Montreal Canadiens vs Boston Bruins

Musings and In-Game Scribbles

My English is as good as yours, I just write these in a stream-of-consciousness mode that I insist excuses me from small things like rules of grammar or general etiquette. Let’s call it conversational English, hopped up on beans. You know what kind of beans (no, Carl Mellesmoen, not the magic ones).

Montreal Canadiens (26-25-6) visit Boston Bruins (23-22-9)

Thursday, February 4, 2010
Game Fifty-Eight (score posted following scribbles)

Musings and In-Game Scribbles are a “live blogging” of the game that are compiled (typed, actually) during the game then edited and posted shortly after the game. Usually the RDS telecast of the game. They’re also a unique way to catch the game if you missed it.

Jaroslav Halak and the skinny Tuukka Rask (six-three and 169 pounds) are the opposing goaltenders tonight at Boston Garden.  Or whatever it’s called.

First Period

Your scribe joins the action with thirteen minutes left in the first period.  Apologia.

D’Agostini hits a Bruin in the corner but the Bruins move it out.  Fleet Centre pace is quick and quack.  I mean quark.

Spacek is called for interference.  Legit call.

Plekanec and Moen are the first kill pairing.

Early long shot and great play by Gorges to clear Bruin Blake Wheeler from the play.  Houde says it was a certain goal prevented by #26.

Puck goes out of play.

Bruins win the faceoff and collect it on their own blue line.  Gill stops an early incursion and the Bruins have to regroup.

Zdeno Chara now controls the puck on the blue line on the left point.  Former Canadien Mark Recchi and Dennis Wideman are on with David Krejci on the Bruin second wave.

Markov intercepts a puck near the blue line and O’Byrne clears it.

Twenty-five seconds left in the penalty and the Canadiens clear it again.

Long Bruin pass is intercepted and sent back down.

Bergeron enters and makes his way to the slot where he is shoved down by O’Byrne.

Penalty ends and Gomez enters with two flight partners.  Shot deflects high and out of play.

Faceoff is to Rask’s right.

Canadiens have the puck in their zone.  Pause for line changes and Markov waits.  Sends it briefly to O’Byrne who sends it back to Markov behind Halak.  Finally the Canadiens begin their breakout.

They are back in their own zone and defending against Krejci and Lucic.  Lasts about six seconds on the boards.

Just under seven minutes in the first period.

Gomez shoots from inside the blue line and Rask grabs it and lets it go immediately.  Hot iron.  Puck goes out of play quickly.  Over the boards near the players’ bench.

We get a quick look at Claude Julien behind the Bruin bench.

Maxwell is on with Gomez and Gionta.  Bruins enter.  Triangle forms.  Uncomfortable.  Passes fail and the Canadiens recover the puck and they ice it.

Bruins win the faceoff.  Early shot.  Puck pops up and behind the net.  An oval and a scrum.  Puck is in front of Halak but he forces a stoppage in play.

Faceoff is to Halak’s right.

Metropolit loses it.  Puck slips out of the zone.

And then it’s out of play along the boards.

Markov has a quizzical expression.  Officials discuss whether it’s a delay of game.

I see a hand-signal I don’t recognize and Markov has to go to the box.  Delay of game; accidental puck overboard.  So I don’t know the hand signals.  Do you know what red kryptonite is?

Houde remarks that this type of infraction is becoming chronic with the Canadiens.

First segment is a quick force-out and the Bruins have to regroup.

Bruins move the puck in and the puck goes out of play yet again.

Marc Savard is on with Michael Ryder and Marco Sturm.

Puck rounds the boards behind Halak.

O’Byrne takes the puck away and sends it down.

Now O’Byrne continues his good board work on the re-entry.  Puck moves up where Sergei Kostitsyn can’t play it.  It’s on the blue line.  It’s passed twice.  It’s blasted from the blue line.  And it’s through the five-hole.

I need a pizza.

Boston 1, Montreal 0

Plekanec line follows.  Tomas loses the faceoff.  Sergei and Pouliot are on with him.

Canadiens work the boards in their own zone and come up with it.

Pouliot and Plekanec are unable to continue the control with a brief possession just inside the Bruin blue.

Some dithering with the puck and the Canadiens labour to change their lines.

Boston’s Byron Bitz leans and carries it behind the Montreal net.  He runs into traffic.  Of course.  Le blue, le blanc, le rouge.

Habs manage a lob-out.

Bruins resume control.  Recchi is sent in on the right side.

