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Scribe's Report Box Score Game Index December 22, 2001

LA WIN STREAK ENDS IN MONTREAL CANADIENS OUTWORK KINGS, 2-1 MONTREAL, QUEBEC, CANADA -- Yanic Perreault scored a power play goal, and Jose Theodore stopped 28 shots to lead the Montreal Canadiens to a hard-fought, 2-1 victory over the Los Angeles Kings in front of 20,152 fans at the Molson Centre in Montreal on Saturday night. Aaron Asham also scored for the Canadiens. Nelson Emerson scored the lone goal for the Kings. With the win, the Habs ended the Kings' five-game winning streak, and their seven-game unbeaten string, in which they were 6-0-1-0. "It's too bad our streak had to come to an end," said Kings' defenseman Aaron Miller. "But this is a great road trip. We're happy with the way we played. We're out there trying to do the job, and I hope we can get another streak going after Christmas." "We did some outstanding things on this road trip and one thing that makes this so bitter is we enjoyed the feeling of winning after the last few games," said Kings' head coach Andy Murray. "They kept themselves in the game," Murray added about the Canadiens. "I think territorially and chance-wise, we probably dominated the game, but they found a way to stay in the game and then they won the game on the power play, and that's a credit to them, but this one doesn't feel very good. And it's because of how we've played up to this point. We're really disappointed losing here tonight." The Kings played fairly well in this game, but certainly not as well as they had in their previous seven games. Their biggest problem: the Habs won virtually all the battles in front of their own net, denying the Kings second chances at rebounds on most every shift. In the first period, the Kings were getting quality scoring chances on almost every shot, but Theodore saw each shot all the way and the Kings were usually nowhere to be found at the front of the Montreal net, either because they were not driving hard to the front of the net, or because the Habs' defense was outworking the Kings, and were able to clear the rebounds away. And despite being outshot by a fairly wide margin, the Canadiens drew first blood when Asham re-directed a centering pass between Kings' goalie Felix Potvin's leg pads (five-hole) at 16:02 to give Montreal a 1-0 lead. The Kings scored on their best shift of the night, when center Jason Allison, along with wingers Steve Heinze and Nelson Emerson outworked the Habs in front, with Emerson scoring at 7:43 of the second period. At the 12:35 mark, the Kings had a glorious chance to take the lead and the momentum when Kings' forward Ian Laperriere was tripped on a clear-cut breakaway, and was awarded a penalty shot. A penalty shot. His first-ever. In his hometown. And Mom, Dad, sister, and around thirty friends were in the stands, too. "What a thrill for him," Murray said about Laperriere. "The only place it could have been better would have been in the old [Montreal] Forum, I'm sure." A thrill, to be sure. But then Laperriere skated down the slot and without even the slightest deke or other move, his eyes focused on the space between Theodore's leg pads (the five-hole), he proceeded to fire the puck right into Theodore's leg pads, blowing the chance. "I was already nervous playing in Montreal," Laperriere explained. "I've never had a penalty shot in my life, not in junior, not in pro. I'm not a goal scorer. I wasn't going to deke, especially [because] I'm from here. I didn't want to embarrass myself and drop the puck into the corner. My first idea was to go five-hole and that's what I did. I missed." But Theodore had Laperriere all figured out on this one, and made the save look very easy. "I tried to challenge him," Theodore explained. "I left the five-hole open a little. I thought he would go high blocker or five-hole and that's exactly what he did. I was hoping he'd take a shot like that." "I tried to get the puck in between his legs," Laperriere said. "I realized I made a mistake while I was skating in, but it was too late to change my mind. I guess I have no experience. That's the first penalty shot I've ever taken." "He's a pretty good goalie," Laperriere said about Theodore. "He just made a good save." "Maybe that could have changed the game, but I'm not a goal scorer," Laperriere explained. "You can look at my stats and you'll see. It happened so quick. Bryan Smolinski and Adam Deadmarsh told me on the bench just to go with my first idea, and that was to go five-hole." For the Habs, they indeed looked