On Wednesday night, the fans expected to see a hockey game but instead a
track meet broke out between the Habs and Edmonton Oilers. Montreal had
the lead at two different junctures, 1-0 and 3-1, but blew the lead in the 3rd
and inevitably lost the game in overtime on a Dustin Penner goal. Scott
Gomez kicked off the scoring in the 1st on the PP; special teams would come into
play later on as well.
Kurtis Foster would reply for Edmonton before the end of the period, also on
the PP, sending the game tied at 1 into the 2nd. Mathieu Darche (also on
the PP) and Roman Hamrlik scored barely two minutes apart in the 2nd giving the
Habs the lead but Ales Hemsky and Sam Gagner (another PP goal…problem was, it
was Montreal’s PP) each scored to force OT, where the second of P.K. Subban’s
costly misreads gave Dustin Penner a breakaway which he didn’t miss on.
Devan Dubnyk picked up the win, turning aside 36 shots while Carey Price, fresh
off being named 2nd Star of the Month, took the loss, saving 28 of 32.
HW 3 Stars of the Night:
1st Star: Roman Hamrlik (1 goal, 1 assist, 2 PIMS, 4 shots,
21:10 TOI)
In what was supposed to be Jaroslav Spacek’s milestone night (800th game), his
Czech partner took the spotlight playing one of, if not his best game of the
year, picking up his 150th goal and 600th point of his career.
2nd Star: Mathieu Darche (1 goal, 1 assist, 1 shot, 1 hit,
13:28 TOI)
I must admit, seeing him on the PP made me cringe but it’s hard to argue with a
pair of powerplay points. 5 on 5, his line played quite well and he was a
big reason for that.
3rd Star: Lars Eller (1 assist, +1 rating, 2 shots, 1 hit, 2/5
faceoffs, 11:53 TOI)
The stats don’t tell the story here. He was extremely aggressive and
relentless on the forecheck and even had some nice rushes. Of the games
he’s played this season, this one is in his top-3 in my books.
Honourable Mention: Scott Gomez (1 goal, -1 rating, 3 shots,
4/8 faceoffs, 19:16 TOI)
Another player where the stats don’t show everything. I was keeping a
close eye on his rushes tonight and noticed he was much more willing to ‘chip
and chase,’ rather than try and go end to end. He and Mike Cammalleri
still look a little out of sync, but tonight it simply can’t be pinned on Gomez.
After some rough outings, this was a step in the right direction.
Stat of the Night: Let’s leave this game aside and look at the
Hamilton Bulldogs who were also in action tonight. Recently crowned AHL
Player of the Month Max Pacioretty was the scoring in regulation as he scored
both Bulldogs goals against Abbotsford. The game went to a shootout where
Gabriel Dumont’s goal in the 3rd round proved to be the winner as Hamilton took
the game 3-2, putting themselves in a tie for 2nd overall in the AHL.