Canadiens Come Up Short Again-Sens 3, Habs 2 (OT)

Despite a great effort, the Montreal Canadiens came up on the short end of a 3-2 overtime game against the red hot Ottawa Senators. The winning goal was scored in a 3 on 3 situation after the Canadiens Hal Gill was whistled for a tripping call, followed about a minute later by a Spezza interference penalty. An overly agressive Andrei Markov got caught out of position and allowed Mike Fisher to break in on a partial breakaway to end the game. The Canadiens battled back from a 2 goal deficit, tieing the game on the power play with just under 3 minutes to play. Brian Gionta and Benoit Pouliot scored the Canadiens goals, both of which came with the man advantage. The power play was a perfect 2 for 2, while the PK ended the night allowing a goal on 3 Sens chances. Jaroslav Halak took the loss in goal making 34 saves, while Brian Elliot made 27 stops at the other end. The Canadiens once again played without Jaroslav Spacek who was replaced by Yannik Weber. But the real injury story came mid way through the 3rd, when Mike Cammalleri fell awkardly into the boards and needed to be helped off the ice. Preliminary reports are calling it a knee injury which will require an MRI to determine the extent of the damage. Some other observations:

>I really like Markov, but he made a bad decision on the winning goal, only minutes after making a terrible one with under a minute to play which led to an Sens chance on a 2 on 1. He made a great feed on the tieing goal, but the Canadiens need Markov to be their best defenceman at both ends. Enough with the bad pinches.

>Hall Gill looked extra slow tonight and seemed to cough up the puck all night. He took a pair of penalties, one which led to the Sens 2nd goal. Weber looked pretty good in limited action.

>Martin was all over the map with line combinations. We saw Pouliot taken off the Gomez line, then Gomez taken off that line and replaced by Maxwell. He then benched Metro in the 3rd and went with Bergeron and the Bulldogs. I do not agree with this tactic.

Nothing to hang their heads about, the Habs played a very good road game against a hot Sens team. Very disappointing to lose like they did though, especially considering they would have had a brief power play at the end of overtime. A point is good, but 2 would have been a lot better. The Silver Wolf Whiskey Hab of the Game today goes to an unsung hero. Ryan O'Byrne has been great since he returned, and I would say arguably the Canadiens best defenceman in this one. Consideration also given to Pouliot and Plekanec. Next up the Canucks on Tuesday.