Just when you thought this game was over, there it was, a beautiful comeback from the Canadiens, who hadn’t accomplished chasing down a third period lead, all season long. Oh, did I forget to mention that they beat the New Jersey Devils in the process? You know, those same New Jersey Devils that had beaten the Habs…ah, alas, I forget how many times in their last 26 games.

You know who else looked like he thought it was over? Marty Brodeur! Catching a glimpse of Marty yawning, feeling safe and sound, up 2-0 in this one, it was evident he didn’t see it coming. Just like everyone else watching never saw it coming. Storming off the bench, on for Plekanec (Mr. responsible taking a shift in the offensive zone), Brian Smolinski got a look from within five feet of the blue paint, care of Mr. Konsistant (oops I think it’s spelt Kostitsyn), and pocketed his first goal of the night.

All of a sudden it was a 2-1 game. Albeit, the momentum didn’t last long, as Jamie Langenbrunner benefited from the untimely penalties taken by Plekanec and Begin, blistering a shot past Huet to put the Devils up by two, once again. Of course Carbonneau lost his lid, and the Canadiens were handicapped 5 on 3 directly after succumbing to the pressure of the same situation. Max Lapierre, and company came to the rescue, as the Canadiens created the turning point of the game.

If I had to guess, Carbonneau went into the lockeroom during that second intermission, excused himself for putting the team in that position, and encouraged the boys to go out and take what belonged to them. After all the torment of playing against this team, through two periods of tight hockey, the Canadiens were prepared to put their foot down. They were out-shooting the Devils 13-10 after two, and after a stifling defensive effort by New Jersey in the first, Cristobal Huet’s composure kept the Habs in position to put things together in the second.

The third began, and with it came Brian Smolinski’s third goal in his last two games. Smolinski came up huge, scoring a back-breaking goal, 29 seconds in! Smolinski deserves credit for playing a great game. It hasn’t happened often this season, but hopefully he’s gained some confidence from his recent success, and will allow that to resonate through All-Star weekend.

Saku Koivu finally scored a goal. It’s been a while, but thank G-d, he did it! The tying goal came on a Mike Komisarek shot from the point that was tipped by Koivu in the high slot, through Brodeur. Many thought it was questionable, however with the play being called a goal on the ice, there needed to be conclusive evidence to the contrary in order to overturn the call. The evidence was certainly not conclusive that Koivu’s stick was above the crossbar when it made contact with the puck. To the relief of the entire Habs fanbase, team, administration, etc… the call stood, and with it, so did the Canadiens chances of pulling out of Jersey with a W.

All night Koivu’s line was working hard, but to no avail. They kept pushing and pushing. Higgins had recorded 1 assist in his last 8 games. He had a glorious chance earlier in the third, scrambling to knock in a puck while lying in the blue paint, on a powerplay. Finally his luck changed as Koivu got the puck to Hamrlik, who fired it on Brodeur, giving Higgins the opportunity to bury the game with one swift motion of his stick; another huge relief for all of Habdom.

The Habs played five minutes of solid shutdown hockey to finish this one off. Huet made key saves, and earned his first victory in eight starts vs. Martin Brodeur. At the end of it all, New Jersey was defeated in their own arena, by the Montreal Canadiens. Who knows when it’ll happen again?
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A victory takes contributions from everyone on the team. So does a loss. I won’t copy and paste Brent Sutter’s post game comments, but they’re worth a look: http://tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=228138&hubname=nhl
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Speaking of contributions:
-Maxim Lapierre went 4/5 in the faceoff circle tonight, winning clean draws in his own zone, including going 3/3 in the third period.

-Koivu went 54% in the faceoff dot, Plekanec- 73%.

-Eight different Canadiens hit the scoresheet.

-Komisarek picked up an assist for his 3rd point in 2 nights. He also improved to +11.
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The Canadiens now have 60 points in 49 games. They have earned a mini-break. Enjoy the All-Star Weekend. And, next time you’re at the Bell Centre give Andrei Markov a round of applause…he, and his buddies have earned the praise they’ll receive when they welcome the Washington Captials on Tuesday!

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