Another Win On The Road

Continuing their away games, the Canadiens would face the Lightning in Tampa Bay. The Lightning have only won 2 games of their last 10 played.

• First Period
• Starting off the first period, the Canadiens would get the majority of the shots on goal within the first 8 minutes of game play, but the score would remain at 0. The other 12 minutes of the period were the Lightning generating a few good offensive opportunities, but neither team could convert, keeping this game a tie heading into the second.
• Montreal: 7 Shots On Goal
• Tampa Bay: 10 Shots On Goal
• Second Period
• Just 5 and a half minutes into the second, Steven Stamkos would snap one right past Carey Price, through traffic putting the Lighting up by a goal. Only 2 minutes later, Tomas Plekanec receives a pass right in fron of the net and just takes a quick snap shot tying this game at 1 a piece. Only a minute later, Sami Salo would snap one from the point as it beats Price through a crowd. 4 minutes later, the Lightning would score again, but this time on the powerplay as Ryan Malone would tip in a shot from Stamkos in front of the net. 3-1 Lightning at the end of 2.
• Montreal: 9 Shots On Goal
• Tampa Bay: 11 Shots On Goal
• Third Period
• 4 minutes into the third, the Canadiens would score on the powerplay. It was an unusual goal as there was a pile of players lying around in the Lightning net, but the puck somehow found its way to the back of the net, cutting the lead down to 1. Another 4 minutes later, Alexei Emelin would take a slap shot from the point, beating traffic and beating Desjardins tying this game at 3. 5 minutes later, Brendan Gallagher would score one from the side of the net as the net came off, but after the puck had gone into the net. The period would end, as the Canadiens come back in the third period and score 3 goals to win the game 4-3.
• Montreal: 13 Shots On Goal
• Tampa Bay: 2 Shots On Goal

With a win in Tampa last night, the Canadiens now head to Florida to play the Panthers today at 7. This will be the last of the Canadiens away game adventure.

Grabbing A Point

With a win against Toronto, the Canadiens would needed a win last night to take first place. They played the Pittsburgh Penguins at the Bell Centre, the Penguins were seated at third place but could move to second with a win last night.

• First Period
• Kicking off the first period, the fans were in for an exciting game. With 6 minutes into the first Brandon Prust would pick up the rebound in front of the net, and score for one his third of the season. With a minute left in the first, the Penguins would score on the powerplay tying this game in the last minute and ending the first period.
• Montreal: 12 Shots On Goal
• Pitssburgh: 14 Shots On Goal
• Second Period
• 4 minutes into the second, Pacioretty would pick up a juicy rebound on a sprawling Vokoun and backhand it into the net making it 2-1 Canadiens. With only 4 minutes after that goal, Kunitz would surprise Price from side of the net tying this game at 2. Only 30 seconds later, Matt Cooke would just throw a puck at the net and it somehow goes past Price. With 7 minutes left, the Penguins would win a face off draw in center ice and rush right towards the Canadiens net. Matt Cooke would wrist another one for his second of the night. With 2 and a half minutes left, and the Canadiens down by 2 goals, they would put pressure on the Penguins for the last 4 minutes of the period. Brian Gionta would tip in a shot making it 4-3 Canadiens. With less than a second left, PK Subban would score on a wrap around from behind the net. The goal was reviewed and it would stand as a good goal. The crowd went wild as the Canadiens tie it right at the end of the period.
• Montreal: 15 Shots On Goal
• Pittsburgh: 12 Shots On Goal
• Third Period
• 6 minutes into the third, David Desharnais would score his fifth of the season making it 5-4 Canadiens. With only 4 minutes after, Kunitz would slap one from a pass from Crosby behind the net, as he would tie it, making it 5-5. Only 2 minutes later, Sidney Crosby would be wide open in front of the net as he slaps a pass from Kris Letang, putting the Penguins back in the lead. 30 seconds later, the Canadiens on the rush would score as Brian Gionta scores from a pass from Lars Eller. The period would end and head into overtime.
• Montreal: 9 Shots On Goal
• Pittsburgh: 12 Shots On Goal
• Overtime
• Only a minute into the overtime period, Brandon Sutter receives a pass from Despres as he would be left wide open in front of Price, he would score as the Pens took it in overtime. 7-6 the final score.
• Montreal: 0 Shots On Goal
• Pittsburgh: 1 Shots On Goal

The Canadiens do pick up a point in their effort, this game had great back and forth action. The Canadiens will play the Big Bad Bruins today in Boston, i will be expecting a few fights in this one!

Falling Short

Coming off a win on Saturday night against the New York Rangers, The Canadiens would face the Ottawa Senators. The Sens have won their last 4 games, and would look to extend their winning streak to 5 games. 

• First Period
• With the game in Ottawa, there were quite a few Habs fans in the arena, as you would hear "Go Habs Go" chants shortly after the period began. With Montreal making most of the opportunities, they would not be able to get the early lead. Bishop, the Sens goaltender would make key saves to keep this game at 0-0 at the end of the first.
• Montreal: 12 Shots On Goal
• Ottawa: 5 Shots On Goal
• Second Period
• With a minute gone by in the second, Brandon Prust would get a golden opportunity on the backhand in front of the net, but Bishop denied him. 5 minutes after that play, Benoit coming in on the rush would slap one past Carey Price to give the Sens the go ahead goal. Heading to the midway mark of the second, Cole would ring one off the crossbar, the Canadiens would hit another post, but could not convert. With 3.8 seconds left to play, Andrei Markov would slap one from the blue line tying this game heading into the third.
• Montreal: 18 Shots On Goal
• Ottawa: 10 Shots On Goal
• Third Period
• Both teams would look to get a goal to give themselves an advantage, but it would be the goalies who would play strong. The Canadiens who had took more shots than the Senators, just could not get the puck past Bishop. As the period came to a close, these two teams needed overtime to settle this.
• Montreal: 10 Shots On Goal
• Ottawa: 8 Shots On Goal
• Overtime
• The Canadiens would enjoy a 4 on 3 powerplay in the overtime period, but Bishop made a few dandy saves to deny everything the Canadiens threw at him. With 5 seconds to go, Peter Regin on the rush would slap one beating Carey Price, but hitting the post. As the post gave the Habs some hope, this game would need a shootout.
• Montreal: 5 Shots On Goal
• Ottawa: 1 Shots On Goal
• Shootout
• Jakob Silfverberg (OTT) - Goal
• Alex Galchenyuk (MTL) - Save
• Daniel Alfredsson (OTT) - Save
• David Desharnais (MTL) - Goal
• Kyle Turris (OTT) - Save
• Brendan Gallagher (MTL) - Save
• Kaspars Daugavins (OTT) - Save
• Brian Gionta (MTL) - Save
• Peter Regin (OTT) - Goal
• Tomas Plekanec (MTL) - Save

With the shootout finally coming to an end, the Senators would win their 5th straight game. The Canadiens outplayed the Sens by a margin, but it was Bishop who made 44 saves on 45 shots. The Habs do pick up a point on the effort, keeping them at the number one spot. They play the Maple Leafs in Toronto, Wednesday night.