*****Morning Update:
Shaun Starr of the Team 990 is reporting that Kyle Chipchura has been dealt to the Ducks for a 4th round pick. Still waiting for confirmation...
The Canadiens made it difficult on themselves and easy for the Leafs, as they lost their 3rd game in a row-- their 6th in the last eight they've played at the Bell Centre.
And though they've displayed great character in chasing down leads this season it's a situation they've put themselves in too often. Colton Orr and Jeff Finger added insult to injury as the Canadiens gave up their 28th and 29th goals in first periods, versus the 13 they've managed on the year.
"You can't win the game if you're trailing always by two goals after the first period," affirmed Tomas Plekanec. "We talked about it before the game that we needed to have a good start--an intense start, and again I thought we had a good start but we didn't score and we got scored on. Two bad changes and then we fell apart."
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Some notes:
-For all the booing Mike Komisarek received, he settled into this game with ease and had no problem resisting the urge to "overplay". The Canadiens lack of any sustainable pressure or energy took the focus off of Komisarek, and by the end of the night he wasn't the one receiving the loudest boos.
-You want an indication of how much confidence Jacques Martin has in Maxim Lapierre right now? The Habs played 4:00 minutes on the penalty kill: Plekanec (1:09), Moen (1:26), Pyatt (1:03), White (1:03), Gomez (1:38), Kostitsyn (1:31).
Max Lapierre (0:00).
Why would Martin not use one of the Canadiens top penalty killers from the last two seasons for a single shift? One reason might be that he won 4 of 12 faceoffs on the night, and only 1 of 4 in his own zone.
That's better than Glen Metropolit did, going 0 for 5 on the night, and 0 for 3 in his own zone. He also saw no PK-time.
-With this shutout the Canadiens (27th) remain just ahead of Boston(28th), averaging 2.3 goals per game in the 'goals for' category. Boston sits a point out of top spot in the division, and Montreal's currently in fourth--5 points up on a Maple Leafs team that has a game in-hand on them.
-Don't look now, but Mike Cammalleri hasn't scored a goal in his last 3 games. Under normal circumstances that's not exactly much to talk about, but if he isn't scoring-- who is? Tomas Plekanec has 1 goal in his last 5 games, even if he is playing outstanding. Lack of secondary scoring continues to kill this team.
-Something tells me Jacques Martin won't take it easy in practice after this one...
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Following up on protecting against getting cut by opposing players skates, Mike Cammalleri has been wearing
these as recommended by Bob Gainey after Andrei Markov's horrifying injury. He claims they saved him the first time he tried them:
"I didn't know how it would be playing with them; it was in Washington (last week)and I got my skate sliced open, and my lace sliced off, and actually had a red mark under there where it could've cut my ankle tendon," Cammalleri then proceeded to show me the mark where he would've been cut. "I'm a believer. Bob (Gainey) brought it to our attention that maybe we should be wearing these things. It seemed like a good idea to me and Bob is someone I listen to."
Staying along the theme of protecting against preventable injury, Ryan O'Byrne says the Kevlar skate guards worn on the front of the boot, are great:
"I actually busted a pair of them blocking a shot, but they do the job. Made me think of what could've happened had a I not been wearing them." He made sure to place his back-up pair in his bag for the trip to Buffalo.
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Things always get harder before they get easier. If the Canadiens are going to snap out of their funk they might want to get it done in Buffalo, because you'd hate to see them put more pressure on themselves for what could be a pretty magical night against the Bruins on Friday. But the Sabres haven't given away two points all season, and it'll require a complete team effort--likely in front of a goalie (Halak) that hasn't played a game since November 10th (a 1-0 loss to the Calgary Flames).
One down, 16 more to go in December...
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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