Bergeron has it on the opposite side.  Tries to centre it.  Creates a dangerous puck.  Gomez recovers it and stickhandles towards the slot.  Play is stopped shortly afterward.  Faceoff will be outside the Montreal blue line.

Another stoppage and another conference.

Canadiens aren’t called for delay of game this time.

Long pass is refused and the Canadiens have to take another faceoff.  O’Byrne and Markov remain on.  Moen is on with D’Agostini and Metropolit.

D’Agostini has it down the right side.  Tries the centring pass but it goes off a Bruin and they move up and send it down.

Canadiens recover the puck quickly and are working in the corner to Rask’s right.  One-minute mark is announced in that extended “one” that has been articulated on the Bruin rink PA systems for more than two decades.  “Ooo-wunn minute left to play.”  It used to irritate me but now I miss the originator.  New guy is more reserved in the articulation.

Canadiens aren’t able to control for long.

Boston enters and a faceoff follows a Halak save.

Canadiens get one last shot before the period ends but it’s from about thirty-five feet away at a forty-five degree angle.  It trickles wide.

Bruins lead on shots 15-5.

Steve Begin leaves the ice and stops near the camera.  He fumbles with his chin-strap and RDS goes to commercial.  Expect the former Canadien’s interview prior to the second.

First Intermission
Boston 1, Montreal 0

Francois Gagnon and Alain Crete discuss Ilya Kovalchuk’s potential departure from the Atlanta Thrashers.  My Montreal affiliate, earlier today, wondered aloud if Kovalchuk is greedy.  Hey, whatever the market bears, right?

Gagnon says that the Kings appear to have the most to offer of the teams in the running.  Kovalchuk doesn’t make me as queasy when he has the puck against Montreal as he used to but he is still a better all-around player than Alex Ovechkin and is worth building a team around for the next six or seven years.  Ovie will almost certainly develop to be the better player but right now, I’d take Ilya Kovalchuk over Alex Ovechkin.  Ovechkin will likely finish with the better career, though.  Ovie, Ovie, Ovie!

We get some highlights.  Ollie Jokinen, the newest Rangers assists on a goal in his first game in New York and the Rangers lead the Caps 2-1.

Kovalev has an assist for Ottawa in their game against Vancouver for a 1-0 lead.  Alex Kovalev.

Alain says he was not impressed with the Bruins first period and that the team seems uninterested.  Jacques adds that he is even less impressed with Montreal’s performance.  Joel supports Jacques and comments on puck control.

Luc Gelinas interviews Steve Begin.  Gelinas has a red dress shirt and a black and white licorice tie.  Thick knot.

We get a look at the Bruin goal again.  And we hear the tugboat foghorn that signals Bruin goals.

Second Period
Boston 1, Montreal 0

Pouliot, Plekanec and Kostitsyn are the starting trio for the Canadiens with O’Byrne and Markov on the blue line.

Canadiens chase the lost faceoff and come up with the puck.  They generate a shot but a whistle follows.  Lines change.  The organ gives us some classic notes.

Puck escapes the rink again.

Faceoff will be to Rask’s right.  Rask.  Yep, that’s a good name, too.  Has a smart-bomb buzz to it.  It’s best said by an iconoclastic, old but short cartoon druggist.

Brunet says that the teams are both nervous.

Canadiens win the faceoff.  Gionta lifts a leg in the circle.  Fakes.  Shoots, anyway.  Negated.

Maxwell enters on the next sequence.  Canadiens are stopped.

Boston emerges with a slow snake three-on-two.  Drifting menace.  Open man on Halak’s left.  Bruins can’t get him the puck.

Krejci line is on for Boston.

Boston defenceman Derek Morris moves the puck up and the Bruins carry it out and get an eight-second possession.  Mostly boards.

Darche works it down the right.  Point shot from Markov is the result.  Wide.

Exit and re-entry by les hommes Francais.

Kostitsyn.  Skating and finding.  Plekanec supporting.  Pouliot working the boards behind Rask.  Puck goes out of play.  Rask takes a drink of plastic water.  Martin shakes his head and looks a bit big lemon.  Good purple tie, though.  Busy stripes and white slashes.

Bruins have it now.  Chara is past the Montreal hash.  To the other side.  Gionta and Maxwell work the boards.  Whistle goes.  Offside.

Julien looks calm.  Walnut salesman composure.

Bruins blast it after winning the faceoff.

Bitz line is on.

Gill and Gorges are the defensive pairing.  Puck is behind the net.  Gill works against two Bruins and with his reach is able to engage both and come up with the puck.  Good work.

