Canadiens Pull Even With Pens-Habs 3, Pens 2

The Montreal Canadiens scored a pair of 3rd period goals to propell them to a 3-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins. The win locked the series at 2 games a piece heading into game 5 in Pittsburgh. The Habs struck early when Tom Pyatt scored just 2:34 into the game. The Pens quickly erased that lead with a pair of goals, one of those coming on a power play just seconds after Crosby hauled down Hamrlik....but of course there was no call. The game stayed 2-1 for the Pens until Max Lapierre scored 2:07 into the 3rd, quickly followed by the eventual game winner from Brian Gionta just 1:33 later. Jaroslav Halak shut the door the rest of the way making 33 saves, inlcuding some beauties on a pair of Penguin 3rd period power plays. Marc Andre Fleury stopped 22 shots in a losing cause. The game was marred by horrible officiating against the Habs which caused Don Cherry to openly criticize it on Coaches Corner (despite his hatred of all things Canadiens) and CBC to do a montage in the 3rd showing the numerous missed calls by the officials. It got to the point where I was no longer mad about the missed calls, just shocked. The Canadiens penalty kill went 1 for 4 on the night, while the power play went 0/2. Some other thoughts from a big win:

>Despite it having nothing to do with the game, it appears Sergei Kostitsyn has been bannished from the Canadiens for being a punk yet again. The rest of the team doesn't seem to care, which shows you what they think about him.

>Martin did a better job of getting all 4 lines involved tonight. And as a reward for more ice time, some of the guys on the bottom 2 lines pitched in on the scoresheet. Pyatt had 2 points, Darche had 1, Lapierre had 1 and Metropolit had 1.

>PK Subban had a bit of a trying 1st, but got better as the game went on. The defence as a whole did a very good job tonight, and when they faltered Halak was there to bail them out.

This win is that much sweeter considering the awful non calls that nearly screwed the Habs. Right from the start I knew we were in for a long night of questionable officiating. But the Habs found a way to pick up another huge win. The Silver Wolf Whiskey Hab of the Game tonight goes to Tom Pyatt. A checking forward coming up with a 2 point night at this time of year is huge. Consideration also given to Halak and Gorges. Game 5 goes Saturday back in Pittsburgh.