at the missed penalty shot as the time when the momentum moved in their favor. "In the first period, [Theodore] made some great saves and stopping that penalty shot, right there, was the game in my book," said Canadiens' center Joe Juneau. "For sure, that was a turning point," Theodore said. "It's these kind of plays that you have to come up big and make the big saves. I was feeling good that I would stop it and he just shot it where I wanted." The Habs took over the game in the third period, dominating play and putting on a lot of pressure in the Kings' zone, wearing down the Kings, who started to play like a tired team. "We knew we didn't have very many shots after the second period, but we said, 'It's only 1-1, let's go after them in the third.' Theodore shut them down pretty good," Perreault said. The Habs continued to pour it on, and with the pressure on in the Kings' zone, forced the Kings to take a penalty when Miller was hit with a cross-checking penalty, giving the Habs a power play. "We had a poor shift there [prior to the Montreal power play] and we had to take a penalty [by Aaron Miller for cross-checking Habs' forward Richard Zednik] which led to Perreault's goal," Murray said. "I went to hit him in the lower back," Miller said about Zednik. "But he kind of bent over and I went right up his back and hit him in the back of his head. It wasn't my intention to cross-check him, but that's kind of what happened." "I need to stay out of the box there, but you've got to play tough in front of the net," Miller explained. "I was just trying to do my job and I got my stick up." Perreault put the game away on a goal where the puck was deflected to him by Kings' defenseman Philippe Boucher. "I always go to the net," said Perreault, who played in two stints with the Kings in 1994-95, and in the 1998-99 seasons. "I don't know how the puck got behind Potvin. I just put my stick down and I got a lucky bounce. I'll take a goal like that anytime." For the Habs, the win has them moving in the right direction heading into the New Year. "A very good Christmas gift. We're two games over .500 heading into the holidays," Montreal coach Michel Therrien said. "The players are tired, they need a rest. I'm sure we'll continue to play well like this after the break." Scratches --------- Montreal: Gino Odjick (healthy) Los Angeles: Brad Chartrand (abdominal strain), Andreas Lilja (healthy), Adam Mair (suspended) Goalies ------- Montreal: Jose Theodore Los Angeles: Felix Potvin Referees: Stephane Auger, Kevin Pollock Linesmen: Pierre Racicot, Gerard Gauthier First Period ------------ The Kings were getting plenty of shots on goal, and most were on good scoring opportunities. But Theodore was making all the saves, and the Kings were often not driving hard to the front of the net for rebounds, or the Habs were clearing away all the loose pucks. In short, the Kings were unable to get second chances in front of the Montreal net, and this would be their biggest problem throughout the game. 1. MONTREAL. Asham 3 (Patrick Poulin, Stephane Robidas), 16:02 Kings' left wing Kelly Buchberger carried the through the neutral zone on right wing. He moved into the Montreal zone and from the bottom of the right circle, threw a centering pass. But his pass was deflected to Poulin, who picked up the loose puck high in the right circle, and turned it back up ice with the Kings' forwards caught deep in the Montreal zone. On a three-on-two break, Poulin carried the puck into the Kings' zone on left wing, and from below the left face-off dot, threw the puck in front to Asham, who got his stick blade on the puck, deflecting it between Potvin's leg pads for the goal. Robidas made a good defensive play to knock down Buchberger's centering pass created the outnumbered attack. Second Period ------------- A better period by the Kings...they outworked the Habs throughout much of the period, but the Canadiens will owned the front of their own net, except for one shift... 