Montreal @ Atlanta | Dec. 22 2007 | Final: 3-2 Atlanta (S/O)

[Guest HabsFanInPitt27]

VS

At Philips Arena - Atlanta, GA

Previous Game

Cristobal Huet played as if he hadn't missed a game.

Huet made 35 saves in his first outing since Dec. 1, helping the Montreal Canadiens beat the Washington Capitals 5-2 Thursday night.

Canadiens coach Guy Carbonneau was surprised that Huet was as sharp as he was after missing six games with a groin pull.

"I was anticipating he was going to get tired at the end of the game, but he didn't," Carbonneau said. "His focus was really good. He was around the puck. He made the difference."

Montreal won its first game of a season-high six-game road trip, and after looking at the stat sheet, Carbonneau could only shake his head.

"They outplayed us. They were better than us." Carbonneau said. "We were lucky to get the points. We got a few goals here and there, but we worked for our goals."

Two goals came from Guilliaume Latendresse, whom Carbonneau benched on Tuesday in Montreal's 3-2 loss to Florida.

"Nobody is happy when they're sat out for a game," Latendresse said. "My mind-set was in the right place."

Latendresse is just 20, and he's already missed four games this season - twice as many as he did in his rookie year.

"He has to play without the puck," Carbonneau said. "Sometimes guys decide to change their style, and that's never good for the team. I think tonight he came back with a good attitude."

Huet's return was rough at the start. He faced 14 shots in the first period and felt a little shaky.

"The first period was a difficult test for me to make sure I was into the game," Huet said.

Both Huet and Washington coach Bruce Boudreau were concerned.

"When we had a 10-1 shot advantage in the first period, I'm very worried. It happens all the time, the other team is going to come down, they're going to get one shot, and it's going to be in," Boudreau said.

Boudreau was right. He watched Latendresse score his first of the game, tapping in a pass from Saku Koivu at 18:15 of the first period - 13 seconds after Capitals defenseman Tom Poti went off for hooking.

Latendresse's second goal gave the Canadiens a 3-1 lead with 2:54 left in the second period. His slap shot from about 30 feet beat goalie Olie Kolzig.

The Canadiens took a 2-0 lead at 6:33 of the second period when Tomas Plekanec scored his 11th goal. He took a centering pass from Alex Kovalev and put a shot in off Kolzig's skate.

Nicklas Backstrom scored his sixth as the Capitals cut their deficit to 2-1 with a power-play tally at 9:10 of the second. Backstrom's rebound of Alex Ovechkin's slap shot from the blue line beat an out-of-position Huet. Ovechkin has 13 points, seven goals and six assists, in 10 games.

"Well, we lost, so what can I say? They played well on the power play and we made some mistakes and missed a couple of goals, and that was it," Ovechkin said.

The Canadiens took a 4-1 lead on Sergei Kostitsyn's first NHL goal, scored during a power play in his fourth game.

Alexander Semin's goal, his fourth of the season and second in two games at 10:08, made it 4-2.

Mark Streit closed the scoring with 1:21 left to give Montreal a 5-2 lead.

Goalies

Huet

VS

Lehtonen

[Guest HabsFanInPitt27]

Pics

[Guest HabsSince84]

GO HABS!

I like the road habs.. they don't get boo'd as much

[Guest rob2h]

GO HABS!

I like the road habs.. they don't get boo'd as much

Thats pretty sad isn't it?

[Guest HabsSince84]

haha, ya.

[Guest HabsFanStuckInToronto!]

Time to get another road win! With a back to back this weekend, we need at least one win and two would be fantasitic!

So let's get the weekend going on the right foot with a win. Same offense from the previous few games with a slightly tighter defense. Chips has to step up against Kovulchuk or Hossa and I think he will be able to handle it. Huet will get the call against Atlanta and Price against Dallas most likely.

[Guest Goodtown]

GO HABS GO

GO HABS GO

GO HABS GO

GO HABS GO

[Guest habs_fan1160]

Ohhh man do I ever dislike Kovulchuk, so I'm hoping we can hold him off the score sheet and win this game.

[Guest Goodtown]

GO HABS GO

GO HABS GO

GO HABS GO

GO HABS GO

[ColRouleBleu]

Ohhh man do I ever dislike Kovulchuk, so I'm hoping we can hold him off the score sheet and win this game.

why? because he scores goals as easily as he breathes and is not wearing the bleu-blanc-rouge?

I hope we keep him off the score sheet as well though... Markov & Komi, do your thing!

[Guest MDAS]

shut down kovalchuk,play solid d, and play for 60 minutes.

same as always

[Guest habs_fan1160]

why? because he scores goals as easily as he breathes and is not wearing the bleu-blanc-rouge?

I hope we keep him off the score sheet as well though... Markov & Komi, do your thing!

No that's not why. I don't like him because he's a dirty player, cheap shots and a world class diver...hard to respect players like that.

