Price denied shutout as Habs beat Bruins in a shootout

Carey Price gets his first win in over a month – Canadian Press photo

Well it only took ten games, but the Canadiens finally beat the Bruins.

The Canadiens infirmary is full of injured defensemen and the Bruins’ forwards are the walking wounded in Boston. So we can safely say it was an even slate going into Thursday’s game, right?

Regardless, Montreal got a stellar performance out of Carey Price, who came within 52 seconds of recording his first shutout in over a year.

Carey Price made 42 saves, and shut the Bruins down in the shootout, give his team to a 2-1 victory.

Price picked up his 50th career win and his emotion after the shootout was a promising sign.

What makes it a bigger boost was that he was not expected to start Thursday night. Jaroslav Halak is nursing an apparent groin injury and was not 100 percent.

In the 700th meeting between the two rivals, the Bruins were the dominant team, outshooting the Canadiens in all three periods and the overtime period.

Boston also played a more physical game out hitting Montreal 35-23.

Blake Wheeler upends Max Pacioretty – Associated Press photo

If there was anyone else who had a good pick-me-up on Thursday night, it was Andrei Kostitsyn.

Playing on the fourth line with eager first-gamers Tom Pyatt and Ryan White, Kostitsyn seemed to show some life.

AK46 was the catalyst in the first goal of the night, when he zipped down the left wing and fed a wrap-around pass to Glen Metropolit to fired it past Tim Thomas.

White recorded his first career point with an assist on the goal and had four hits on the night.

Metropolit scores the Canadiens only goal – Reuters photo

With Bruins captain Zdeno Chara in the penalty box, the Canadiens had an excellent opportunity to add to the lead with a 5-on-3 advantage.

The Bruins penalty killers gave the Canadiens few opportunities and Thomas made a spectacular stick save on the goal line to deny the Habs their second goal.

It appeared Patrice Bergeron had tied it up for the Bruins when the puck appeared to squeeze between Price’s pad and the goal post.

Price argues the eventual disallowed goal –Reuters photo

The goal was disallowed after video review showed the puck went under the side of the jarred net.

With Thomas on the bench, Bergeron finally managed to figure out Price in the third period after finding a loose puck in front of a screened Montreal net.

It was the Bruins first goal in over 192 minutes of play. Boston  had been shutout in their last two games.

“At least it's out of our heads now,” Bergeron said. “It's one step forward to get that goal and get that point. But one point is not good enough.”

Price got some revenge on Bergeron,in the overtime, with a huge glove save on the Bruins Habs-killer.

“I hadn't won in six games, and that was not the time to get upset,” Price said. “It’s hard to get scored on in the last minute of a game. I had to refocus in a hurry because if I let it slip, then I lose another game.”

“I really need to build on this,” he added. “But it’s not time to get out the champagne and goggles yet.”

Mike Cammalleri celebrates his shootout goal - Canadian Press photo

With no result in overtime, Mike Cammalleri managed to beat Thomas for the only goal in the shootout.

Price stops Mark Recchi in the shootout – Boston Globe photo

The win was the first on the road for the Canadiens since October 3.

They remain unbeaten in overtime/shootout games (7-0), and are 6-1 when scoring the first goal of the night.

Maybe the most significant stat of the night for Montreal was the fact that they had just a single giveaway all night. An area of their game that they have struggled with all season.

Jaroslav Spacek left the game briefly after a Bruins player landed on him and crashed into the boards. The veteran blueliner still racked up just under 25 minutes of ice-time and may have a therapy day on Friday.

The Canadiens head back to Montreal to face the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday.

Three Stars: 1. Mike Cammalleri 2.Carey Price 3.Tim Thomas

Struggling rivals meet for first time this season

Last season the Boston Bruins steamrolled past the Montreal Canadiens in the regular season, and in the playoffs.

That was a different team that the black and gold faced last year.

In 2009-10, many new of the Bruins opponents are on other teams and new faces have taken their place.

For Boston, the notable missing face is Phil Kessel, who was traded to the Leafs.

The two rivals will meet for the first time tonight, since the Bruins sweep of the Canadiens last spring.

Both teams are struggling to start the season (Canadiens 10th, Bruins 12th) and suffering the injury bug.

The Bruins are without Marc Savard, Milan Lucic, and the latest victim of the swine flu, David Krejci. It certainly is showing as the Bruins rank 27th in goals so far this season.

The Canadiens, in the meantime, have brought up Tom Pyatt and Ryan White from the Hamilton Bulldogs. Both will play on the fourth line with Andrei Kostitsyn, and will be making their NHL debuts.