D’Agostini emerges seconds later down the right side.  Rask stops and controls it.  Circle shot.  Brunet says that this is what the team wants from D’Agostini; to shoot more.  And that is good sense.  It is D’Agostini’s great strength.

Bruins come back the other way.  Krejci enters turning over the blue line.  Retains.  Shoots from a sharp angle.  Puck goes to the right doorstep.  Wheeler sends it to the roof (of the net).

Boston 2, Montreal 0

Canadiens turn the puck over following the faceoff.  Bruin shot results.  Houde notes the frequency of Montreal turnovers tonight.

Bruins are in their own zone.  Pass up for Matt Hunwick.  To Bitz.  Canadiens end that.

Yo-yo vectors as the puck is in and then out of the Bruin zone.  O’Byrne sends a clever back pass to retain possession.

Next segment sees Gomez and Spacek working well to set the offensive rhythm.  But the Canadiens are chased out again.  And D’Agostini shows a less-than special puck commitment on the forecheck.  His radius of responsibility is about the range of his shadow.

Cammalleri will be back in six weeks.  Keep repeating that.

Gorges goes back for it.  Up for Gill at the Montreal blue line.  Lapierre chases the puck around the Bruin net.  Right idea but he is too far from the disc.  Puck moves faster than the man.

Both teams are playing tentatively.  Still.

Wheeler gets in.  Halak falls and the puck goes the wrong way.  Still saves it.  Puck comes around the other side and Ryder is foiled by Halak.  Canadiens exit.

Out and back in.  Markov shoots it high.  Rask ducks, glove to face.  Puck misses everything.  Canadiens keep it in for about five seconds but the puck escapes Spacek on the right side.  He has been a big disappointment for Montreal.  After 55+ games, I feel safe offering this opinion.

Maxwell works against Bitz in the corner to Halak’s left.

Boston gets a sequence.  Chara at the point.  To the right.  Shot.  Puck takes a pinball slide along the boards.  And again the puck is snarled inside the Montreal blue line.  Momentum is going to the Bruins.  Whistle saves that percolation.  For now.

Commercial.  Whoo-haw.  Morons riding a couch.  Bell bull.  Thanks for comin’ out.

We see a replay of Halak’s save on Ryder.  Brunet and Houde agree it was a robbery of the crease variety.  Halak was splayed and his left arm and glove were along the goal-line.  That red, skritchy goal-line.

Bruins are sporting a logo I haven’t seen before.  Looks like the old Buffalo Bills logo.  Quiet, large animal standing and contemplating the grass in front of it.  Side-view.  Looks alright, I guess.  I’d expect side-view tundra animals on heavy equipment and not hockey jerseys.

Boston’s black pants are stripeless and I think this is also part of the throwback authenticity that I believe founds this look.  And I like it.  The more black, the better.  Yeah, it’s not a colour, but.  (Yeah, it’s not a sentence, but.)

Bruins nearly score on a backhand rush alert.  But Halak makes his second great save of the night.  To go with about six very good ones.

Houde lobs a small bouquet Halak’s way and we move to animated food products and impossibly gorgeous food photos.

Iceberg lettuce is about as big a scam as the funeral headstone business.

Brunet says that there is no energy, no emotion, too many turnovers and aie-yi-yi …  Pretty much, yeah.

Six and a half minutes left in a period that doesn’t feel it’s begun.

Crowd is involved but murmuring at most.

Long pass misses all Bruins and Halak handles it.  Canadiens enter.  Gionta is hit by Chara in the corner and the Bruins come up with it.  Three men were behind the end line for Boston.

Lapierre is on.  Looks for and finds a check.  Hit Chara.

Canadiens work better on this shift.  They keep it in.  Best possession of the night.  Puck is frozen briefly on the side boards to Rask’s right.

And it exits.

Canadiens retrieve.

Sharp angle shot on Rask misses the goalie, the net, everything.

Houde remarks that we’ve gone a long period without a whistle.  Just over four minutes left when a long pass fails and the Bruins are called for icing.

Though iceberg lettuce lacks a lot in terms of nutritional value, when it’s cold, crisp and fresh it does go well on a toasted cheese sandwich with fresh tomatoes.  These formica fantasies are unprompted by the idiot box and are the result of my postponed dinner.

We return to action to see RDS’ list of the six Bruins who are Olympics-bound.  One Canadian.  Patrice Bergeron.

