Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Halak Is On Fire

The Canadiens Wins 3-0 Vs. The Canucks

"Halak is on fire" Those were the words of Benoit Brunet during the game last night as Jaroslav Halak made more and more spectacular saves. He was extremely solid on a couple of breakaways, especially on Henrik Sedin. He was awesome on the penalty kill, he didn't leave any rebounds, was in complete control of the puck. Wow! And when I thought that he couldn't do better than the game versus the Avalanche, I was wrong. He was able to be perfect in this one. He showed me and a lot of fans that he can win a game by himself.

Saku Koivu, who was sick and didn't play well in the last two games, played an excellent defensive game last night. He was excellent in the penalty kill. He made the most important play last night during the 5 on 3 by diving and making the nice pass to Plekanec. If there ever was any highlights for defensive plays, this would definitely be one of the top 10s defensive plays of the week.

Ever since Plekanec's suspension, he is a changed player. For some reason, he is producing at an amazing rate. Again, last night, he has collected a goal and an assist. A beautiful breakaway goal on Luongo and a precise pass to Andrei Markov on the Powerplay. Plekanec has also done well during the penalty kill and in his defensive zone.

About Alex Kovalev, as a Habs fan, you don't know how to feel about him. One night, he can get you off your seats by making awesome plays and win a game for the team. And one night, where he is invisible and puts your team in a bad situation by taking bad penalties. Last night, well...he took 6 minutes of penalty and almost made the Habs lost. He was lucky that Halak and the team played well defensively.

I didn't like how Andrei Kostitsyn played last night. A bit like Kovalev, he was more invisible last night. He looses the puck too often and took a bad penalty. Ever since Kovalev is back, I haven't seen Kostitsyn play well . Could it be that Kovalev have a negative influence on Andrei? I don't know for sure. But one thing is for sure, when Kovalev is on the ice, Andrei always tries to give him the puck instead of keeping it.

Finally, the Canadiens have won two games in row now. They need to keep it going. The next game won't be easy again. The Habs will need to play against the Flyers. With the performance last night of Halak, I don't think anyone would have any doubt on who will be keeping the net. Go Habs Go!

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