Drought, Desperation & Gomez Speaks From the Heart
Steve and Eric break down some very honest and telling quotes from the Canadiens most scrutinized and highest paid forward, Scott Gomez, following last night's 3-1 victory over the Thrashers and get into the psychological impact of Montreal's recent three game losing streak(which saw them go without a goal for 199 minutes straight) as well as providing a preview of tonight's extremely important four point game with the Carolina Hurricanes.
Brian Gionta seemed mildly pleased with the team's 3-1 win over the Atlanta Thrashers last night, and with just cause.
After scoring two goals in 11 seconds after a goal-drought that spanned 199 minutes+, the Canadiens tentatively forced the issue before eventually sealing the game on Andrei Kostitsyn's empty-net goal.
If Gionta was slightly unsatisfied, it may have had something to do with the fact that the extra goal-support could've come on opportunities missed by himself, Mike Cammalleri and Scott Gomez.
I'd like to think that line of thinking factored into his assessment of the game. As we know, the Canadiens have a much better chance of succeeding with the designated leaders towing the ship. Given the time of year and their experience, they have reason to concern themselves about continuing their own personal goal-droughts.
But that's the beauty of team-sports. It's never just about one guy, nor is it even about a select few.
With the amount of pressure the Canadiens had on them to score last night, and score early, they didn't stray from their system to do it. They came back to doing all the little things in all the right parts of the ice, and to borrow a cliche-- they all seemed to be pulling in the same direction. That's a stark contrast to what they were doing over the last week of losing hockey.
Can they continue on the right path against a Carolina team that's been playing playoff hockey since early February?
The Canes caught the kind of lucky break the Canadiens haven't been able to find over the last few games, when Jeff Skinner slipped a bad-angle shot past Varlamov, 1:46 into the third period of their game with the Capitals last night. After ensuring the first, Skinner collected that crucial second point for his Canes, with the shootout winner.
Cam Ward stopped 33 pucks in regulation and another five in OT, for the 3-2 win. He'll be ready for a duel with Price.
Key Contributions
Andrei Kostitsyn created chances last night and showed a willingness to compete that would net him much greater success if he implicated himself in the same manner consistently.
It seems he needs to take a couple of punishing blows to show his commitment to the game. He can clearly make a physical difference.
Last season, Kostitsyn finished fourth in hits on the Canadiens with 102 in 59 games. This year he's got 131 hits in 76 games.
Mathieu Darche has been the team's unsung hero this season. He's got ten goals, all of them scored the same way: from within five feet of the net. That's about as many as Cammalleri's scored from that tough area this season.
Speaking of unsung heroes, Roman Hamrlik was excellent against the Thrashers, pushing things offensively (thank goodness he did) and as always, doing his part in his own end.
Travis Moen did more than just survive his fight with the behemoth that is Chris Thorburn, as the two exchanged blows in a bout that characterized the team's compete-level on the night. Best part about that fight was Moen slipping Thorburn's haymaker hook before getting tagged by the next punch. That could've been scary.
Team Bonus: The Habs took less penalties than their opposition did. Asked Price last night if he remembered the last time that happened. Of course, he didn't.
Not to bring it up again, but the last time it happened was against the Wild, which was, of course, the last time they scored before last night.
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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