2. LOS ANGELES. Emerson 2 (Allison, Jaroslav Modry), 7:43 Modry dumped the puck behind the Montreal net from left point. Allison chased it down in the right corner. With Habs' defenseman Stephane Quintal all over him, he protected the puck as he carried it behind the net. Allison then lost Quintal, and alone, carried the puck to the bottom of the left circle. He then threw a little centering pass to Emerson, who was driving to the front of the net. As he was being checked by Habs' center Doug Gilmour, Emerson took a swipe at the puck as he was being knocked down, and got just enough of it to slide it between Theodore's pads. This was the Kings' best shift of the game, as Allison outworked Quintal, and Emerson outworked Gilmour. Kings' winger Steve Heinze also gets some credit here. He was already at the front of the net, boxing out his man, and preventing him from getting to Allison. This gave Allison enough time to feed Emerson in the low slot. At the 12:35 mark, Kings' winger Mikko Eloranta got the puck on left wing, at the red line. He spotted Laperriere at the Montreal blue line, behind the defense, and hit him with a perfect pass. Laperriere had a breakaway from the blue line in, but was tripped from behind by Habs' defenseman Andre Markov in the low slot, just as he was about to shoot, and he was awarded a penalty shot. As reported earlier, Theodore easily thwarted Laperriere's bid on the penalty shot. Third Period ------------ The Canadiens came out much harder in the third period, and took the game to the Kings, wearing them down. And then... 3. MONTREAL. Perreault 15 (Robidas, Craig Rivet), 16:45 POWER PLAY With Miller in the box for cross-checking at 15:01, the Kings had chances to clear the zone three times, but the Habs were able to keep the puck in the Kings' zone. Eventually Robidas got the puck at left point. He moved to the top of the slot, and passed to Rivet at right point. Rivet passed right back to Robidas, and he fired a one-timer that was going wide left. But the shot was deflected by Boucher's stick in the low slot, and then by Perreault, who was standing outside left crease. The puck hit the shaft of his stick, and deflected into the left side of the net. "I didn't even know where my shot would go," Robidas said. "I took the puck and I fired it. I didn't even think it would go in." "Our penalty-killing has been fantastic the last ten games, and they go and get one that hits one of our guys and gets deflected in," Miller lamented. "Obviously, I didn't want to get my stick up [when he cross-checked Zednik], but I'm going to try and do the same thing [when trying to clear the front of the net] every time. That's part of the game." The Kings made some very poor decisions on their clearing attempts on this penalty-killing shift, and they proved costly. Shots on Goal ------------- Montreal: 5 3 8 -- 16 Los Angeles: 13 11 5 -- 29 Power Play Conversions ---------------------- Montreal: 1/3; Los Angeles: 0/2 Zone Time --------- Montreal: 7:03 8:40 6:57 -- 22:40 Los Angeles: 8:07 6:28 8:56 -- 23:31 Neutral: 4:50 4:52 4:07 -- 13:49 Three Stars (official) ---------------------- #3 - Juneau; #2 - Modry; #1 - Theodore Gann's Three Stars ------------------ #3 - Robidas; #2 - Perreault; #1 - Theodore The Kings, who are now 7-3-1-0 in December, did not play that badly, and on many shifts, were able to sustain pressure in the Montreal zone, especially in the first and second periods. But the Habs were able to keep the Kings on the perimeter--along the boards and in the corners, for the most part. And whenever the puck went to the front of the net, the Canadiens' defense was there to clear the front of the net, or clear away the rebounds. They outworked and outhustled the Kings in this prime scoring area, and this proved to be the difference in the game. The fact that they often did not drive hard to the front of the net and generally got outworked by the Habs when they did, this was the Kings' worst performance since they stole a win at Anaheim on December 16 (3-2 overtime win). Laperriere's blown penalty shot was the Kings' sixth straight unsuccessful penalty shot. The last time they scored on a penalty shot was back on March 21, 1995, when Dan Quinn scored against Mikhail Shtalenkov, in a 3-3 tie at Anaheim. The Kings certainly have a tough time winning in Montreal, where they are now 1-9-0-0 in their last ten games. Their only win during that stretch came on December 11, 1999, a 4-2 win. One has to wonder what game the Montreal media was watching...their three star selection was puzzling, at best. More deserving than Juneau and Modry were Robidas (two assists and good defensive play), and Perreault (game-winning goal and a 57% rating on face-offs). Next Game: The Kings return home to spend the Christmas holiday with their families, but then jump right back on a plane for a game on Wednesday when they face Sean Burke and the Phoenix Coyotes. Game time: 6:00 PM PST. Televised in the Los Angeles area on Fox Sports Net West.

(C) Copyright 2001-02 by Gann Matsuda. All rights reserved. This report may not be duplicated, copied, printed or distributed in any way without permission.

