GAME SUMMARY: THRASHERS 1 – CANADIENS 3
The Canadiens came out firing on all cylinders in the opening period. They showed great speed and puck movement as they brought their ‘A’ game. That couldn’t be said for the last two periods, but these two points were huge in assuring themselves of a spot in the post-season.
At the 12:56 mark of the first, after a mad scramble in front of Thrashers’ goalie, Ondrej Pavelec, Roman Hamrlik broke the Canadiens’ goalless drought.
That was the first goal scored by the Habs in 199:01.
Then, just eleven seconds later, Mathieu Darche scored on a sweet feed from behind the net by Scott Gomez.
The second period had no scoring.
Then in the third, with the teams playing four-on-four, Nik Antropov scored at 8:35, reducing the Canadiens’ lead to one goal. You’ll notice that Hal Gill gets high-sticked by the Thrashers’ Eric Boulton on the play, but there is no penalty called by the officials.
Thankfully for the Habs, Andrei Kostitsyn, who played an outstanding game, scored into a empty net with 1:20 left one the clock.
GAME POINTS
- Scott Gomez played one of his better games this season. He was involved offensively and battled hard along the boards. Although we can credit him for waking Atlanta up in the third period, his efforts were appreciated by the Bell Centre faithgul tonight.
- Mathieu Darche was the heart of the Canadiens tonight. He was physical when he had to be, and got rewarded with a goal for his efforts.
- Evander Kane and Brian Little were by far the best Thrashers on the night. That doesn’t say much for the rest of them.
- Travis Moen finished the game with a nice shiner over his left eye, the result of a left hook for Atlanta’s Chris Thorburn in a spirited scrap.
FROM THE LOCKER ROOM:
Carey Price
Brian Gionta
Scott Gomez
TONIGHT’S 3 STARS
- Carey Price
- Mathieu Darche
- Roman Hamrlik
NEXT GAME: Wednesday, March 30th in Raleigh, NC versus the Carolina Hurricanes – Game Time: 7:00 PM