Huet proves Carbonneau's confidence with 2-0 victory over Sabres

It’s a franchise tradition.

A member of the Montreal Canadiens; whether a 4^th liner or superstar player can go from  hero to goat to hero in the span of a few games. Goaltender Cristobal Huet is the latest to be on the receiving end of the cheering/jeering flip flop that has been experienced by names like Lafleur, Dryden and Savard in the past.

After giving up two soft goals in Saturday’s 3-2 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs, the French native came back, after a show of confidence by coach Guy Carbonneau, and stopped 29 shots to lead the Habs to a 2-0 victory over the Buffalo Sabres. “I felt pretty bad after the Toronto game and wanted to come back strong.” Huet said in the post game interviews after recording his first shutout in nearly a year.

Huet faced 16 shots in the first period, making some spectacular stops and kept his teammates in the game. “They tried to shoot a lot in the first and get a lot of rebounds off my pads. It gave me a bit of confidence after the first period. The guys played well in front of me to clear rebounds.”

Tomas Plekanec finally put one in the Buffalo net at the 7:04 mark of the second period on a great pass by Andrei Kostitsyn. “He made a great play on that goal. I’ve played with him a few times before and I know what he can do and he showed it tonight.” Plekanec said of his line mate. Kostitsyn has been a healthy scratch on several occasions this year and is hoped to be the missing ingredient to compliment Plekanec and Alexei Kovalev on the second line.

Bryan Smolinski would add the empty netter in the third period to seal the win.

3 Stars: 1. Huet 2. Plekanec 3. Derek Roy

Note:Habs defenseman Andrei Markov earned assists on both goals and currently is tied for the league lead in scoring for his position. Markov’s offensive prowess and the overall team defense is making fans ask...Sheldon who?