Will the real Alexander Ovechkin show in Game Two?

The Canadiens will be looking to contain Alexander Ovechkin in Game Two   Photo: Molly Riley (Reuters)

Having had the night’s sleep to reflect on their stunning Game One victory, over the Washing Capitals, the Montreal Canadiens were back on the Verizon Center ice for Friday morning practice.

After being outplayed in the first twenty minutes, the Canadiens came out strong in the next forty minutes and overtime to pull out the 3-2 win.

Despite shutting down the two-time defending Hart Trophy winner Alexander Ovechkin, the Canadiens still allowed 47 shots at Jaroslav Halak. They know there is still work to be done going into Saturday’s Game Two.

“We were very fortunate to be in the game,” said Canadiens coach Jacques Martin. “Our goalie kept us in it early  and that’s what we have to remember.

“It took us a while to find our game and that’s one thing we need to correct moving forward. You can’t play a first period like the one we did last night”

After leading the league in shots in 2009-10, some have speculated that the Capitals sniper may be injured based on his performance Thursday night. If so, the Capitals aren’t talking, and neither is Ovechkin.

“It was my fault. I didn’t play my game and maybe I was too excited,” the Capitals captain said. “Our line didn’t play well and we’ll make some changes.

“Tomorrow is going to to be a  different game for us.”

It would be highly doubtful of any injury to Ovechkin, given the fact Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau called him out after Game One and reiterated after Friday’s practice.

“He’s 100 percent healthy. We’re not making excuses for him,” Boudreau said. “He just had a bad game, and they played very well against him.

“I wasn’t trying to light any fire, but when he’s playing on top of his game, it doesn’t matter how (or who) they’re playing against him.”

Boudreau also acknowledged that the Canadiens cannot be underestimated in light of coming into the series as the overwhelming underdog.

“If it wasn’t for the fact that it’s the number one versus an eighth seed, and it was an eight seed vs an eight seed, everyone would say, ‘What a great game from two evenly matched teams.’

“We’re not going to change our game, but they’re a lot better than what their regular season indicated. they went through stretches where they beat everybody.”

Players playing injured wouldn’t be something new in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Whether a player is injured or not, they know the importance of the post-season. Bob Baun, Dickie Moore, Maurice or Bernie Geoffrion are prime examples of that.

“That’s the playoffs. Guys are hurt and some guys show it, some guys don’t,” said Canadiens veteran defenceman Hal Gill. “But It comes down to what happens on the ice and getting wins.”

Gill, who earned a Stanley Cup ring with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2009, knows what it takes in the playoffs and what to expect from an opponents top players from one game to the next.

“I’m sure he’s gonna come back and play a lot better than he did, That’s the exciting part of the challenge",” he said. “He’s a dynamic player that can change your game and we have to be just as hard on him as we can.”

Fellow veteran rearguard Jaroslav Spacek noted that shutting down Ovechkin’s linemates Nicklas Backstrom and Mike Knuble, is also a factor.

“We all played good against that line,” Spacek said. “If you make it hard on him (Backstrom) and that makes it tougher for Ovechkin because he wouldn’t get as many pucks fed to him.”

Game Two goes Saturday night at 7pm.

Capitals/Canadiens Game 1: “Jagr” Wins it in overtime for Habs

Tomas Plekanec is swarmed by his Montreal Canadiens teammates after his overtime goal in Game One vs. Washington Capitals – Chuck Myers (MCT)

Tomas Plekanec put his money where his mouth was, in the media-fuelled war of words against Jose Theodore, in Game One as the Montreal Canadiens shocked the Verizon Center crowd with a 3-2 overtime win over the Washington Capitals.

Plekanec beat out Capitals defenceman  Shoane Morrisonn, inside the Washington blue line, and fired a wrist shot past Theodore at 13:19 of the extra period.

The two adversaries had been in a war of words after Plekanec said Theodore was not the same level of goalie as a Martin Brodeur or Ryan Miller. Theodore responded sarcastically, referring to Plekanec as “Jagr”.

