Saturday, October 11, 2008

Habs drop opener to Sabres in shootout

The Canadiens opened their season last night in Buffalo, and despite outchancing the Sabres, the Habs wound up losing the contest 2-1 via the shootout.

Ryan Miller had a great game in goal, allowing an early tally to get by him courtesy newcomer Robert Lang, but shutting the door on every other opportunity.

Carey Price, though tested less, was solid as well in defeat. Carey was beaten on both shootout attempts, while Montreal failed to convert on any, ending the game early.

All the Canadiens players had decent outings, but if I had to pick on any, it would have to be Patrice Brisebois and Guillaume Latendresse. Brisebois took a retaliatory penalty in the first period, and gave the puck away one more than the one occasion that appears on the official game summary. Latendresse, who was thrust into the spotlight when it became known that Chris Higgins would miss the match amongst others, failed to impress once again.

On a good note, Roman Hamrlik had a whale of a game for the Habs, taking 7 shots on goal and blocking another 6. Andrei Markov logged more time than any other skater of either team with just under 29 minutes; 5 mins more than the closest skater, Derek Roy.

Montreal now heads to Toronto for their second game of the season, led in goal by Jaroslav Halak. Toronto upset Detroit on Thursday at the Joe Louis Arena, defeating the defending champs 3-2.

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