Canadiens win the faceoff and send a long pass that Kostitsyn chases.  He is interfered with or hooked.  Looked someone grabbed his stick.  Whistle goes moments later and the refs call it.  Matt Hunwick for hooking.

Canadiens win the faceoff but have to chase the puck out of their zone, regroup and stick it back in.  Puck is lost after a dainty travel path along the back boards behind Rask.  Pouliot couldn’t get it.

Next sequence is also chopped away by Boston.

Seventy seconds left in the penalty.

Metropolit enters with Gomez.  Good geometry.  Down the right side.  Pass, pass, shot, rebound, shot, goal.  Metropolit just outside the crease.  It’s Metropolit’s 11th goal of the season.

Boston 2, Montreal 1

Houde tells us that it’s Metropolit’s first point in the last ten games (nine pointless games preceded, ahem).

Canadiens score again.  What.  What.  How?  Hamrlik.

Brunet says that Boston’s confidence is fragile.

Long wrist shot from just inside the circle to Rask’s right.  Darche appeared to deflect it.

Montreal 2, Boston 2

Two minutes left.

Satan (Miroslav, yes, Satan; that’s his real last name) is on with Lucic and Savard.  They control (your soul).  Almost twenty seconds.  They go the puck to the point twice but no shots.

Boston chases it back into their own zone.  They re-enter.

Boston is alive.  Pouliot line is on.  Plekanec and Kostitsyn with him.  The new line.

Pace rises to a level previously non-existent.  Side shot.  Halak stops it.  Puck goes behind the net and the net goes off its moorings.  Faceoff is to Halak’s left.  Bruins win it clean.  Shot from the point.  Halak has to play the young athlete.  He is the young athlete.  Good save.

Canadiens move it along.

Seconds tick away as Boston retrieves the puck.  Siren goes.  Period ends.

Shots on goal are 17-9 in favour of Boston for a 32-14 advantage after two periods.

Second Intermission
Boston 2, Montreal 2

Jacques loves Jaroslav Halak.  It’s official.  He says Halak is a solid number one from all points of view.  Demers adds that Halak is the best player for either team tonight.

J’ecoute d’abord.

Whoever invented the sandwich is a genius.  I went with spinach as the extra instead of the romantic iceberg lettuce concept.  I won’t say what else made it between these two Dijon mustard-slathered slices of bread.

Luc Gelinas interviews Mathieu Darche prior to the third.  Third is right.

Third Period
Montreal 2, Boston 2

We are informed that the Canadiens two goals to end the period came thirty-nine seconds apart.

Plekanec line starts the period.  Markov and O’Byrne are on the blue line.  O’Byrne shoots right and Markov shoots left.  This is something that becomes an issue at times for teams; the lack of right-shooting defencemen or vice-versa.

Gomez line follows.  They hack at it on the boards for a few seconds on Bruin ice before Lucic and his crew move it out and down.  Lucic goes around the Montreal net but can’t centre or shoot it.

Next sequence features a long shot from the point and not much else.

Bruins own the next sequence as well.  For about four seconds.

Are kettle chips fried in seven hundred small copper kettles or in one gigantic titanium silver one?  Who manages this process?  Gotta be a hot room, eh?  Whoof.

Spacek gives it away.  Bergeron can’t put it in.  Houde’s voice nearly causes a windpipe accident for me but we are all safe.  For now.

Ryder gets over the line.  Crowd is more voiced.  Shot.  Nope.

Darche gets over the red line and dumps it in for a Montreal line change.  Five minutes elapsed.  Moen and Bergeron are on.

Crowd voices its displeasure.    Whistle.  Moen argues.  Hooking.

Don’t argue.  Call might have been muffed, though.  Bruin power-play.

Giveaway.  Plekanec skates in his trusted King Arthur page style; amphibian-hop and low; all intent and loyalty.  Slows as he crosses the Bruin blue.  Wastes Bruin time.   Bruins have to regroup.

Next entry is quashed.

Bruins retrieve behind their net.

And another repulsion.  Markov at the Montreal blue.

Wideman and Krejci are on now.

Stick to the face.  Accidental.  Krejci.  Not pleased.  Markov went down.  He’s ok.  Julien is mildly distraught.  He shakes his head.  He accepts it.  He tells someone to f off, mildly.

Four on four for a few seconds and the Canadiens get a man-advantage for about 100 seconds.

But the first stop is by Halak.  Distance shot from outside the circle but he had to pause to control it and elected to hold it for a faceoff.

Habs win it and exit.

Metropolit is behind the net.  Up to the hash for Gomez.  To the other side for Bergeron who has moved up.

