After a win at the trade deadline, with Marc Bergevin and his team reaping Thomas Vanek and Devan Dubnyk for relatively little cost, the Canadiens delivered a big win on the ice.
How about Andrei Markov, not traded, still not signed to a new deal, but still a Canadien, still delivering. And again, a thrilling shootout, wildly entertaining. For those who insist that it is merely a skills contest, I'll agree that it was, and what skills were displayed. Much better than a tie, or another period of Corey Perry taking two-handed axe chops at our best players' hands. Maybe the naysayers would like a hooking and slashing competition instead?
Dustin Tokarksi wasn't as cool and composed as Carey usually is, but he battled, Dan Cloutier-style, and hung on for a deserved win.
Wolverine was, uh, Wolverine again, his shoulder injury looked bad at first, I thought we'd gained Thomas Vanek but immediately lost Max, but not to worry, he regrew a rotator cuff while drinking a sports drink, and returned to action, all smiles on the bench when the third period started. He was the most dangerous of the Habs again tonight.
And what about Michel Therrien? I don't suppose this, or really anything at all, will be enough to silence the critics, but last season he'd make decisions that were open to debate, but proved inspired after the fact. This season his hot streak cooled, but tonight he played his backup backup goalie, and his roll of the dice came up sevens.
The thinking before the road trip was that since the Canadiens won five of six points after the Olympic break, getting three or four points on this four-game stint would be satisfactory. The two points tonight are an unexpected surprise, and a good start to coming back at least with a .500 record against three of the four toughest teams in the league.
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