[Guest HabsSince84]

Ohhh man do I ever dislike Kovulchuk, so I'm hoping we can hold him off the score sheet and win this game.

Not going to happen. But we are going to win the gameI respect him, he is amazing.

why? because he scores goals as easily as he breathes and is not wearing the bleu-blanc-rouge? I hope we keep him off the score sheet as well though... Markov & Komi, do your thing!

We're going to need hamr too!

[Guest JL]

No that's not why. I don't like him because he's a dirty player, cheap shots and a world class diver...hard to respect players like that.

What? Where did that come from?

[Guest habs_fan1160]

When I think of Kovalchuk here's some things that come to mind:

When he slashed Chris Niel and received a fine - dirty play.

His kicking motion at Pred's Jordan Tootoo during the preseason, where he was fine, but not suspended.

Being suspended after THROWING his stick into the crowd in Washington after it broke on an attemped slap shot, he threw the stick handle over the glass - also classless and definately could have really hurt a kid.To me he's always been classless, arrogant and a very poor sport - hard to respect a player like that.

What? Where did that come from?

Read above.

[ColRouleBleu]

Not going to happen. But we are going to win the gameI respect him, he is amazing.We're going to need hamr too!

Obviously but the Hammer says he's glad that he will not have that assignment. According to La Presse, Markov and Komi will cover him for the whole game , as match ups permit I suspect.

Andreï Markov et Mike Komisarek seront sur la patinoire à chacune des présences de Kovalchuk. Ils ont joué le même rôle face aux Capitals, ayant limité Ovechkin à une passe et cinq lancers. Ovechkin a même terminé la soirée en affichant un différentiel de -3.

«Markov et Komo font tout un travail, dit Roman Hamrlik. Je suis content de ne pas avoir à affronter Kovalchuk. Ce gars-là est rapide, il est fort en plus d'avoir de très bonnes mains. Ovechkin est taillé dans le même moule mais en plus passionné encore.»

Source

[Guest GreekHockeyCoach]

Well, I'm driving back home for the holidays so I'll be in Montreal tomorrow night. Please don't throw anything at me when I say that I can't wait to see the game on RDS, I love the commentary in french.

Since I've been in D.C. all the games through that NHL package that I pay are broadcast with the commentators of the opposing teams and it bores the heck out of me. When I try to listen to a game on CJAD online the TV and the internet feed don't coincide, there's about a 5-10 second delay.

Therefore, I can't wait to hear ET LE BUTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT, Kovalev avec une passe spectaculaire a Plekanec et le tricolore mene 3 a 0.

[Guest HABSrulzzz]

HFIP does another gamethread guys this one is already in the bag

[Guest Onzeee]

i can tell ya one thing the effort has to be much better tommorownight then it was thursdaynight. Its a crucial game to win because the odds will be stacked against us sunday in dallas with it being the 2nd game in a row getting into dallas late and thinking about the flight back to montreal.

Andrei and mike did an excellent job on Ovechkin, they will need to be even better matched up against kovalchucks line

[Guest spike77]

whats the starting d,when known please post,,thanx

[Guest ribz&ryder_connexion]

Here's for a victory! hopefully we can get at least 3 points in the back-to-back versus ATL and the Stars.

[Guest WindsorHab#10]

Time to get another road win! With a back to back this weekend, we need at least one win and two would be fantasitic!

So let's get the weekend going on the right foot with a win. Same offense from the previous few games with a slightly tighter defense. Chips has to step up against Kovulchuk or Hossa and I think he will be able to handle it. Huet will get the call against Atlanta and Price against Dallas most likely.

A much better defensive game is needed to beat Atlanta. It's been very frustrating getting this team to play a full 60. I'm hoping for that Saturday. Speaking of Dallas, I can't believe Rebeiro is leading the team with 18 goals.

[Guest WindsorHab#10]

Well, I'm driving back home for the holidays so I'll be in Montreal tomorrow night. Please don't throw anything at me when I say that I can't wait to see the game on RDS, I love the commentary in french.

Since I've been in D.C. all the games through that NHL package that I pay are broadcast with the commentators of the opposing teams and it bores the heck out of me. When I try to listen to a game on CJAD online the TV and the internet feed don't coincide, there's about a 5-10 second delay.

Therefore, I can't wait to hear ET LE BUTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT, Kovalev avec une passe spectaculaire a Plekanec et le tricolore mene 3 a 0.

The sweet sound of LE BUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUT. Priceless.

[ColRouleBleu]

whats the starting d,when known please post,,thanx

Same line up as Thursday per Carbo on RDS so the D will be:

Markov-Komisarek

Hamrlik-O'Byrne

Bouillon-Gorges

Of course, there will be adjustments for special units. Expect a lot icetime for the 1st pair, last game vs the Thrashers, Markov played over 30 minutes.

The sweet sound of LE BUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUT. Priceless.

That and MA PAROLE! QUEL ARRÊT DE HUET!

[Guest paul_b]

Need a big game tonight.

Go Habs Go!!