White was drafted by Montreal in the 3rd round in 2006, while Pyatt came over in the Scott Gomez-Chris Higgins deal with the New York Rangers.

“I was so happy I got that call yesterday,” said Pyatt. “It’s a great opportunity for both of us.”

“I just try to work hard and play hard,” White added. “I hope I can bring a little work ethic and energy and try to help these guys out.”

In eleven games in Hamilton, Pyatt had nine points (6 goals) and Wyatt had seven points.

Canadiens coach Jacques Martin will use both rookies on the penalty kill as well.

Carey Price will get the start for Montreal.

Jaroslav Halak is not 100 percent, according to head Martin, and has a suspected groin pull.

Tim Thomas will between the pipes for the Bruins. His backup, Tuuka Rask received a two-year contract extension on Thursday afternoon.

Golly Gee Willikers! It’s Howie Meeker’s Birthday!

Howie Meeker is maybe best known to fans of my generation as the colorful analyst from Hockey Night in Canada.

Now, stop it right there!, as he would say, because there is so much more to this legend.

Born in Kitchener, ON in 1923, Meeker quickly rose as a prominent junior hockey star, in the OHA and JOHA, before going into military service during World War Two.

His hockey career, and life for that matter, could have ended right there when a grenade exploded between his legs.

The hockey gods were clearly looking down on Meeker, as he recovered from his wounds and went to play a season with Stratford of the SOHA in 1945-46.

Meeker with the Maple Leafs – HHOF photo

The following season, he was signed as a free agent, by the Toronto Maple Leafs, in the spring of 1946.

Meeker tied the record for most goals in a game by a rookie when he scored five against Chicago in January of 1947.

His 45-point rookie season was good enough to earn him the Calder Trophy as Rookie of the Year. One of the runners-up was someone named Gordie Howe.

With the Leafs, Meeker spent most of his time playing on the "Tricky Trio" line with Ted Kennedy and Vic Lynn, and would play on four Stanley Cup winning teams (1947, 1948,1949, 1951). His NHL playing career continued with the Leafs until 1954.

It was interesting to learn that Meeker was also a Member of Parliament for a term (1951-53) while still playing with the Leafs.

Meeker as an MP for Waterloo-South- HOC photo

Meeker was head coach of the Leafs for one season (1956-57) and had a dismal 21–34–15 record. He was became general manager in 1957, but was fired before the start of the 1957–58 season.

Still eager to play and teach the game, Meeker spent the next parts of twelve seasons playing part-time and coaching in Newfoundland.

It was in St. John’s where he got the broadcast bug. He started doing radio work as a sports announcer on CJON-AM in 1957, and named the station’s sports director the following year.

During the late sixties early seventies, Meeker began to run summer hockey camps all over North America.

His book “Howie Meeker’s Hockey Basics”, published in 1973, has been listed as  one of the 100 most important Canadian books by Literary Review of Canada in 2005.

In 1969, Meeker joined Hockey Night in Canada, as a colour analyst ,alongside the likes of Danny Gallivan and Dick Irvin.

His squeaky voice and use of the telestrator made him a standout as one of the top hockey analysts.

Intrigued by his instructional abilities and his passion to properly instruct younger players, the CBC ran a series of 15-minute episodes of Howie Meeker’s Hockey School. 107 episodes ran from 1973 to 1977.

Those clips can be found on the network’s digital archives.

After just five years with HNIC, Meeker won the Gordon Sinclair Award for Outspoken Opinions and Integrity in the Field of Broadcasting in 1974.

Howie Meeker as a member of TSN’s broadcast team – HHOF photo

He also did work as an analyst for BCTV’s coverage of the Vancouver Canucks before joining TSN for even seasons from 1987-1998.

His value as an analyst could be more defined when he did work on four separate networks (CBC, TSN, NBC and BCTV) in one season. No other broadcaster has done that.

Meeker received the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award for excellence in hockey broadcasting in 1998 and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame’s Broadcaster Category.

Meeker in 2008 – Oceanside Media Club photo

In 1999, he published his biography, “Golly-Gee – It’s Me: The Howie Meeker Story”.

That same year, The Hockey News named their “100 Most Colorful People in Hockey”, where Meeker was ranked #76.

From his great one liners, to his passion for the game from an educating aspect, Howie Meeker has given back to hockey everything he has learned from the game.

Happy Birthday Mr. Meeker!

More information on Howie Meeker can be found on his website and the Legends of Hockey site.

An interesting two-part article, in the St. John’s Telegram by Meeker’s nephew Geoff, from this past spring on fighting in hockey: Part One and Part Two.