The 2-0 final score of tonight’s blanking of Buffalo by Montreal sounds a whole lot better than it actually was. After an ugly first period, kept scoreless only by Huet’s heroic efforts, the Habs came out swinging in the second and scored to put us up 1-0. But the third period consisted of the Habs cycling back on their heels, trying to protect a 1-goal lead by playing dump-and-change and relying on the Huet wall a little too much for comfort. The empty-netter sealed the deal, sure, but I hate seeing the guys give up on offense and play protect-the-lead on such a slim margin.
Tomas Plekanec, who scored the lone “real” goal of the game, said it best: “We didn’t play a great game tonight, but thanks to Huet, we ended up with a win.”
That said, following Saturday’s disgraceful loss to the Leafs, we’ll take a victory at this point. And Huet, at least, can celebrate knowing he deserved the shutout on his record. Still, I’ll expect better things from the bleu-blanc-rouge on Thursday against Boston.