Montreal Canadiens: They Hit, They Skate, and They Score

A little reminder, the Habs finally won it yesterday night. The dream series was close to turning into a nightmare, but they finally got it.

There may have been a few questions about how the Montreal Canadiens, one of the fastest teams in the East, will deal with the tough part of the playoff games. We have our answers by now.

The Bruins have Milan Lucic and Zdeno Chara, among others. For those who saw a few regular season games between the two teams, Chara did not have any pity for the Habs. Guillaume Latendresse and Alex Kovalev can confirm this.

In Game One, the Habs registered 37 hits, as opposed to 25 for Boston. Roman Hamrlik and Maxime Lapierre topped the list with six hits each, followed by Tom Kostopoulos with five.

We can especially appreciate the Big Bang ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4uhnrkhhg8) we could hear when Hamrlik got Milan Lucic behind the net in the second period.

"It was really impressive (...) everyone was standing on the bench," said Chris Higgins about the play. Well, hearing the crowd, they weren't the only ones impressed. "When I saw him I knew I had my chance and I did not miss it," replied the big star.

Of course, who can forget Andrei Kostitsyn's hit on Zdeno Chara in the Bruins zone earlier in the period?

In Game One, Montreal came out with 38 hits against 31 for the Bruins. For the highlights, Maxime Lapierre is leading again with six hits, followed by Ryder, Kostopoulos and Hamrlik with four each.

For a second game in a row, Lucic leads the Bruins. At 6-feet-4 and 220 pounds, the 19-year-old left wing is well known for his physical play.

"We have to hit them back," he said after the 4-1 loss last Thursday.

Other than that, the Habs welcome back Mike Komisarek. With a Dion Phaneuf type of play, he is always there to ring bells, sometimes so hard that it takes time to the victims to remember what team they play for. Check it out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vePzUshzpws 

Finally, let's not forget Steve Begin. Within around 10 minutes of time on ice, he registered four hits during Game One. But in Game Two, he made the highlights by getting a hit from Alberts; and while the two players were still on the blue line, Brian Smolinski got the puck, made a pass to Hamrlik and scoooooore!

Well, we know the Habs for their fast skating and passing abilities. But they can be considered as a physical team as well when the situation needs it.  

Tonight is Game Three, and hopefully they will have learned from yesterday's mistakes.