Review & Preview

I apologize for the late entry but I was busy last night and didn't find any time to post a review. Well, for those of you that had already watched the game, I know you don't want to hear this again, but Montreal was blanked by the Caps 3-0. Theodore was perfect last night, just like any French Canadian goalie who plays Montreal. Scorers for Washington: T.Fleischmann, D.Steckel and of course, Alex Ovechkin.

It's really hard to find some positives for tonight. Montreal took 28 shots and were creating chances. Halak played an excellent game once again, but had to stand on his head, putting up with 30 shots. Well that's all I could think of.

Blanked by a 1-man team, who had 9 players injured including 3 of their top point-getters, is embarrassing. How on earth is it possible, that after beating Stanley Cup champions, you lose to a team like this. It doesn't make sense. Something is wrong in Montreal, and it doesn't seem to be getting any better. Since going on a stellar 8-1-1 start (which could easily have been 10-0-0), Montreal has only won 4 in their last 12. That says a lot. Interesting enough, within those 12 games, Alexei Kovalev has not been able to find the back of the net. Funny, because the last time he did that was back in February of 2004. Wow, looks like he's really sulking for that contract. Rest assured, unlike Alexei, Gainey does have an IQ superior to -27 and will not buy into his shenanigans.

If someone asked me how the game went last night, the one and only thing that I would need to say, is this: Carbonneau played Dandenault, Lapierre and Kostopoulos on the powerplay.

Moving on to tonight's game in Montreal. This should be a real interesting one. Carbo, who in my mind won't be behind the bench for much longer, is desperate for anything. Matt D'Agostini, who has done wonders for Hamilton (3rd in AHL with 25 points in 20 games), was called up on Thursday and will start tonight's game alongside Koivu and Higgins. The Kostitsyns are with Lapierre, Plekanec is with Begin and Kostopoulos and Lang is with Kovy and Latendresse. But, in my opinion, the most significant change of the night, is Dandenault replacing a scratched O'Byrne. Dandenault, a natural defender, is playing his first game as a defenceman since god knows when. Carey Price will start in net. Tanguay and Laraque are still out with injuries.

Buffalo is a streaky team and will be a challenge for Montreal. They have beaten the Bruins and the Penguins and their last couple games. Players like Derek Roy and Jason Pominville are starting to turn their seasons around and Thomas Vanek is simply on fire. He has 21 points and is 2nd in the NHL in goals (15).

To be honest, I no longer know what to expect from Montreal anymore. But I do know one thing: GM Bob Gainey will not let these guys put this franchise to shame. He will soon make changes, and I have faith that they'll be the right ones.