By all accounts, the matchup between the Canadiens and Coyotes was one to remember; however, maybe not so much for Andrei Kostitsyn.
The Habs defeated the Coyotes 4-1 in a game filled with great passes, dazzling moves, supers shots, and aggressive behavior.
Carey Price was calm and solid as usual, stopping 28 of 29 shots fired his way.
The Habs' new big-line of Tanguay-Koivu-Latendresse was the line of the night once again. They were on the ice for the first three goals of the game, with Tanguay potting two and Koivu scoring the other on a sublime slap-pass from Andrei Markov. Despite not having a goal yet, Markov is doing exceptionally well in the assists department, adding two and pushing his total to eight.
Guillaume Latendresse had an assist on the first Tanguay goal, and he continued to impress all night long. Gui has really taken a liking to being a part of what is now the Habs top line.
The Plekanec line continues to struggle, as the other teams have taken notice to last season's breakout and are using their top defensemen against them. To make matters worse, Andrei Kostitsyn may miss some time (he's out for the Florida match for sure).
AK46 was levelled on a suspect hit from 'Yotes d-man Kurt Sauer. The hit sent AK into the boards and caused him to land face first onto the ice. The head shot caused Andrei to lay motionless on the ice for a while; concussion is a plausible scenario. Andrei evetnaully got up with the help of trainers and the cameras focussed in on his face, showing how immediate the swelling occured around his left eye. He looked pretty bad...
That set the tone for some serious action throughout the remainder of the game, which still had just under two full periods of play ahead of it. Immediately after, Sergei Kostitsyn laid a late hit on a Coyotes defensemen, and Sergei took a roughing penalty, much to the CONTENT of the crowd who recognized the brotherly act.
Georges Laraque searched for a dance partner, but couldn't find one (at least not quite yet...).
Instead, Sauer squared off with Tom Kostopoulos, and despite not doing too well in the tilt, TK got a nice ovation from the crowd.
Laraque would get his dance late in the second period, going toe to toe with Coyotes tough guy Todd 'the Fridge' Fedoruk, a black belt in martial arts. Laraque won that fight, outmuscling and outpunching his opponent with ease.
The Habs added a fourth straight goal on a Robert Lang powerplay goal before Shane Doan would break Carey's goose-egg exactly midway through the third period.
Montreal finished with 33 shots on goal and went 1-for-3 on the powerplay, all the while shutting down Phoenix on both of their powerplay opportunities.
No updates just yet on Andrei Kostitsyn's condition. Check back tomorrow.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
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1 comment:
I believe that the hit was not a cheap shot but still deserved a suspension from the league. A hit to the head, whether intentional or not, is an intent to injure and should not have gone unpunished. It's like saying I hit a guy in the face with my stick but it wasn't intention... come on. What a load of crap.
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