The game began looking just like it has been predicted, with a Washington offence swarming the Montreal end. The Capitals outshot their opponents 19-7 in the first period and dominated in the faceoff circle.

It could easily have been a three or four-goal lead if not for the goaltending brilliance of Jaroslav Halak. The underdogs would not get their first shot until the 7:24 mark.

The Canadiens knew they would be in tough against the top five-on-five team in the regular season (213 goals) and would need special teams to help their effort.

They got just that at 12:26 when Mike Cammalleri scored on the power play to give the Canadiens a one-goal lead.

Washington continued to mount the pressure and Joe Corvo lobbed in a shot from the blueline, over the shoulder of a screened Halak, at 15:33.

In the second period, coach Jacques Martin made some adjustments and the Canadiens turned things around. The visitors dominated the Capitals in the second half of the period. Martin double shifted Cammalleri on a line with Maxim Lapierre and Mathieu Darche to put some strain on the larger, but slower Capitals defence.

With the majority considered slow and, in some cases old, themselves, the Canadiens corps of blueliners were able to shutdown the league’s most explosive player, Alexander Ovechkin. The Russian sniper had no shots on goal and five attempts blocked for the entire game.

Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau put more of the blame on his captain. “They gapped up on him (Ovechkin), but I don’t think he played very well,” he said, indicating that the rest of the Capitals had 47 shots on goal.

"Our best players weren't our best players tonight. I just didn't think he was very good tonight"

The Canadiens hoped to carry the momentum in the third period, but a poor clearing effort and a bad bounce off the skates of Hal Gill led to a Niklas Backstrom goal.

Washington Capitals Jose Theodore makes one of his 35 saves in Game One – Molly Riley (Reuters)

Montreal refused to give up and fired everything they had at Thoedore , who made 35 saves on the night. They finally broke through when Scott Gomez beat out defenceman Mike Green to the front of the net, defecting a feed from Brian Gionta past the Washington netminder to tie the game at two.

Capitals captain Alexander Ovechkin skates away in disgust as the Canadiens celebrate Scott Gomez’s tying goal. – Greg Fiume (Getty Images)

The Habs defence and Halak continued to hold back the Capitals through the rest of the period and into overtime. Jaroslav Spacek logged just under 20 minutes and thwarted Ovechkin and co. at every window of opportunity. Gill was equally effective in his 25 plus minutes, blocking nine shots.

“We gave him (Ovechkin) no space or time to shoot,” Halak said. “He’s a great one-on-one player. We probably pissed off everybody, so they will try to come out stronger on Saturday.”

Martin praised his team for the group effort to shut down the league’s top offence shut down all four Capitals power play chances.

“When you face an elite player, like Ovechkin, it’s not one individual’s responsibility, it’s a team effort,” he said. “Our support players gave us some good help tonight. I thought it was some excellent teamwork.”

Overtime began with and unsuccessful Canadiens power play and was followed by some exciting end-to-end play, cumulating in Plekanec’s winner.

Plekanec explained post-game that his comments, from earlier in the week, were taken out of context. “I didn’t take it personally. It wasn’t completely right in the newspapers,” he said. “I would never say anything wrong about Theo, and I respect him.”

Game Two goes Saturday night in Washington, with Games Three and Four in Montreal on Monday and Wednesday.

Three Stars: 1. Tomas Plekanec 2. Jaroslav Halak 3. Jose Theodore

Bring on the Caps! Habs to face Washington in round one.

It went to the shootout Sunday afternoon, and the Philadelphia Flyers walked away the victors in a 3-2 win over the New York Rangers.

The win pushed Philadelphia into seventh spot in the Eastern Conference standings and knocked New York out of contention.

That leaves the Montreal Canadiens in the final playoff slot, where they will square off against the Washington Capitals starting Thursday in D.C.

The teams split the season series, with each team winning one game in regulation.

