Backstrom Leads Wild To Win-Wild 3, Habs 1

The Montreal Canadiens continued to have trouble putting the puck in the net as they were edged 3-1 by the Minnesota Wild. Niklas Backstrom was very sharp kicking out 30 Canadiens shots. Carepy Price had a bit of an off night making just 18 saves and letting in 2 he would probably like back. Despite what Pierre Maguire would lead you to believe the Canadiens carried the play for most of the game in the final 2 periods after falling behind 2-1 in the 1st. Andrei Kostitsyn had the Habs lone goal and his line with Cammalleri & Plekanec were buzzing around the Wild net all night. Trailing by a pair of goals in the 3rd led to Price being lifted with over 3 minutes to go to try to get at least one back. The Canadiens also had a late PP, their second of the night but could not capitalize. Thw Wild went 1 for 1 with the man advantage. Say what you want about tonights game, but the Canadiens worked hard. The fans were on them most of the 3rd but anyone with half a brain could see that the effort was there. Some other thoughts:

>The Canadiens need Gionta back. Secondary scoring continues to be a big issue with this team and hopefully he can help.

>Roman Hamrlik missed the game with a knee injury robbing the Canadiens now of their best 2 defenceman. Paul Mara returned from injury which helped ease the blow a bit.

>Carey Price as noted above had an off night. Regardless, the team needs to score more than 1 goal to win games. I don't know why Martin wouldn't have went with Halak tonight seeing how the team played the night before in New Jersey.

That makes 5 losses in a row. The Canadiens are hovering around that 8th seed and the next few weeks will probably have a big influence on the rest of the year. A long road trip which will see the Habs play 7 straight on the road, finally ending on New Year's Eve awaits. The Silver Wolf Whiskey Hab of the Game tonight goes to Andrei Kostitsyn. Had a nice goal and several other great chances. Consideration also given to Gomez and Spacek. Next up Saturday versus the Islanders. I won't be able to watch so I will rely on my Dad for some analysis.