Here we go, a real game!  Let's hope Begin keeps his Talbot down when he runs over Tucker tonight.  I've converted, boys.  Clean hit!

So, I pumped for this game.  This is a very important game.  And I think that after taking PIT for granted, Montreal will be ready for a 55-60 minute game tonight.  Koivu and Kovalev should contribute (I guess that would include Zednick too.)  Bonk and Ryder will continue their strong play from 2 nights ago.  4-1 Habs.  Solid defence and great tending from Theo is the key to this win.  Shots about even.

Nice pics, spidey!

Tests abound tonight. Can the magic glue hold together?

Everyone's going to be looking at the habs to see if they're for real. Loads of pressure on them: Turning the corner into the fat, long midsection of the season, coming off three pretty lucky points, some injuries, oldest rival on a Saturday Night, a goalie who seems to be finding his groove, but still might have a couple of Weeble wobbles left before he does. Forwards whose genius flashes and then disappears.

These guys need a solid, fat lead, early on. They need to hold it, and win by more than two. Otherwise they'll start to believe it's been a fluke so far. Confidence is critical.

My prediction? Who knows? I get a sneaky suspicion Markov and Rivet will be the keys tonight. Clean passing, keeping the penalties down and a lack of showboating wouldn't hurt either. Not every goal has to make SportsCenter. (Those fancy wraparounds don't seem to be working so well, Mr. K)

Either way, can't wait.

What would Peter Puck have to say?



It oughta be a doozie!

-- Edited by brooklynhabfan at 13:59, 2005-11-12

brooklynhabfan wrote:

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Everyone's going to be looking at the habs to see if they're for real. Loads of pressure on them: Turning the corner into the fat, long midsection of the season, coming off three pretty lucky points, some injuries, oldest rival on a Saturday Night, a goalie who seems to be finding his groove, but still might have a couple of Weeble wobbles left before he does. Forwards whose genius flashes and then disappears. These guys need a solid, fat lead, early on. They need to hold it, and win by more than two. Otherwise they'll start to believe it's been a fluke so far. Confidence is critical. My prediction? Who knows? I get a sneaky suspicion Markov and Rivet will be the keys tonight. Clean passing, keeping the penalties down and a lack of showboating wouldn't hurt either. Not every goal has to make SportsCenter. (Those fancy wraparounds don't seem to be working so well, Mr. K) Either way, can't wait. What would Peter Puck have to say? It oughta be a doozie!

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You took the words right out of my mouth!

This is a big game. It would be awesome to have the Habs win at home during Hockey Night in Canada. I believe this is one of the first games that I will be able to watch in full - very excited! It would be nice to have a good lead and take this game with more then 1 goal!

My prediction is it will be a tight game 4-3 not including an empty netter. Habs goals to, Koivu, Ryder, Higgins, and Zednick. Leafs goals to Steen, Sundin, and Antropov. THe Habs will finally play a 60 minute game but Belfour will be able to rebound and put out a  solid showing in a losing effort. the refs will let this game go, although there will be some questinable Habs penelties and one too many men on the ice penelty.

http://www.canadiens.com/eng/news/redirect.cfm?sectionID=habsNewsDetails.cfm&newsItemID=4490

 

Game Preview: Canadiens vs. Maple Leafs

 

MONTREAL - If the first two meetings of the season between the Canadiens and Maple Leafs are any indication, Saturday night’s clash of these Original Six rivals is destined to come down to the wire. That could be a blessing for the Canadiens, who have specialized in late-game heroics this season.

Montreal continues to lead the NHL with a 10-3 mark in one-goal games while the Maple Leafs are only 4-4-2 in nail-biters. Tonight marks their third meeting of 2005-06, as teams league-wide facing their division foes eight times over the season. So far the NHL’s rivalry-based schedule has proven to be tailor-made for this longtime, inter-provincial grudge match. Both teams have skated away with one-goal victories in each other’s building. The Canadiens were 5-4 winners at the Air Canada Centre on Oct. 8 whle the Maple Leafs posted 3-2 victory at the Bell Centre on Oct. 15.

Claude Julien's crew (12-3-2) will put their three-game home winning streak on the line against the Leafs (8-7-2), who dropped a 5-2 decision in Buffalo on Friday night. Montreal is 6-3-0 at home while the Leafs are 2-4-1 on the road so far this season.

Power surge: The penalty box is the last place the Canadiens want to end up tonight with the Maple Leafs and their second-ranked power-play paying a visit. At 23.8 per cent, trailing only the Red Wings, Toronto is even more lethal on the road with a league-leading 30.6 per cent success rate away from the Air Canada Centre. Montreal's power-play is seventh at 20.5 per cent, while head-to-head so far this season the Leafs are 3-for-10 against the Canadiens over their two previous meetings and the Canadiens' power-play is 2-for-17 against Toronto.

NHL says sorry to Begin: There will be no further disciplinary action taken against Steve Begin by the league after Kerry Fraser assessed him a major for elbowing, a game misconduct and an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for his hit on Maxime Talbot in the third period against Pittsburgh Thursday night.