In their last meeting, the Canadiens snapped the Capitals team record 14-game unbeaten streak.

Below is a quick glimpse of the regular season matchup, including what Alexander Ovechkin did in those games. You can get more in-depth detail from caandiens.com/nhl.com by clicking on the dates.

Canadiens vs. Capitals 2009-10 Regular Season

Date	Decision	Winning Goalie	Losing Goalie	OV8	Top Hab(s)	SOG
Nov 20	Mtl 3 Wash 2	Price	Neuvirth	5 shots	Pleks/Cammalleri 1 G 1A	Wash 34 Mtl 22
Nov 28	Wash 4 Mtl 3 (SO)	Varlamov	Price	1 G 1 A 8 shots	Spacek 1 G 1 A/Hamrlik 2 A	Mtl 24 Wash 23
Jan 5	Mtl 2 @ Wash 4	Neuvirth	Price	3 Shots	Gorges 1 G +1	Wash 43 Mtl 26
Feb 10	Wash 5 @ Mtl 6 (OT)	Price	Theodore	2 A +1 8 Shots	Pleks 2 G, SK74 3 A	Mtl 39 Wash 38

Interesting to note that Carey Price started every game against Washington. Will Jacques Martin revert back to him, or stick with the current “number one” in Jaroslav Halak?

It will also be interesting to see how the Capitals Ovechkin responds in the playoffs. The two-time Hart Trophy winner lost out on both the Art Ross and Rocket Richard Trophies in the final weekend of the regular season. He may be looking to prove himself as an impact player in the playoffs, at the Canadiens expense.

Predictions?

Limping Canadiens Host Red-Hot Capitals

Washington’s Michal Neuvirth faces off against Montreal’s Carey Price (neither pictured here) Wednesday night at the Bell Centre.

The Pierre Gauthier era with the Montreal Canadiens (28-26-6) gets it’s first test Wednesday as they host the Eastern Conference leading Washington Capitals (41-12-6).

The Capitals are blasting through their opponents, much like the winter storm systems that are currently passing through Washington.

The team is on a 14-game winning streak. Their Superbowl Sunday come from behind victory, over the Pittsburgh Penguins, was their second over the defending Stanley Cup champions during the streak.

Washington has outscored their opponents by a combined score of 68-33, and all but three victories were against Eastern Conference opponents. Of those games, all but one (Toronto) was against a team in the hunt for a playoff spot.

A win over Montreal on Wednesday would set a new franchise unbeaten record that has stood since the 1982-83 and 1983-84 seasons. The NHL record is 17, set by the 1992-93 Pittsburgh Penguins.

“Nobody wants to talk about it because we’re superstitious,” Washington head coach Bruce Boudreau said.

“Until you're perfect you've got stuff to work on and we're far from perfect. We've had to come from behind in an awful lot of games lately.

“We're not either getting off on the right track or taking it too easy or we're making to many mistakes. We have to get better in a lot of ways right now.

“The minute I relax, is the minute they relax. Any team we're playing right now is giving us their best effort."

Capitals captain Alexander Ovechkin leads the charge with 14 goals, 15 assists and a plus-18 rating during the streak. The two-time Hart Trophy winner has been kept off the scoreboard just once (vs. NY Islanders) during the 14-game run.

Washington is currently carrying three goalies on their three game, pre-Olympic road trip; Semyon Varlamov, Jose Theodore and Michal Neuvirth.

While Montreal native Theodore tied a franchise consecutive win record(10) on Sunday, the team’s Wednesday morning skate points to Neuvirth (3-0-0, 1.20, .967 in his last 4GP).

With Varlamov back in the lineup for the first time since Dec 7, Neuvirth is expected to be sent to Hershey (AHL) during the Olympics.

“It’s all good when they’re all playing great. I assume they all will. Neuvy and Theo have definitely been playing great,” Boudreau said. “With Varly (out since Dec 7), it’s sort of a wait and see scenario.”

