Habs Get Physical Against Bruins, Win 5-2

No matter how much I say about Mike Komisarek in the following article, it still won't be enough to rightly credit him.

Mike was a MONSTER tonight, just as Pierre McGuire labeled him in his 'Monster of the Game' bit. He was all over the ice, throwing hit after hit after hit, taking the pain for a blocked shot off his ankle, and not allowing anyone to push his goaltender around. Mike was everything we expected him to be tonight when the Canadiens made him their 7th overall choice in 2001. Komisarek was going at it all game long with towering teenaged winger Milan Lucic (don't be fooled by the name, he's a Canadian boy), and he handled himself perfectly in every situation...even the times that Lucic tried to wipe out Komisarek, Lucic was the one falling to the ice.

To be fair, however, EVERYONE was hitting tonight, and the Bruins looked confused by it.

You would be confused too if young, tiny Sergei Kostitsyn is laying out open-ice hits that are highlight-reel material.

And what about Josh Gorges??? Is anyone recognizing his vast improvement???

This kid is making me proud lately...he's sticking up for his teammates, and more importantly he's holding his ground perfectly against forwards on one-on-one situations, something we aren't used to seeing from the Craig Rivet trade returnee. Also, Gorges is learning to relax with the puck in high pressure situations...he is more and more comfortable with his role, and if he continues the way he's going now, he can really develop into a real steal from my beloved Sharks (that's right, after Montreal, I'm a Sharks fan, for those who don't know). Added bonus: Gorges had an assist on Dandeneault's 1st of 2.

Since I'm on the Sharks for a second: Congratulations to Evgeni Nabokov for his 2nd All-Star game appearance! This goalie has always stood out to me since winning the Calder back in 2001...and let's not forget, he's a 9th round choice, 219th overall (1994).

The Habs continue to roll on offense. They have scored 4 or more goals in each of their 4 January games thus far, and have scored 4 or more goals in 6 of their last 7, going 5-0-2 in that span. That is nothing short of spectacular from a team who does not have a bona-fide superstar forward.

Alex Kovalev was drawing loads of respect from the Bruins players while on the powerplay, as the were visibly staying away from him, which, ironically, allowed him even more time and space to set up. Kovalev had 1 goal and 1 assist, both points on the powerplay. Kovalev leads the league with 25 points on the man-advantage.

Next up: Montreal travels into Madison Square Garden to play guest to the New York Rangers. The 'Blueshirts' were routed tonight, 6-2 by the Philadelphia Flyers, who welcomed Simon Gagne back after missing 25 games due to post-concussion syndrome.