Talk Hockey

Three goals by Max Pacioretty, another strong night for Carey Price, and Scott Gomez….yes, Scott Gomez finally scored after one year and four days, whch turned out to be the winner as the Canadiens beat the Islanders 4-2, their third straight win. Which, by the way, is the first time the Habs have put together a three-game winning streak since the end of October.

And maybe Gomez’s goal was a distraction and the team lost focus, because they almost blew a 3-0 lead, which is reasonably disturbing. Gomez scores, there are smiles and jokes on the bench for the next ten minutes, and meanwhile, the Islanders climb back in it. But now is the time to be happy, I guess, instead of whining.

In the end, after the Islanders, whom I thought held much of the play throughout this evening, had stormed back to close the gap to 3-2 late in the game, good old Max Pacs found the empty net with a second left to ice it and complete his hat trick and keep Habs fans from throwing bricks at their TV’s.

Three in a row. It’s nice but it can’t end anytime soon. The Canadiens need pretty well every game from here on in, a tough task to be sure, but like the old cliché goes, you take it one game at a time and see what happens.

As for Gomez, talk about a giant gorilla off his back. But Gomez was also guilty for a weak swooping check that Mark Streit easily moved around before scoring the Islanders second goal. And if Gomez had scored the odd time before tonight, Montreal might not be in quite as nasty a pickle as they are now. So for me, Gomez is far from being off the hook.

Now it’s on to Toronto for a Satruday night match against the Leafs, and we want this game badly. How sweet it would be.

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