Habs and 'Canes Game 3

7:23 pm - A bit late tonight, but we're halfway through the first and tied at 0. Thus far, the Canadiens have been the more dominant team, though Carolina had the first power play. (And even then, the Habs had the best chance on said power play.)

7:25 pm - The atmosphere at Le Centre Bell is unbelievable. From the beginning where the two kids come out on the ice skating and waving Canadiens flags, to the great anthems and the crowd itself, it feels like an important game.

7:27 pm - Canadiens have a power play now, and could have gotten a penalty shot on the play.

7:43 pm - The first period has ended with no score. The Habs were the better team and had the better chances. But Cam Ward was probably the best player on the ice.

7:33 pm - Again, the Canadiens have outplayed Carolina, but Cam Ward is standing on his head right now. I'm starting to get worried here - if Carolina continues to get good goaltending the Habs will have a tough time tonight.

7:52 pm - Don Cherry just said that Zdeno Chara shouldn't be picking on Vincent Lecavalier, and Lecavalier had the heart of a lion for taking on Chara, going so far as to show how much of a height difference there is.

One thing though: Lecavalier is 6'4". Chara is just that large.

8:01 pm - Second period has started and Montreal has been dominating the play. But Cam Ward (aka The Thief) has stopped a few quality chances already. (The period is only 2:30 old.)

8:07 pm - #$%#$%#$%#$%#$@%#$%! Koivu took a stick to the face and went straight to the locker room. AND there was no call. #@$#$$#@$@#$#@$@#$#@!

8:18 pm - From the about-freaking-time department, Richard Zednik gets a power play goal. He's the guy who's going to have to step up if Koivu is out for any length of time.

8:20 pm - Momentum might be in Montreal's court here as they have another power play. And Zednik is having an issue with one of his skate edge's. He scored with a bad skate edge. IS THERE ANYTHING THAT HE CAN'T DO?

8:29 pm - Montreal just killed off a penalty, and Francis Bouillon had two good chances to score - a breakaway and a tip of a pass. Unfortunately, he showed about as much deftness with the puck as I do (and to be honest, I would be too busy flailing around trying to keep my balance to even attempt to take a shot on net). So to answer Harry Neale, I don't think Bouillon will be moved to forward any time soon.

8:50 pm - End of the second period, and Montreal is still up 1-0. I get a call from my pal, Matty P, who proceeds to begin to immediately tell me about what is happening on the Amazing Race. I have to explain to him that I am using my DVR to record it and will be watching it after the game. Luckily, he only got to tell me a small spoiler (I think), and not the complete detail.

8:55 pm - They just showed Saku Koivu coming off the ice after the high stick, and that did not look good. It looked like he was bleeding from the eye. I hope that it wasn't that severe and that Koivu is okay; he's gone through way too much in his life and could use a good break to come his way.

9:00 pm - Carolina has picked it up now. It's as though they've just now come to the realization that they are playing in the playoffs, and they are 15 minutes away from being down 3-0.

9:08 pm - Things have calmed down a bit, and Montreal still leads 1-0. Blinding obvious statement by Harry Neale: "If you want to play for the Canadiens, you need to play defense and offense. Just look at their coaches: Bob Gainey, Guy Charbonneau and Doug Jarvis"

9:15 pm - Ah fuck. This is the one thing I have noticed about Huet this playoffs - he tends to give up a lot more soft goals than solid goals.

(And now, just to completely spite me, Carolina has a power play. It's as though the refs got a call to make sure this series wasn't a sweep.)

9:26 pm - Fuckity-fuck #1: The Canadiens get a 4 minute minor with 4 1/2 minutes left in the third.

Fuckity-fuck #2: Garth Murray gets a breakaway and decides to get all fancy with a spinorama and stuff. Just shoot the puck!

9:30 pm - Montreal killed the penalty very well, and now there's 24 seconds left. The fans are rocking right now. And now we're in OT again. I guess the Amazing Race will have to wait a little bit longer.

9:49 pm - Overtime has started. Over/under on the number of times I squeal like a girl due to nervousness or excitement - 5. Already I'm up to 1 because of Vasicek's chance. (Side prop bet: Over/under on the number of times I give the finger to the refs during OT - 3. Again, up to 1.)

9:52 pm - Hope you had the under on both of the prop bets because Carolina just won. Not much else to say beyond Cam Ward kept Carolina in the game long enough for them to fluke into a goal, and then win it cleanly in OT.

Montreal needs to regroup quickly, and recover from the loss of Koivu. Just because you were the better team in the first 50 minutes of the game doesn't mean that you will win the game.

And Huet has now let in two goals where he's been completely screened and hasn't even tried to make a play on the shot. The Canadiens need to clear out the area in front of Huet better.

That's it for tonight. I might see you on Friday, depending on where I am watching the game.