No shots but the Canadiens keep it in.  Darche is on with them.

Bruins escape.  Sturm.  Splits the defence.  Shoots.  Markov gets back, does something.  Halak makes the save.  Houde and Brunet compliment Markov.

One last segment.  Plekanec pass is deflected out.  Krejci has it as he leaves the box.  Accelerates.  Right side.  Shoots it to zero.

Gorges has it at the Bruin blue.  Shot.  Canadiens keep it in.  Moen.  Puck bounds over the glass.  TV timeout.

Replay shows that Markov lifted Sturm’s stick to prevent the shot.  What a great play.

Houde and Brunet discuss Darche’s utility.  We see Darche in front of the net standing in there and taking the sticks and shoving and then registering two quick shots off a slot pass.

Gomez takes a subsequent faceoff and wins it to Rask’s left but Krejci gets at the puck first.

Gionta sends it in after Halak scoops the puck up to him past the red line.

Lines change.

Kostitsyn line.  Big bro still ain’t back.

I’ve been informed that Ilya Kovalchuk is a New Jersey Devil.  Don’t they have enough Cups already?  What a terrifying addition.

Forty-seven of RDS’ respondents believe that the main reason Boston is not as good this year is because of number one goalie Tim Thomas’ inconsistency.  Remember when I said he wouldn’t match last season’s save percentage?  Remember?  Remember?  Ah, whatever.  A pumpkin can’t predict the future.  (I’M the pumpkin)

Just under eight minutes.  The intensity is increasing.  Both teams have increased the skating pace.  Passes get shorter, spaces get closed more quickly and the boards judder with the intent of the willful professional.

Plekanec line is on.  They retain deep.  Pass from the back of the net.  Pouliot nearly gets at it and I make a sound like a baritone chicken.

Canadiens continue to press.  They get a sequence from the Metro line.

Uh.  It’s a short sequence.  But Moen beat his man to the puck and because that has been rare in recent weeks (months?) I get overly exuberant.

Lucic line hops on.  Savard carries it down the left side.  Good speed.  But he doesn’t get the support he needs and the Canadiens don’t help; their backcheck is there this time.

Whistle.

Halak’s mask, dominant red with black highlights (I dunno what the painter guys say) is very cool.  It’s not new, I just wanted to honour it.

Rask and Halak make about five great saves between them over fifty seconds.

Markov is off the ice for the last time tonight.  Last breather.  Hamrlik and Spacek are on.

Whistle after two beautiful Halak saves.  Bruins win it.

Long shot from Chara misses the net.

Hamrlik and Spacek combine to press the luncheon meat.  Bruins squeezed.  Yeah, yeah.  They get the puck out, though.  That’s what counts.

Lapierre line is on.

Just under four minutes.

Bruins fans start a Knick-rhythm “lets’ go Bruins” chant.  I’ve never liked that rhythm.  There’s something volley-ball glare about it.

Lapierre is called.  Houde says “what a bad penalty to take at this point in the game”.  We see the penalty and it’s a bad one.  Boarding and it was unnecessary.  The call is roughing.

Bruins win the faceoff.

Plekanec intercepts a pass.  Three guys are in.  Pass for Gorges.  Misses.

Patrice Bergeron takes it in for Boston.  Ryder has it on the opposite side.  Shoots.  Wide.

Then Gomez enters on a near-two-on-one but the pass fails.

Bruins enter.  Hamrlik is clearing it within three seconds.  Just under a minute in the penalty.

Wideman and Morris combine for a long shot that goes wide of Halak.

Bruins retrieve.

Gomez and Gionta are the pairing.  Shots are sailing through the air.  Voop.  Baff.  Fweep.  Bash.

Penalty ends.

Ninety seconds left.  Sergei and Plekanec are on with Moen.  Lines change.

Minute fifteen.

Bruins move it out from behind their net.

Puck is sent in on a diagonal and it’s sent out just as quickly.

Wideman’s pass from the neutral zone is intercepted.

Gionta sends a surprise shot bouncing from outside the blue line.  Rask was surprised, says Houde.

Bruins move it out.  They are bent raster and dusty spider; confused offensive.

Habs exit.

Pouliot gets it going over the blue line and cuts left.  Not your pappy’s offensive entry.  Another pass.  A shot.  Rask traps it and holds it for the faceoff.

Fifteen seconds and Boston wins the faceoff.  They are stopped at their blue line as they.  Puck is sent in and the Bruins retrieve it.  Time runs out as they start out again.

