Not So Fast Caps-Habs 2, Caps 1

The Montreal Canadiens have lived to play another day. The Canadiens forced a game 6 back in Montreal with a 2-1 win over the Washington Capitals. The Caps still hold a 3-2 edge in the series, but were the heavy favorites to wrap up round 1 on home ice. But the Canadiens had other plans as they scored twice in the opening 7:01 to jump out to a 2-0 lead. The Caps would cut the lead in half early in the 2nd, but Jaroslav Halak shut the door the rest of the way to pick up the win. Halak was remarkable, making 37 saves, while Seymon Varlamov stopped 26 for the Capitals. Mike Cammalleri and Travis Moen scored the Canadiens goals. Both teams struggled on the power play, with the Habs going 0/6 and the Caps gonig 0/4. The Caps were caught for too many men on the ice in the final minute after Varlamov made his way to the bench, only to retreat as the puck slid towards the net. The problem was the extra attacker had already joined the play. Some other thoughts from an exciting game:

>Martin moved Moen onto the Gomez line and it paid dividends. Pouliot has been struggling and Moen gave that line a physical dimension they had been lacking.

>Martin also cut the bench down in the 3rd, with Hamrlik and Bergeron seeing little ice time in the final 10 minutes. O'Byrne/Markov and Gill/Gorges were given the task to limit the Caps chances to tie the game.

>Hats off to the Caps penalty killing for doing a good job on the Habs tonight. They are forcing all over the ice and the Canadiens are making some poor decisions. Might be time to simplify things and just throw it back to the point and get some shots on net.

Nice to see the Habs come out with an inspired effort as they faced elimination. Many said this series would be over in 4 (or 3 according to PJ Stock) but we will see a game 6 back at the Bell Centre. Hopefully Halak can play well again and the Habs can come up with another strong defensive effort. The Silver Wolf Whiskey Hab of the Game goes to Jaroslav Halak. Halak made 37 saves and was spectacular all night. Consideration also given to Moen and Cammalleri. Game 6 will go Monday in Montreal as the Habs again try to stave off elimination.