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Leaders of the Canadiens Emerge in Convincing win Over Atlanta |
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Only in Montreal can the crowd go from booing their captain after he pockets his first point of the night, to roaring for him on his third point, all in the same game.
The crowd's reactions told the story of the night. Dead silence for long stretches as the Canadiens put up 4 shots in the first period, and allowed 10 for Atlanta. There was also timid excitement as the Canadiens killed off some penalties and Mike Komisarek made a couple of bigger plays than he's made in over a month. Electricity as Alex Tanguay magically scored the highlight of the night. And with that, a first period ended without a chorus of boos.
The second period started with more vigor than anyone has seen from the Canadiens in over 2 months. Glen Metropolit capitalized on a beautiful pass from Christopher Higgins, and the Bell Centre was rocking an "OLE-OLE-OLE." Short lived, as Saku Koivu took a penalty on the next shift, and Carey Price familiarly allowed a bad goal...more uneasiness from the crowd.
But the reaction from the Canadiens was the most encouraging sign we've seen from them in their last 32 games. The top line was putting on a show, and the fans were lapping it up, and together they put the beat down on Atlanta and found many aspects of their game that have been severely lacking in the second half of the season:
The powerplay went 3 for 6.
The Canadiens limited their opponent to less than 20 shots after 2, and 25 on the night.
Komisarek had 6 hits (for the first time in over a month), and though he wasn't officially credited-- 3 very crucial blocked shots.
Koivu-Kovalev-Tanguay combined for 11 points, the latter two with two goals each, and the former found the back of the net as well. Tanguay's 5 points tied his career best acheived twice before.
Markov tied his career high in points (58) with 3 assists, and he was dynamite in his own end. Markov (12th overall) has the most assists of any defenseman in the league with 48, as he's one ahead of Brian Rafalski (who plays on the best powerplay in the league, and has the best supporting cast of any defenseman in the league-- proof is in Nik Kronwall being the next guy on the list, all the way down at 42 assists.)
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There were some negatives, but we needn't discuss them. The Canadiens got two points while Florida was idle, and remain in a playoff picture they've never dropped out of, even through the worst hockey they could've played over an extensive period of time.
One game is exactly that. There's nothing to be overly excited about, though a celebration for a complete team victory wouldn't be out of line. Last night's win over Atlanta was the easiest two points the Canadiens have come by in the second half of the season.
Let's hope the players realize two points came easy because of the effort they turned in. That they didn't live and die with the crowd's emotion or lack thereof, but instead dictated how the crowd should react by reviving themselves after the letdown of two tying goals from Atlanta in the first and second periods.
The Canadiens took their collective fate and that of their fans into their own hands and with it produced the results that everyone knew they so desperately needed. Not only 2 points in the standings, but many positive points to build on as the Tampa Bay Lightning and Buffalo Sabres shuffle into town on Thursday and Saturday, respectively.
Last night was the beginning of a new season, one in which the Canadiens now have 9 games remaining to make the post-season. If they can refocus themselves this late in an 82-game season, and approach their remaining games as exactly what's stated above, there's reason to believe they can do the same in the post-season.
But as we all know 1 win against Atlanta won't have anyone convinced the Canadiens are assured a playoff entry. And the players are certainly aware of that fact. The focus now is on the next game, and concentrating on how to effectively play in order to win.
Because if they play like they did last night...
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Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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