“I think it’s remarkable,” said Canadiens defenceman Josh Gorges on the Capitals streak. “To string 14 together and not have one night where you don’t quite show up, or one when the pucks don’t bounce your way, or get a couple bad ones scored against you is quite impressive.”

Montreal will be looking to get back in the win column after being shutout Sunday afternoon by the Boston Bruins.

It will be the team’s first game for new GM Gauthier since taking over the reigns from Bob Gainey on Monday.

The Canadiens got some bad news on Tuesday, when it was revealed that defenceman Marc-Andre Bergeron will miss at least six weeks with a new injury.

Bergeron has 10 goals and 14 assists in 51 games this season, with 16 points (6 goals) coming off the power play.

Forward Benoit Pouliot (14 points in 20 games with Mtl) is also out until at least the beginning of March with an upper-body injury.

The duo join Mike Cammalleri and Andre Kostitsyn on the team’s injured reserve list.

Battling injuries in the 2009-10 season is nothing new for the Canadiens and as they look to end Washington’s run. Despite missing key players throughout the season, they still remain in the thick of the battle for a playoff spot.

“We’ve played against them (Washington) with a banged-up lineup in two of our games against them, and got three out of four points against them,” said Canadiens coach Jacques Martin.

“The (Olympic) break will be good for us, he added noting the upcoming league shutdown will give players time to recuperate.

“Andre (Kostitsyn) was on skates for the first time today. Hopefully he’ll be back with us after the break. But before that, we have three huge games, starting with the Eastern Conference leaders.”

In the three head-to-head meetings this season, Montreal is 1-1-1 against the Capitals, and have limited Ovechkin to just a goal and an assist in the Capitals 4-3 shootout win on Nov 27.

“Montreal has given us fits all year, first of all,” said Boudreau. “They make a management change, they’re going to want to impress the new GM, and they lost the last game at home.”

Goaltender Carey Price has started all three games against Washington ( 2.95 GAA .910 SvPct) and will get the call on Wednesday night, despite the exceptional play of late from Jaroslav Halak.

“Carey’s been working extremely hard, I think he’s been very sharp at practice, so it’s a great opportunity for him to be in there,” Martin said.

Probable Starting Lineups

MTL	Forwards	MTL
Mathieu Darche	Tomas Plekanec	Sergei Kostitsyn
Tom Pyatt	Scott Gomez	Brian Gionta
Maxim Lapierre	Ben Maxwell	David Desharnais
Travis Moen	Glen Metropolit	Matt D’Agostini
MTL	Defence Pairings	MTL
Andre Markov		Ryan O’Byrne
Roman Hamrlik		Jaroslav Spacek
Hal Gill		Josh Georges
MTL	Goalies	MTL
S- Carey Price		Jaroslav Halak
WASH	Forwards	WASH
Alexander Ovechkin	Niklas Backstrom	Mike Knuble
Brooks Laich	Tomas Fleischmann	Alexander Semin
Jason Chimera	Brendan Morrison	Eric Fehr
Boyd Gordon	David Steckel	Matt Bradley
WASH	Defence Pairings	WASH
Jeff Schultz		Mike Green
Shoane Morrisonn		Tom Poti
John Erskine		Brian Pothier
WASH	Goalies	WASH
S- Michal Neuvirth		Jose Theodore

The Habs 2009-10 Schedule is out!!! Bulldogs and Cyclones sked news also released

 

The NHL officially released the Montreal Canadiens 2009-10 Regular Season Schedule this afternoon. The official press release can be found here.

The Canadiens will kick off Season 101 on Thursday October 1 against the Toronto Maple Leafs at the ACC.

It will be the first game of a five-game road trip to start off the season.

Maybe a good thing to get it over with early:

The Canadiens head west to play back-to-back games in Calgary and Vancouver on Oct 6-7, wrapping up the trip on Oct. 10 in Edmonton.

We all remember the disastrous western trip from last year, and so far coach Jacques Martin has not planned a team bowling night.

