Feb 23 Halak Dominates as Habs Defeat Vancouver 3-0

Do you remember back when games ended in ties? Well, the last time Montreal got a point against Vancouver went all the way back to those days. Heading into tonight's matchup, the Canadiens, in their last 11 games versus the Vancouver Canucks only managed a tie and you would have to go back to November 30th, 2000 for their last win against Mats Sundin's new home team. Jaroslav Halak, getting the call between the pipes for the Canadiens, made all the difference and Saku Koivu's fine defensive play allowed the Habs skate away with a 3-0 shutout

The turning point of the game came rather early in the first period as the Canadiens managed to kill off a 5 on 3 for a full two minutes when Koivu made a sprawling swipe at the puck to pass it to Tomas Plekanec, who had just left the penalty box and deftly beat Prodigal son Roberto Luongo on the ensuing breakaway. and this after the Canucks seemingly had complete control of the game at that point, and continued to do so throughout the contest, outshooting the Canadiens 34-17 when it was all over.

The other scorers for Montreal were Andrei Markov, with his eighth of the season, on the powerplay and with the Vancouver net empty for the extra attacker, Maxime Lapierre ended any real hope of a Canuck comeback making the easiest goal of the season his 11th.

As for Mats Sundin, well the score says it all, and after 17:34 of ice time, he was held to 3 timid shots on net and finished the night with a -1. In his defence, however, it must have been hard to concentrate when every single time he touched the puck, he was treated to the infamous Montreal Boo-bird salute. The fans obviously still bitter that Sundin did not deem Montreal as the city with which he would make his triumphant return.

The game's 3 stars: 1:Jaroslav Halak, who put on a goaltending clinic, 2: Tomas Plekanec with the eventual game winning goal and an assist and 3: Saku Koivu who brought his lunch bucket to the rink yet again and whose second effort on the PK led to Plekanec's goal.

The unsung hero of the game? The Montreal Canadiens team who, although took 6 penalties and have to improve on the shots their goalie has to face, played  as a team for the whole game. Something Habs fans hadn't seen in quite some time.

For all the stats and anecdotes, please read on for the game NHL game recap .

pic from habsinsideout.com