The night in Montreal opened with a tribute to the Original Six rivalry between the Detroit Red Wings and Montreal Canadiens—but the game itself hardly lived up to the billing.Hall-of-Fame alumni like Jean Beliveau and Gordie Howe were on hand to see the Wings outshoot, outpass, and outplay the Habs en route to a 4-1 win.
The shot tally was close through the first period, but the Wings were in control from the opening faceoff. Detroit's Pavel Datsyuk scored the only goal in the first 20 minutes.
Christopher Higgins evened the score early in the second, but Datsyuk and Niklas Krovall replied for the Wings. Henrik Zetterberg added a power-play goal in the third.
The Wings shut down the Canadiens' top-ranked power play on all five of its opportunities, and outshot their opponents 34-16. All told, the Red Wings looked like a Stanley Cup contender—while the Canadiens looked a team looking to the future.
The loss was the Canadiens third in a row, and the 21,000+ at the Bell Centre weren't shy in voicing their displeasure.
"We can hear it," Higgins said of the booing, which reached a crescendo in the third period. "Guys get down. It affects us, makes it tougher to play. We had a game plan and we didn't stick to it."
"We haven't played our best," added Canadiens captain Saku Koivu. "I'd like to turn the page. We can't get these games back, and we have a lot of games to play."
Dominik Hasek got the win in his first start in five games. Rookie Carey Price, the Habs No. 1 goalie while Cristobal Huet nurses a groin pull, took the loss.
Three Stars: 1. Henrik Zetterberg; 2. Pavel Datsyuk; 3. Chris Chelios
2 comments Last one added about 1 year ago — Leave a Comment
Jason Hackett about 1 year ago
There isn't too many teams that can play against the Wings this season. No surprise at a win against the Habs or any other team for that matter. BUT did anyone else find that during the pre-game ceremony Howe felt insulted when Chelios raised his arm?:) I laughed so hard when he pulled his arm away from him:)
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Anonymous about 1 year ago
HABS INSIDE/OUT says its easy to beat the Canadiens, just show up. They also hate players that have done well for them over the years, as living in California, I see them play also.
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