Feb 27, 2013; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price (31) stops Toronto Maple Leafs center Mikhail Grabovski (84) on a penalty shot during the second period at the Air Canada Centre. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports

This week, other than the Blackhawks absolute invincibility, the major headlines have been everyone analyzing and discussing the proposed new realignment and what the league will look like. As a Red Wings fan I’ve been especially interested in the possible changes considering we’re most likely moving to the East, which would finally put an end to the NHL not making sense by having two teams in the eastern time zone play in the Western Conference(No more 10:30 start times!). Still the main reason I support the move is because of games like the one I took in last night between the Canadiens and Maple Leafs. It seems ever since the Wings got shipped off to the West they lost the rivalries that were absolute gems with Montreal and Toronto, one thing I’ve always wanted to rekindle. Last night’s game showed how important it is to get Detroit back into the East and what games like this mean overall. Sure it’s just one of 48, but the physicality of it was not your run of the mill regular season usual. Both teams combined for 67 hits, Nashville & Anaheim came in second at 49 last night, an obvious discrepancy. This wasn’t just a battle for two points, it was one for revenge considering Toronto took Montreal down twice in the Bell Centre, 2-1 and 6-0.

The scoring began towards the end of the first when McClaren was able to get to the front of the net and somehow bounce it in to give Toronto the first of the game. However the Canadiens wonderful puck possession eventually paid off for them as Armstrong was able to dangle with puck, draw a penalty, and still setup Emelin for a beautiful one timer to knot it up at 1.

Scoring in the second was setup originally by a 5 minute major on Mike Brown for checking from behind, and it wouldn’t be until the very last seconds when off a face off draw the Habs kept it in the zone. PK Subban then fired one on net from the right point missing wide, only to have Max Pacioretty right there to deflect it home giving Montreal a 2-1 lead. Montreal should have scored on a two on one breakaway when David Desharnais forced the turnover at center ice, rushed in to the right of Ben Scrivens, a passed across to Brendan Gallagher who was absolutely stoned on a terrific kick save. It wouldn’t be until 10 minutes later in the period when Carey Price instead of covering up a weak dump-in on goal brushed it to the side keeping the play alive in the zone. Toronto would regain possession with Kadri finding Clarke MacArthur wide open to put it home and tie it up.

The period remained quiet with Montreal having tons of chances but not scoring, until about midway through when Gallagher got to the net and tipped home a shot by Gorges to break the tie. Five minutes later Desharnais continued fighting for the puck in the neutral zone and Pacioretty recovered it, skated on it and sniped it home from the other side of the faceoff circle, high on the glove side to give the Canadiens a two goal cushion. The final goal came with a little over two minutes left as Brian Gionta forced a turnover in the neutral zone and shot into an empty net.

With the win Montreal has a 3 point lead on 1st in the East, and an overall record of 13-4-3 including a remarkable 7-1-2 in their last 10. The Canadiens will face Pittsburgh this Saturday at home before traveling to Boston the following day

I’ve decided to start a mailbag where every month or couple weeks I’ll answer questions from you, the reader, on everything Montreal Canadiens. Just shoot me an email at tjschulte19@gmail.com and I’ll feature a few in an article

Feb 25, 2013; Ottawa, ON, CAN; Ottawa Senators defenseman Marc Methot (3) and Montreal Canadiens left wing Erik Cole (72) collide in the third period at Scotiabank Place. The Senators defeated the Canadiens 2-1 in a shootout. Mandatory Credit: Marc DesRosiers-USA TODAY Sports

Robbed. In life I’ve learned some things, one lesson of growing up that stings as bad as any is that sometimes you don’t get what you deserve. Folks tonight I couldn’t describe a better way to deliver a winning performance than how the Canadiens played tonight in the capital. They out shot the Senators 45-24, only gave up one PP all night and held Ottawa to just two shots inside the Montreal scoring zone. Yet all of that was cancelled out by two objects, one by the name of Ben Bishop, the other is the metal posts of the net. The Canadiens rang three shots off the post, including one by Erik Cole that hit the left post, then bounced up to the cross bar and out. Such was the luck for the Habs tonight, who just couldn’t get more than one as they fell in a shootout 2-1.

The first goal of the game came with 13 minutes to go in the second period when Dave Dziurzynski fired a slapshot from 60 feet away, catching Carey Price off guard to take a 1-0 lead. To that point he had only seen six shots on goal, and whenever a goalie has been standing around for that long they can be caught napping a bit, and Price was leaning a little away from the puck when the slapper suddenly came in perfectly, leaving him little chance to make a stop. It wouldn’t be until the final seconds of the period, when on a face off Max Pacioretty passed back to Rapheal Diaz who swung it over to his right where Andrei Markov would one time it home from the blue line to tie it up.

No scoring would happen in the third although Montreal banked one off the post late in regulation as this one would slip to OT. The final goal of the game would be scored by Peter Regin who faked out Carey beautifully, then putting it away in the right side of the goal to put all the pressure on Montreal. The Canadiens would have their last hopes up to Tomas Plekanec, who tried to simply wrist it by Bishop to no avail, giving Ottawa the win.

Game Thoughts

• I know I’ve ragged on David Desharnais a lot this season, saying how Galchenyuk is clearly the 2nd best center on this team. While I still believe that, I must admit David has been playing much better lately, he had points in his last four games coming into tonight, and led the team in shots while really doing a wonderful job creating opportunities. It’s nice to see him begin to produce a little more
• Coach Paul MacLean echoed my thoughts on the game saying, “I thought Montreal really skated well and really cut us off and didn’t give us an opportunity to do very much and Ben was outstanding in the net.” Couldn’t agree more, Ottawa is in a bad position with Spezza, Karlsson and now Anderson hurt, yet they still continue to get by with great goaltending. This team if Spezza and Karlsson get healthy by seasons end have a serious shot for a deep run in the playoffs
• One piece of great news for Canadiens fans, the last time Montreal was in 1st place out East on the 25th of February was 1993, the same year they won their last cup. Maybe a good omen? Who knows