Scribe's Report Box Score Game Index	December 22, 2001

LA WIN STREAK ENDS IN MONTREAL CANADIENS OUTWORK KINGS, 2-1 MONTREAL, QUEBEC, CANADA -- Yanic Perreault scored a power play goal, and Jose Theodore stopped 28 shots to lead the Montreal Canadiens to a hard-fought, 2-1 victory over the Los Angeles Kings in front of 20,152 fans at the Molson Centre in Montreal on Saturday night. Aaron Asham also scored for the Canadiens. Nelson Emerson scored the lone goal for the Kings. With the win, the Habs ended the Kings' five-game winning streak, and their seven-game unbeaten string, in which they were 6-0-1-0. "It's too bad our streak had to come to an end," said Kings' defenseman Aaron Miller. "But this is a great road trip. We're happy with the way we played. We're out there trying to do the job, and I hope we can get another streak going after Christmas." "We did some outstanding things on this road trip and one thing that makes this so bitter is we enjoyed the feeling of winning after the last few games," said Kings' head coach Andy Murray. "They kept themselves in the game," Murray added about the Canadiens. "I think territorially and chance-wise, we probably dominated the game, but they found a way to stay in the game and then they won the game on the power play, and that's a credit to them, but this one doesn't feel very good. And it's because of how we've played up to this point. We're really disappointed losing here tonight." The Kings played fairly well in this game, but certainly not as well as they had in their previous seven games. Their biggest problem: the Habs won virtually all the battles in front of their own net, denying the Kings second chances at rebounds on most every shift. In the first period, the Kings were getting quality scoring chances on almost every shot, but Theodore saw each shot all the way and the Kings were usually nowhere to be found at the front of the Montreal net, either because they were not driving hard to the front of the net, or because the Habs' defense was outworking the Kings, and were able to clear the rebounds away. And despite being outshot by a fairly wide margin, the Canadiens drew first blood when Asham re-directed a centering pass between Kings' goalie Felix Potvin's leg pads (five-hole) at 16:02 to give Montreal a 1-0 lead. The Kings scored on their best shift of the night, when center Jason Allison, along with wingers Steve Heinze and Nelson Emerson outworked the Habs in front, with Emerson scoring at 7:43 of the second period. At the 12:35 mark, the Kings had a glorious chance to take the lead and the momentum when Kings' forward Ian Laperriere was tripped on a clear-cut breakaway, and was awarded a penalty shot. A penalty shot. His first-ever. In his hometown. And Mom, Dad, sister, and around thirty friends were in the stands, too. "What a thrill for him," Murray said about Laperriere. "The only place it could have been better would have been in the old [Montreal] Forum, I'm sure." A thrill, to be sure. But then Laperriere skated down the slot and without even the slightest deke or other move, his eyes focused on the space between Theodore's leg pads (the five-hole), he proceeded to fire the puck right into Theodore's leg pads, blowing the chance. "I was already nervous playing in Montreal," Laperriere explained. "I've never had a penalty shot in my life, not in junior, not in pro. I'm not a goal scorer. I wasn't going to deke, especially [because] I'm from here. I didn't want to embarrass myself and drop the puck into the corner. My first idea was to go five-hole and that's what I did. I missed." But Theodore had Laperriere all figured out on this one, and made the save look very easy. "I tried to challenge him," Theodore explained. "I left the five-hole open a little. I thought he would go high blocker or five-hole and that's exactly what he did. I was hoping he'd take a shot like that." "I tried to get the puck in between his legs," Laperriere said. "I realized I made a mistake while I was skating in, but it was too late to change my mind. I guess I have no experience. That's the first penalty shot I've ever taken." "He's a pretty good goalie," Laperriere said about Theodore. "He just made a good save." "Maybe that could have changed the game, but I'm not a goal scorer," Laperriere explained. "You can look at my stats and you'll see. It happened so quick. Bryan Smolinski and Adam Deadmarsh told me on the bench just to go with my first idea, and that was to go five-hole." For the Habs, they indeed looked at the missed penalty shot as