“We heard from the league that the hit was in fact clean as the replay clearly showed,” said Julien of the hit that was deemed a five-minue major for elbowing. “But referees don’t have the benefit of seeing all the replays that we have access to. The game moves pretty fast out there and mistakes are going to happen.”

Unwelcome Mats: Mats Sundin, who missed Toronto’s first two showdowns with the Canadiens this season with an eye injury, has never been a popular guy in Montreal dating back to his early NHL days with the Quebec Nordiques. He certainly hasn’t helped his cause with the way he's burned the Canadiens in recent years. Three of the Maple Leafs' last seven wins over Montreal prior to this season have been sealed by a Sundin game-winning goal. Thankfully, all three of the Swede's game-winners have come at the ACC.

More x-rays for Souray: Sheldon Souray, who on Thursday left the game after blocking a shot with the back of his skate, didn’t practice on Friday and his status remains up in the air for tonight’s battle with the Leafs.

“We tried to get it x-rayed in Pittsburgh, but there was too much swelling to really see anything,” said Souray, who had an MRI done on Friday in Montreal that revealed no fracture but the swelling may still keep No. 44 out of the lineup tonight. “I didn't think it was anything serious and I hope to be able to face the Leafs, but it’s too soon to tell. The puck just got me in the back of heel in a soft part of my left foot around my Achilles tendon.”

Jan Bulis remains sidelined with a left shoulder injury, while Radek Bonk left practice early on Friday but is still expected to face Toronto. Pierre Dagenais’ flu that kept him out of Thursday’s loss to the Penguins has cleared up and he is expected to play tonight.

Mr. Shootout: Jose Theodore may have come out on the losing end of his first career shootout on Thursday in Pittsburgh, but early signs point to No. 60 being right at home in these one-on-one showdowns. Having stopped Ziggy Palffy and Mario Lemieux before being beaten up high by Sidney Crosby, Theodore’s combined record including the preseason exhibition shootouts is an impressive 12-of-15. Besides Crosby, the only shooters to have slipped one past Theo are Tampa Bay’s Pavel Kubina and the Bruins’ Glen Murray. Some of Theodore’s most notable preseason victims included the likes of Vincent Lecavalier, Dany Heatley, Jason Spezza, Martin Havlat and Eric Lindros.

Retired Jersey Night: Dickie Moore and Yvan Cournoyer will see their No. 12 raised to the Bell Centre rafters prior to tonight's contest. The pre-game ceremony honoring the Canadiens' legends gets underway at 6:30pm.

Manny Almela is a writer for canadiens.com


Captain Saku Koivu leads the Canadiens with 13 assists and 18 points

superhab wrote:

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that article is wrong, theo didn't stop Palfy in the shootout it was Recchi.

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You're a sharp one, superhab!  Are you in editing?   Or detective work?

 

The one thing I will look for above all tonite, win or lose, will be effort. I know that CJ was not kind after the Pens loss and this will be a huge test as to whether he is getting through to the players or not. They skated very hard yesterday. Now if we come out and fire 50 shots at the Beagle and they win 2-1 there is nothing w ecan do about that. There will be nights where they run into a hot goalie (like T Bone the other night). Nothing you can do about that. But what I want to see tonite is effort.

The other thing that bugs me about tonite is lack of a physical presence. I would have liked to see Van Der Meer or Ivancik up from Hamilton for the game playing on the 4th line with Begin. Laffs have Belak, Domi, and the lightweight Tucker and they will be hitting.

Bulis and Souray out tonight. Dags in.

Zed Koivu Kovy

Ryd Ribs Hig

Sun Bonk Begin

Dags Pleks Perez

-- Edited by JohnM at 18:35, 2005-11-12

Why oh why is Belfour always at his best against us?

Great first period. Very discilpined would have been nice PP goal we could have had 4-5 goals. Souiray out anyone know how long???

davidb wrote:

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Great first period. Very discilpined would have been nice PP goal we could have had 4-5 goals. Souiray out anyone know how long???

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He's gone until the swelling goes down. Not a serious injury but probably will go either Tuesday or Friday.

Well Eddie kept TO in the game and that looks like it has taken the air out of the Habs skates.

Kovalev can be very frustrating to watch when he's not on his game like tonight. Bonk has been useless so far tonight. When will he be useful to this team? When?

Looks like Eddie might be getting tired. 2-1 Leafs.

Refs have officially taken over this game.

-- Edited by JohnM at 20:42, 2005-11-12

Well we should have had 3-2 edge with begins miss. TO comes right back and takes monemtum. I am sorry but we will be hard pressed to get a point out of this game. TO unlike the Habs has the size and depth to take the third periode. Sorry but I can just see it coming.

Even though we scored 2, that was a brutal 2nd period for the Habs. We dominate the first, then give up PP/SH/ES goals. The Eagle kept them in the first and the Habs are letting this one slip away.

One more period to go and the Habs are on the verge of going 1-2 against the Leafs this season. Please don't let that happen. They should be tired after playing last night, c'mon Habs, pull it out.