The Canadiens’ home opener is against the Colorado Avalanche on Oct 15 where they will have a six game home stand.

We’ll get a possible look at John Tavares twice in Montreal in four days (Oct  22 and 26)

Montreal then faces the Stanley Cup Champion Penguins in Pittsburgh on Oct 28.

The First Must-See home game: Saturday Oct 17th,when Alex Kovalev returns with his Ottawa Senators.

Christopher Higgins returns Oct 24 with the New York Rangers

Komisarek returns Oct 31, where it will be brick night: First 5000 fans get unused off-cut bricks from the Centennial Plaza to do…

Alexander Ovechkin and the Capitals roll into the Bell Centre on Nov 28. The game will be at the Bell Centre and not at Olympic Stadium as rumored.

Dec 4 against Boston will mark the 100th Anniversary of the Canadiens’ formation. Note the starting time of 8pm as there will be a ceremony beforehand.

Montreal looks to have a tough schedule in December, playing 11 of 17 games on the road and ends the month with seven in a row during the holidays.

Montreal has 15 back-to back games with just one of these at home, so Jaroslav Halak could see lots of work this season.

The NHL shuts down for two weeks, after Feb 13, for the Olympics.

Even with 21st Century technology, the NHL’s logistics team still cannot find a system to make it work evenly:

After the Olympics, the Habs are in Boston on Mar 2, then off to California (if it’s not in receivership) to play San Jose, L.A. and Anaheim and back across the country to face Tampa on Mar 9. That’s a lot of travel.

March closes out in the Canadiens’ favor for the playoff run however , with five of their last eight at home.

The season concludes on Apr 10 at the Bell Centre against the Maple Leafs.

The Canadiens will have seven pre-season games from September 17-26. Five games will be at home, while the other two will be in Ottawa (Sep 19) and Quebec City (Sep 20 vs. Boston)

 

First six Hamilton Bulldogs home games announced!

 The Hamilton Bulldogs have announced yesterday that Oct 9 will be their first home game of the 2009-10 AHL season.

Five other confirmed dates are also set with a Nov 6 game played in Montreal at the Bell Centre. Opponents are to be determined when the AHL releases the official schedule later this summer.

ECHL Cincinnati Cyclones Schedule released!

The Canadiens’ ECHL affiliate Cincinnati Cyclones (shared with the Nashville Predators) also announced their pre-season schedule today. Their regular season schedule is also posted.

It could be handy for our Ohio area Habs fans or those travelling south of the border on the way to Florida this winter! Catch a game on the way down I-75 !!!

Hockey at the Big Owe??? Is this wise??

The Olympic Stadium in Motnreal with it's permanent roof after the retractable one failed.

The Globe and Mail reports that the Montreal Canadiens will play host to the Washington Capitals at Olympic Stadium.

The 2009-10 NHL sked doesn't officially come put until tomorrow.

Gotta wonder if this is such a good idea?

Ovechkin vs. hockey's greatest franchise during their centennial is a financial jackpot for the league.

But, the crowd in the Bell Centre is loud enough, so does one honestly think that the financial and structural disaster from the 1976 Olympics is a safe bet to house 50,000 screaming hockey fans?

I recalled the chunk of concrete breaking off in '94 and the fire in the tower during a Montreal Expos game in '86, but Robert Lefebvre from Habs Eyes on the Prize dug up a list of several other structural problems and incidents that the stadium has faced since it's first use.

Now if a piece of concrete took out NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, many fans would see it as the greatest day in NHL history.

Personally, seeing Youppi under a steel beam wouldn't be so bad for me. I never liked that little orange fuzzball, even with the Expos.

NHL Awards in Las Vegas...and not on live TV in Canada

Alexander Ovechkin (Richard Trophy) and Evgeni Malkin (Art Ross Trophy)

The 2009 NHL Awards are upon us.

Naturally they are in that hockey hotbed of Las Vegas, NV.

Why you ask? No, it’s not to kick Mats “PokerStars” Sundin’s butt in the poker room at the Palms.