the time when the momentum moved in their favor. "In the first period, [Theodore] made some great saves and stopping that penalty shot, right there, was the game in my book," said Canadiens' center Joe Juneau. "For sure, that was a turning point," Theodore said. "It's these kind of plays that you have to come up big and make the big saves. I was feeling good that I would stop it and he just shot it where I wanted." The Habs took over the game in the third period, dominating play and putting on a lot of pressure in the Kings' zone, wearing down the Kings, who started to play like a tired team. "We knew we didn't have very many shots after the second period, but we said, 'It's only 1-1, let's go after them in the third.' Theodore shut them down pretty good," Perreault said. The Habs continued to pour it on, and with the pressure on in the Kings' zone, forced the Kings to take a penalty when Miller was hit with a cross-checking penalty, giving the Habs a power play. "We had a poor shift there [prior to the Montreal power play] and we had to take a penalty [by Aaron Miller for cross-checking Habs' forward Richard Zednik] which led to Perreault's goal," Murray said. "I went to hit him in the lower back," Miller said about Zednik. "But he kind of bent over and I went right up his back and hit him in the back of his head. It wasn't my intention to cross-check him, but that's kind of what happened." "I need to stay out of the box there, but you've got to play tough in front of the net," Miller explained. "I was just trying to do my job and I got my stick up." Perreault put the game away on a goal where the puck was deflected to him by Kings' defenseman Philippe Boucher. "I always go to the net," said Perreault, who played in two stints with the Kings in 1994-95, and in the 1998-99 seasons. "I don't know how the puck got behind Potvin. I just put my stick down and I got a lucky bounce. I'll take a goal like that anytime." For the Habs, the win has them moving in the right direction heading into the New Year. "A very good Christmas gift. We're two games over .500 heading into the holidays," Montreal coach Michel Therrien said. "The players are tired, they need a rest. I'm sure we'll continue to play well like this after the break." Scratches --------- Montreal: Gino Odjick (healthy) Los Angeles: Brad Chartrand (abdominal strain), Andreas Lilja (healthy), Adam Mair (suspended) Goalies ------- Montreal: Jose Theodore Los Angeles: Felix Potvin Referees: Stephane Auger, Kevin Pollock Linesmen: Pierre Racicot, Gerard Gauthier First Period ------------ The Kings were getting plenty of shots on goal, and most were on good scoring opportunities. But Theodore was making all the saves, and the Kings were often not driving hard to the front of the net for rebounds, or the Habs were clearing away all the loose pucks. In short, the Kings were unable to get second chances in front of the Montreal net, and this would be their biggest problem throughout the game. 1. MONTREAL. Asham 3 (Patrick Poulin, Stephane Robidas), 16:02 Kings' left wing Kelly Buchberger carried the through the neutral zone on right wing. He moved into the Montreal zone and from the bottom of the right circle, threw a centering pass. But his pass was deflected to Poulin, who picked up the loose puck high in the right circle, and turned it back up ice with the Kings' forwards caught deep in the Montreal zone. On a three-on-two break, Poulin carried the puck into the Kings' zone on left wing, and from below the left face-off dot, threw the puck in front to Asham, who got his stick blade on the puck, deflecting it between Potvin's leg pads for the goal. Robidas made a good defensive play to knock down Buchberger's centering pass created the outnumbered attack. Second Period ------------- A better period by the Kings...they outworked the Habs throughout much of the period, but the Canadiens will owned the front of their own net, except for one shift... 