In what would have been touted as a potential Stanley Cup match-up before the start of the season, the slumping Montreal Canadiens beat the reigning league champions both cleanly and handily to spark whispers once again of a future rematch in the finals.
Lapierre, Higgins Get Lucky Bounces
The 3-1 final score to the game is indeed slightly misleading. Despite scoring three second-period goals, the Habs got a few fortuitous bounces. Maxim Lapierre's game-opening goal was a centering pass that got in past goaltender Ty Conklin following a deflection off of Detroit captain Nicklas Lidstrom. Furthermore, the Habs' third goal resulted from Chris Higgins' weak backhand from the slot going in off defenseman Brad Stuart.
Despite those two goals, the case should be made that the Habs dictated the tempo of play in that second period and they deserved all the scoring they got, even if they had to pray to the hockey gods before the game to get them.
Plekanec Provides the Winner
The two aforementioned goals bookended the winner by Tomas Plekanec, who put an end to a great passing play between him, Andrei Markov, and Alex Kovalev. He sunk the one-time from Markov to beat Conklin to serve as a prelude to the end result.
Of note, Plekanec also thought he had sealed it late in the game after the Wings had made it 3-1 on a spectacular highlight-reel goal by Johna Franzen. During a goal-mouth scramble, after saves off Kovalev, Andrei Kostitsyn, Kovalev again, Plekanec, Kostitsyn again, Conklin apparently let Plekanec's sixth-shot effort in when the referee signalled the Habs' fourth goal of the game. Upon video review, it was proven that the goal never crossed the line, hence the game's final score.
Habs Play Their Game of the Year
It wasn't pretty... in fact, it was very much ugly, but the Habs did beat the Red Wings fair and square to give Detroit only its third regulation loss all year. Montreal also was the only team all year to put Detroit down 3-0 when they accomplished the feat in the second period. Add to the fact that the Habs improved (albeit just by a smidgen) their 22nd-ranked power-play unit with Plekanec's goal, and many Habs fans will find a reason to start planning the Stanley Cup parade once again. This after they went 2-3-2 in their previous seven games.
The Habs are far from Stanley Cup contenders, at least this far into the season. While they overcame one hurdle by beating the Red Wings in their 21st game of the season, there are still 61 more to go. Still, no one can deny that they put on an impressive performance against one of the league's best teams (if not the best).
