NHL History & News

The Montreal Canadiens and the Tampa Bay Lightning will play in Tampa Bay this weekend. These teams are both within the Eastern Conference playoff race. The Lightning are the second best team in the conference with a record of 37-18-7, while the Canadiens have a 34-23-7 record this season.

Tampa Bay is among the favorite to win the Stanley Cup in the Eastern Conference, at 25-1, while Montreal is at 40-1 in NHL Odds.

The Lightning have been a great team at home this season, achieving a record of 21-7-4 while playing in Tampa Bay. The Canadiens will struggle in this game as they are below .500 this year while playing on the road. They are 14-15-1 this year.

It is unclear how the Lightning manage to win so many games despite having such a porous defense. Tampa Bay has one of the best offenses in the NHL, scoring 3 goals per game, but they also allow 3 goals per game. Despite their poor defense, they have managed to climb to the top of the Southeast Division Standings.

The Canadiens rely on a stingy defense to win games, allowing just 2.5 goals per game. As the playoffs approach the Canadiens will need to find a way to put the pick in the net more often, as they are only the 23rd best team in terms of goals per game in the NHL.

The Canadiens are strong on the power play and they need to capitalize on their power play opportunities against Tampa Bay. The Canadiens will also need to continue to play tough against the power play. They are the 9th best team in the league in penalty kill percentage at 83.6 percent.

Giving the “C” to Brian Gionta, the storied Montreal Canadiens named their new captain Wednesday.

In the team’s 101-year history, Gionta becomes the 28th captain, and just the second American to hold the position.

Gionta succeeded a Finn whose 10-year captaincy, Saku Koivu, ended when he left Montreal as a free agent following the 2008-09 season. Last season, Montreal did not name a captain.

Gionta, who led Montreal with 28 goals in his debut last season after signing a five-year, $25 million deal said, “It’s pretty special”.

In 19 playoff games, the 31-year-old native of Rochester, N.Y., added nine goals and six assists as Montreal advanced to the Eastern Conference final, the deepest the team had gone in the playoffs since winning a record 24th Stanley Cup in 1993.

Hal Gill, an alternate captain and fellow American said, “There’s no greater honor than to play for a franchise like this, and to wear the ‘C’ has got to be a great feeling for him, I imagine. He’s worked hard for it and there’s a long line of great players that also wore that ‘C’ and not everyone gets that opportunity.”

However, Gionta may have to brush up on his French.

Gionta said, “Obviously, we came here, my family and I, and we’re embracing the culture. We enjoy living here in Montreal. It’s a great place to be and we’re going to do our best to learn it. I can’t make promises that I’ll be able to speak it fluently but I’ll try.”

In game 5 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Pittsburgh Penguins host the Montreal Canadiens, on Saturday May 8, 2010 at Mellon Arena. At two wins a piece, the teams are all tied up in the second round of the playoffs.

Even though the Montreal Canadiens have been counted out several times already, they are showing the world that they belong in these playoffs. In what is considered to be a huge upset, in the first round, they knocked off the Washington Capitals.

Against the Penguins in Game 4, Montreal Goaltender Jaroslav Halak had another hot game, stopping 33 shots the Penguins fired at him. The Penguins need to find a way to get the puck into the net and Halak has been a force to deal with in these playoffs.

After having surgery only six days before, Jordan Stall played in game 4. Stall’s foot was sliced open by a skate and he had to have the tendon surgically repaired, on April 30, 2010.

In the first period, Tom Pyatt of the Canadiens scored early, but was answered by Max Talbot and Chris Kunitz of the Penguins. With goals by Maxim Lapierre and Brian Gionta in the third period, saw Montreal rally back, giving the Canadiens a 3-2 victory.

Will Montreal shock the world with another upset and knock the defending Stanley cup Champions out of the playoffs or can the Penguins take the series back over and go on to a third straight Stanley Cup Final.

The Stanley Cup Playoffs continues for the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Montreal Canadiens in game 4 of the semi finals, on Thursday night May 6, 2010. At the bell Centre on Thursday, the Penguins lead the series 2-1 and have a chance to take a commanding lead in the series.

In game three on May the 2nd at the Bell Centre, the Penguins had a 2-0 victory over the Canadiens. Early in the third period on a Power Play, Evgeni Malkin was able to sneak one by the red hot goalie, Jaroslav Halak, giving the Penguins a 1-0 lead.

Marc-Andre Fleury, Pittsburgh goaltender, got his fourth career post season shutout, with his win on Tuesday night. He stopped every one of the Canadiens’ eighteen shots at him. There has been a lot of negative talk about Fleury’s performance so far in the post season, but he has helped the penguins reach the Stanley Cup Finals the last two years and is on his way to a third.

Sidney Crosby is another standout player for the Pittsburgh Penguins, who has taken his game to another level in this post season. Steven Stamkos of the Tampa Bay Lightning, Sidney Crosby were the co-winner of the Rocket Richard trophy in the regular season.

Will the defending Stanley Cup Champions be too much for Halak and Montreal or can the Montreal Canadiens pick up a win in game four. On Thursday night, at the Bell Centre, we will find who wins the game.