2. LOS ANGELES. Emerson 2 (Allison, Jaroslav Modry), 7:43 Modry dumped the puck behind the Montreal net from left point. Allison chased it down in the right corner. With Habs' defenseman Stephane Quintal all over him, he protected the puck as he carried it behind the net. Allison then lost Quintal, and alone, carried the puck to the bottom of the left circle. He then threw a little centering pass to Emerson, who was driving to the front of the net. As he was being checked by Habs' center Doug Gilmour, Emerson took a swipe at the puck as he was being knocked down, and got just enough of it to slide it between Theodore's pads. This was the Kings' best shift of the game, as Allison outworked Quintal, and Emerson outworked Gilmour. Kings' winger Steve Heinze also gets some credit here. He was already at the front of the net, boxing out his man, and preventing him from getting to Allison. This gave Allison enough time to feed Emerson in the low slot. At the 12:35 mark, Kings' winger Mikko Eloranta got the puck on left wing, at the red line. He spotted Laperriere at the Montreal blue line, behind the defense, and hit him with a perfect pass. Laperriere had a breakaway from the blue line in, but was tripped from behind by Habs' defenseman Andre Markov in the low slot, just as he was about to shoot, and he was awarded a penalty shot. As reported earlier, Theodore easily thwarted Laperriere's bid on the penalty shot. Third Period ------------ The Canadiens came out much harder in the third period, and took the game to the Kings, wearing them down. And then... 3. MONTREAL. Perreault 15 (Robidas, Craig Rivet), 16:45 POWER PLAY With Miller in the box for cross-checking at 15:01, the Kings had chances to clear the zone three times, but the Habs were able to keep the puck in the Kings' zone. Eventually Robidas got the puck at left point. He moved to the top of the slot, and passed to Rivet at right point. Rivet passed right back to Robidas, and he fired a one-timer that was going wide left. But the shot was deflected by Boucher's stick in the low slot, and then by Perreault, who was standing outside left crease. The puck hit the shaft of his stick, and deflected into the left side of the net. "I didn't even know where my shot would go," Robidas said. "I took the puck and I fired it. I didn't even think it would go in." "Our penalty-killing has been fantastic the last ten games, and they go and get one that hits one of our guys and gets deflected in," Miller lamented. "Obviously, I didn't want to get my stick up [when he cross-checked Zednik], but I'm going to try and do the same thing [when trying to clear the front of the net] every time. That's part of the game." The Kings made some very poor decisions on their clearing attempts on this penalty-killing shift, and they proved costly. Shots on Goal ------------- Montreal: 5 3 8 -- 16 Los Angeles: 13 11 5 -- 29 Power Play Conversions ---------------------- Montreal: 1/3; Los Angeles: 0/2 Zone Time --------- Montreal: 7:03 8:40 6:57 -- 22:40 Los Angeles: 8:07 6:28 8:56 -- 23:31 Neutral: 4:50 4:52 4:07 -- 13:49 Three Stars (official) ---------------------- #3 - Juneau; #2 - Modry; #1 - Theodore Gann's Three Stars ------------------ #3 - Robidas; #2 - Perreault; #1 - Theodore The Kings, who are now 7-3-1-0 in December, did not play that badly, and on many shifts, were able to sustain pressure in the Montreal zone, especially in the first and second periods. But the Habs were able to keep the Kings on the perimeter--along the boards and in the corners, for the most part. And whenever the puck went to the front of the net, the Canadiens' defense was there to clear the front of the net, or clear away the rebounds. They outworked and outhustled the Kings in this prime scoring area, and this proved to be the difference in the game. The fact that they often did not drive hard to the front of the net and generally got outworked by the Habs when they did, this was the Kings' worst performance since they stole a win at Anaheim on December 16 (3-2 overtime win). Laperriere's blown penalty shot was the Kings' sixth straight unsuccessful penalty shot. The last time they scored on a penalty shot was back on March 21, 1995, when Dan Quinn scored against Mikhail Shtalenkov, in a 3-3 tie at Anaheim. The Kings certainly have a tough time winning in Montreal, where they are now 1-9-0-0 in their last ten games. Their only win during that stretch came on December 11, 1999, a 4-2 win. One has to wonder what game the Montreal media was watching...their three star selection was puzzling, at best. More deserving than Juneau and Modry were Robidas (two assists and good defensive play), and Perreault (game-winning goal and a 57% rating on face-offs). Next Game: The Kings return home to spend the Christmas holiday with their families, but then jump right back on a plane for a game on Wednesday when they face Sean Burke and the Phoenix Coyotes. Game time: 6:00 PM PST. Televised in the Los Angeles area on Fox Sports Net West.
(C) Copyright 2001-02 by Gann Matsuda. All rights reserved. This report may not be duplicated, copied, printed or distributed in any way without permission.