Am I the only one who sees between the lines for Gary Bettman’s ultimate plan to move the Coyotes here?

Well what a rip! I realize that the awards are being blogged in advance on NHL.com.

Show is being showed live in the US on Versus but tape-delayed in Canada...

Thanks NHL/CBC... That "Just for Laughs- Gags" was a real bonus.

Dennis Leary narrates a cool intro to the show.

Then a good intro is ruined by Chaka Khan and Robin Thicke...No....you don't got the magic!

Jeremy Roenick, Michael Buble? and Kevin Connoly?? introduce Talbot and Malkin to acknowledge the Pens Cup win.

Band music: Are they going to use that crap for every intro? Yes!

Classy reception for Vladimir Konstantinov when he takes the stage.

Steve Mason takes the Calder, Datsyuk gets the Selke.

Alexander Ovechkin picks up the Pearson award.

Masterton Trophy: Steve Sullivan especially thanked his teammates "for never stopping to believe in me."

Lady Byng Trophy: Pavel Datsyuk

Jennings Award: a freebie for Manny Fernandez who rode Tim Thomas' coatails.

The "Unoriginal and not that funny award" goes too...Gerry Dee

The Oilers Ethan Moreau wins the King Clancy award.

OK the guy with the fan fave award for Roberto Luongo: Was there no wardrobe budget???? Seriously, that suit was retro when the Sands Casino was torn down.

Clearly no music budget either....Chaka Khan again!

To the writers of the jokes on this show: Half the audience doesn't speak english!

Vezina presentaion: Tony O! Lay off the Botox!

Vezina Winner: Like him or not, Tim Thomas is a humble and very grateful guy.

Adams: Nice to see Pat Burns on hand. The man is fighting cancer for a third time! No surprise tha it goes to Clade Julien.

Jerry Bruckheimer, who was presenting with Burns, looking around thinking: "I can't even save this sinking ship."

Kevin Connoly: He's there because????????

Norris: Chara wins...The show could have been saved right now if Eminem came rushing on the stage, mistaking Chara for Sasha Baren Cohen a.k.a Bruno.

Chara acknowledges how, like Datsyuk, he was told he would never get past the junior level. Then encourages other kids to never give up.

Gary Bettman: House mike volumes lowered to mask the boos from the fans seating... Put a fiddle in his hands and he's Nero...

Jean Beliveau receives a Lifetime Acheivement Award: If only half the current NHL players could have the class and dignity that he STILL has. Teamate Yvon Cournoyer also in attendance along with fellow Canadiens Ambassador Rejean Houle.

Hart presentation: Fedorov presenting...Guess the KHL rumour was false. Michael Buble again?

Ovechkin wins it: Big surprise... "I like playing in Canadian city but right now my favourite town is Washington"... Hmmmmm otherwise translated: "I want outta here" in a non-Heatly way.

It's over! Thank-you Vegas! You won't see us again!

2008-2009 NHL First All-Star Team

G - Tim Thomas, Boston Bruins
D - Mike Green, Washington Capitals
D - Zdeno Chara, Boston Bruins
C - Evgeni Malkin, Pittsburgh Penguins
RW - Jarome Iginla, Calgary Flames
LW - Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals

2008-2009 NHL Second All-Star Team

G - Steve Mason, Columbus Blue Jackets
D - Nicklas Lidstrom, Detroit Red Wings
D - Dan Boyle, San Jose Sharks
C - Pavel Datsyuk, Detroit Red Wings
RW - Marian Hossa, Detroit Red Wings
LW - Zach Parise, New Jersey Devils

2008-2009 NHL All-Rookie Team

G- Steve Mason, Columbus Blue Jackets

D- Drew Doughty, Los Angeles Kings

D- Luke Schenn, Toronto Maple Leafs

F- Patrik Berglund, St. Louis Blues

F- Bobby Ryan, Anaheim Ducks

F- Kris Versteeg, Chicago Blackhawks