Another 3-2 Result, This One Favoring Montreal

*Andrei Kostitsyn slips one five-hole through Kari Lehtonen for the shootout winner. Associated Press/John Amis

The Canadiens and Thrashers have now met 3 out of 4 times this season, and each game has required a shootout to break a 2-2 tie. With Atlanta winning the first two shootouts, the Canadiens decided to force-feed Atlanta their own medicine last night.

Andrei Kostitsyn was the talk of the game, as he scored an absolutley dazzling goal in regulation, following up by scoring the shootout winner.

Prior to last night's contest, Montreal was the only NHL team to have never won a game when trailing after the 1st period, but that stat is now history.

The Thrashers opened the scoring late in the first with their 1st of 2 flukey goals. Marian Hossa set up along the goal line, and tried to thread a pass cross crease to Eric Perrin, but the pass ended up catching the inside of Huet's blocker, and was redirected behind Cristobal and into the net.

Early in the second, Andrei Kostitsyn took a pass from Tomas Plekanec and streaked through the neutral zone, first making a move to elude Perrin, then stickhandling to get by Ken Klee, and finally forehand-to-backhanding to beat Kari Lehtonen for the high-light reel marker.

The Habs got their first lead early in the third, when a passing play between Smolinski, Latendresse and Ryder culminated for a goal. Latendresse threw the puck towards the goal, and Ryder stretched his stick out to jab the puck, managing to deflect it up and over Lehtonen's shoulder.

But, the Thrashers would eventually tie it up, on a very weird play created by Cristobal Huet.

Huet came out to play a puck along his goal line, but somehow froze solid when faced with the decision to either pass off to a waiting Hamrlik, or wrist the puck around the net and along the boards on a common reverse play. Instead, Eric Perrin introduced Huet to option 3, as he skated in and jarred the puck free to the top of an unguarded crease, allowing Pascal Dupuis to cash in on the open cage. Christmas 2008 came 11 months early for Dupuis...

The shootout saw Kozlov up first. Straying away from his usual patience tactic, he tried to fool Huet by releasing a quick shot. Kozlov wound up missing the net.

Andrei Kostitsyn was up next, and he converted on some nifty stickhandling to slide the puck five hole through Lehtonen.

Marian Hossa tried his luck, but was denied by Huet, who stayed with the fake provided by Hossa and stuck the pad out for the stop.

Koivu had the chance to end it early, and he made the early exit possibility a reality. Moving in with great speed, Koivu released a simple low wrist shot that caught Lehtonen's left pad slightly, but not enough to stop the resulting momentum from carrying the puck across the goal-line.

-Atlanta have never defeated the Habs 3 times in a season, and now have one game remaining to accomplish the feat. With the OTL, Atlanta now own sole possession of 1st place in the Southeast, as the Hurricanes lost 5-1 in Ottawa.

-Montreal's 4 game road trip result: 3-1. They are the 2nd best road team in the NHL, all the while improving to 24-14-8 overall. The Habs have not allowed Ilya Kovalchuk to register a single point against them through 3 games this season. They return home to host the red-hot Penguins on Saturday night.

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PLEASE, if you haven't already seen it, tune in to any sports highlight station now, and catch Rick Nash's game winning goal against Phoenix last night. Phoenix seem to have the bad luck of having ridiculous goals scored on them (Alex Ovechkin on Paul Mara, anyone?)

The Ovechkin goal came on January 16th, 2007. Nash's goal: January 17th, 2008. I can't wait for January 18th, 2009 already...someone better schedule the Coyotes for a home game that night!

Thrashed in a shootout

Cristobal Huet was the savior Thursday night, and was the scape goat Saturday.

The Thrashers got on the board early with a weak goal coming from Slava Kozlov, as he came down the left wing and released a wrist shot that completely fooled Huet glove side. Perrin was also able to score on the PP after receiving a brilliant cross-crease saucer pass from Marian Hossa, who has assists on both Thrashers goals. Ilya Kovalchuk was held off the scoresheet, despite being on the ice for a whopping 23:35. Thrashers rookie defenseman Tobias Enstrom led all skaters with 29:39 of ice time.

The Habs got off to a great start. The 1st line of Higgins-Koivu-Kostitsyn got a great first shift in, nearly scoring on a few chances. The line would eventually click, as Kostitsyn was able to cash in on rebounds from Komisarek and Koivu. The goal was the rookie's 2nd in as many contests, and his speed continues to impress many Habs fans. Kovalev was able to tie the game midway through the 3rd, as he released a slap shot from his off-wing at the very end of a powerplay, which beat Thrashers goalie Kari Lehtonen between his body and left arm. The goal was registered as an even strength marker, and was Kovalev's 15th of the season.

The Habs outshot the Thrashers 39-28, yet were unable to capitalize on chances throughout the game. Anrei Kostitsyn was the unluckiest of all. He missed multiple chances, including an absolutely gorgeous setup from Tomas Plekanec down low. Plekanec was able to attract and stickhandle around both Thrashers defensemen, before backhanding a cross-crease pass to the awaiting Kostitsyn. Andrei was unable to catch the pass, which would have needed the simplest of touches to tickle the twine.

The Thrashers remain one of the most lethal teams in the NHL when it comes to the shootout. With such weapons like Kovalchuk and Hossa, it's already hard enough for any goaltender to even fathom making a single save. However, completing the trifecta is Slava Kozlov, who is arguably the best shootout man on the team. On this night, Kovalchuk didn't even have to step up, as the Thrashers went two-up on the Habs after 2 rounds of shooting, thus ending the game and earning them the extra point. Hossa skated in and released a lightning quick wrister that beat Huet to find the top right corner of the mesh. Koivu then missed his deke due to Lehtonen's crafty pokecheck. Up next, Kozlov resorted to his bread and butter. He skated in faked a wrister and cut wide, outwaiting the sprawling Huet and beating him top shelf. Sergei Kostitsyn then tried his luck, only to be stopped by Lehtonen who read the young Kostitsyn's deke perfectly.

The Habs board a flight for Dallas to face the Stars Sunday night at 8 p.m. Speculation has it that due to his weak performance tonight, Cristobal Huet will be given the night off in favor of rookie Carey Price. Also, Michael Ryder just may be the luckiest Hab Saturday night, as the loss might convice coach Carbonneau to re-insert him into the lineup. The match will mark the first time that the Habs and Stars meet since Ribeiro was dealt for Janne Niinimaa. Also worth noting: Captain Brendan Morrow is married to Guy Carbonneau's daughter, making him Guy's son-in-law. Just a fun fact for the loyal readers.