Sports is a funny thing.  One moment a team can be down and out losing plenty with their own fans booing them and then the next they are in the middle of a three game win streak.  And that win streak can be against one of the best teams in the entire league (Philadelphia Flyers) and the other two can be against the defending Stanley Cup champions.

Last weekend the Canadiens had just lost for the second time against the hated Toronto Maple Leafs and Habs nation was calling for the heads of the head coach, Jacques Martin, and the general manager Pierre Gauthier.  Now, a mere seven days later it seems like the firing of assistant coach Perry Pearn and the reassignment of assistant coach Randy Ladouceur to work with defencemen has been the best move that Gauthier could have done and have granted he and Martin at least a temporary reprieve.

On Saturday night Montreal was facing the Bruins for the second time in three nights.  Just a couple of nights ago in Boston Montreal played a good game and came out with a 2-1 victory.  After losing six in a row the home side had won two in a row.  This was another hard fought contest between two teams not living up to expectations.  While you all know about the Habs struggles, the Boston doldrums are more of a mystery.  Other than the usual post-Stanley Cup hangover the Bruins are too talented a team to find themselves at the bottom of the Eastern Conference with a mere 6 points after 9 games played.

In the previous game Boston had trouble generating any offence and through two periods.  Montreal had jumped out to a 3-0 lead courtesy of a couple of powerplay goals by David Desharnais and Brian Gionta plus one 5-on-5 due to a nice individual play by Lars Eller, who finished it off with a very precise wrist shot into the top right hand corner past Tuukka Rask.

Boston seemed like a frustrated team and took several stupid penalties.  Milan Lucic (slashing PK Subban’s leg as they were skating up the ice) and Nathan Horton (crosschecking Hal Gill in the back deep in Montreal’s end) were assessed two minutes each for their brain cramps and selfish plays.  Boston took 7 minor penalties in the game allowing Montreal to control the play in their end for long stretches and giving the Habs plenty of time to work on their struggling power play.

Boston was not able to mount any sustained pressure in the Montreal end and when they did break through Carey Price was there to save the day.  At the end of the 2nd period Boston had only been able to direct 16 shots at Price.  No creativity, no jump in their legs and no willingness to go to the dirty areas to create chances.  Boston was a team without any “oomph”.

Montreal, on the other hand, played a technically sound game.  They limited the Boston chances and took advantage on the power play when the opportunity presented itself.  They were playing the way they did in the two previous seasons when they were successful.  Is this the real Canadiens?

The game became a little tight with the score 3-1 in the late stages of the 3rd period and the Bruins pulled Rask for an extra attacker.  Tyler Seguin made the score 3-2 when he was able to find the puck in a scramble in front of the Montreal net and put it past a prone Price.  All’s well that ends well and when Tomas Plekanec, who played a strong game offensively and defensively (especially early in the 3rd period when Brian Gionta and Lars Eller were assessed back-to-back minor penalties and he, Gill and Josh Gorges successfully killed off a 5-on-3), iced the game with an empty net goal with 12 seconds left.

A big victory for the Canadiens against an Eastern Conference rival.  With the three straight victories, Montreal’s record is now 4-5-2 and they moved up to 10th in the Eastern Conference only 2 points out of a playoff spot.  They are off until Friday, when they will be making the short trip over to Ottawa to play the surprisingly good Senators.

Game Stats:
-On-Ice Officials:  Referees:  Dave Jackson and Justin St. Pierre
Linesmen:  Pierre Champoux and Steve Barton
-Goals:  1st Period:
15:26:  Montreal - (pp) Brian Gionta assisted by Tomas Pekanec and Michael Cammalleri
16:42:  Montreal - Lars Eller assisted by Travis Moen and Andrei Kostitsyn
2nd Period:
12:24:  Montreal - (pp) David Desharnais assisted by Yannick Weber and Michael Cammalleri
16:28:  Boston - Milan Lucic assisted by Nathan Horton
3rd Period:  
19:05:  Boston - Tyler Seguin assisted by Zedeno Chara and Patrice Bergeron
19:48:  Montreal - (en) Tomas Plekanec unassisted
-Shots on Goal:  Montreal:  27
Boston:  28
-3 Stars:  1)   Carey Price - Montreal
2)  Tomas Plekanec - Montreal
3)  Lars Eller - Montreal
-Attendance:  21,273
-Final Score:  Montreal:  4
Boston:  2