NHL HTC for his efforts. Last night was a goal fest! Three of the winners scored 7 goals (Boston Bruins, Florida Panthers, and Colorado Avalanche), three more scored 5 (Montreal Canadiens, Tampa Bay LIghtning, and Calgary Flames), and three more potted 4 (New York Islanders, St. Louis Blues...yes they finally won, and the Atlanta Thrashers). I guess the keepers took the night off....or the forwards were chugging espresso prior to the games.
Game of the Night:
Columbus at Detroit 7:30 PM
Nashville at Chicago 8:30 PM
Dallas at Anaheim 10:00 PM
The last one is obviously the big one, but all of the games on the Western Night look pretty fun to me. Look for Lindros to join the HTC with three against the Ducks tonight. Right! Enjoy the games my friends!
Your friend on ice,
Captain Bosh
Comments
Ooooh, I like the Lindros prediction. And at Anaheim, no less. That's a bold pick, sir.
Yeah, last night was kind of a crazy one. How can the Leafs beat the Rangers 9-2 and then turn around and lose to the Panthers 7-whatever? I mean, good God. I guess that's the price of parity as they say.
I can't speak for the other goalies in the league, but Marc Andre Fleury sure looked like he may have had a little too much eggnog at the Pens' Xmas party the night before last because he sure as crap was awful against the Blues. He didn't have much help in front of him, but the goals were soft and the first came only 44 seconds after dropping the puck. Not good. Malkin had a nice PP goal from a feed by Crosby, but other than that it was a stocking full of coal in Pittsburgh last night. And today could be worse or incredible, depending on if the slots license is announced as expected and if it goes to Isles of Capri. Cross your face follicles.
Not sure if you saw it, but Keith Jones said last night he thought the Habs would win the cup if the playoffs started today. They're definitely playing well - best PP unit in the league and a top three PK unit to go with that. Lethal combination in this league. Just still scratching my fantasy stache trying to figure out how Koivu could've been a -2 last night...
Very curious to see how Detroit rebounds tonight in the rematch against Columbus. Should be a good one to check in on.
Posted by: Stache | December 20, 2006 07:37 AM
Can't argue with Jones....although the Ducks and Sharks look really good too....they are smacking everyone around right now...all three teams have terrific goaltending.
Lindros is a shot in the dark.......a real shot in the dark.
As far as the Detroit / Blue Jackets matchup, I'm wary about starting my CBJ goalies tonight....I have a feeling they are gonna pay tonight.
Posted by: Captain Bosh | December 20, 2006 10:53 AM