Shots on goal are 10-7 in favour of Boston and 42-21 total.

Overtime (Five Minutes, Four-on-Four)

Four-on-four action as usual for the overtime period (plus one goalie each).

Natch.

First pairing is Gionta with Gomez.  They face Krejci and Bergeron.  Bruins win the faceoff.

Chara carries it past the hash.

Extended black possession.  Halak makes a splack adventure and excitement save.  Off the mask.  Backhand.  Good position.

Markov follows with single-coverage shot from inside the Boston blue line.  Got all of it.  Stopped.  Five-hole save.

Bruins enter.  Hamrlik trips.  He’s talking about it to the ref.  He shouldn’t.  He did it.  Ugly penalty.

Claude Julien calls a time-out.

Halak is facing his seventh forty-plus save night of the season, we are told.

Faceoff to Halak’s left is won by Plekanec.  Gill chases it around behind the net going the other way.  And they move it out.

Bruins enter.  Four-on-three.  Morris to Recchi.  To Savard on the circle.  Shots.  More shots.

Savard has it at the circle again.  To the other side to Bergeron.  To the diamond-top.  Morris fires after some more passing.  Plekanec is the lone forward for Montreal.

Gill falls on it and takes a few spears.

No call.

Then Plekanec’ stick is held as he tries to get the puck out.

Refs are ignoring it.  What did Hamrlik say?  Refs that have to show they’re in charge are lettuce-heads.

Huge chance in front of Rask short-handed.  Markov, point-blank following a magician’s entry by Plekanec.  He was knocked down like a grocery-thief.

Faceoff.

Markov is in again.  Splits the defensive; shoots high.  Stopped.

Houde says that Markov is on fire this period.

Glass was broken by a Bruin shot earlier and the game is stopped to replace the glass.

Brunet criticizes the Bruin power-play positioning saying that Morris should have come up tighter than he was.  He says against a goalie as hot as Halak has been that shots from the standard distance aren’t good enough.

Six Garden officials manage the large glass situation.  A number of Bruin fans are asked to help on the other side.  Or are they fans.  Uh, no.  They’re also arena officials.  Well, isn’t that a relief.  They LOOKED like fans.

The arena folks push a wheeled ladder off the ice as they leave en masse.  Homogenous bunch.

Gomez wins the faceoff.  Sends it to Markov on the point.  Bruins regain control.  One minute remaining announcement is heard over the PA system.

Bruins move it down but the puck is sent out of play.

Hamrlik sees a piece of glass in the corner and a ref has to come out and get it.  It’s a three-foot piece.  Or so.  Houde remarks that the arena staff didn’t do a full job and that this is dangerous.

Canadiens get it under control in the Boston zone.  Ten seconds.

Sergei sends Plekanec in with one defender slightly turned and out of position.  Most he can do is one-arm it weakly toward Rask; he leans and can do much more.  Good coverage.

Period ends and we go to a shoot-out.

Canadiens are 4-2 in the shootout as opposed to 6-7 for the Bruins.  Halak has stopped four of four shootout shots.

Shootout

Coaches write down their shootout choices and provide them for the ref.

Halak scrapes the ice in the time-honoured way.  Plekanec heads out to the ice to take the first shot.

Shoot to Thrill echoes in the Boston barn.

Rask readies himself.  Plekanec drifts to position.  One glove on his hip.  Contemplating everything.  (Play to Kill)

PA system blares.  Boos begin.  Plekanec takes it down.  Dekes, backhand.  Misses.  And Rask stopped it.

Krejci follows for Boston.  Moves in.  Deke.  Forehand to backhand.  Halak makes a demon-reflex save.  On his stomach.

Gomez is next.  Hesitation.  Beats Rask.  Hits Rask’s pad.

Ryder.  Deke.  Fakes the shot.  Backhander.  Stopped.

Gionta is next.   Down the middle.  Forehand, backhand, lift.  Goal.

Montreal 1, Boston 0

Marc Savard gets a bit fancy.  Halak stops it.  Whatever.

Canadiens win.  They surround their goalie.  Smiles.  Savard’s attempt was a cruise down the left side and then a keep to the forehand crossing across the slot; he paused and slowed in that way that would get you leveled in regular play.  High shot was pad-saved.  Is that a word?  Win is a word.

Montreal 3
Boston 2

HDS Stars: Jaroslav Halak, Tuukka Rask, Andrei Markov
RDS Stars: Jaroslav Halak, Blake Wheeler, Scott Gomez