Broadway lights shine on the Habs

Alex Auld moves to a career 4-0-2 against the New York Rangers, as the Montreal Canadienscame from behind yet again with a 2-1 victory at MSG. The Canadiens netminder made 25 saves fir his third win of the season

It was a crucial two points for the Habs, who remain two points back of the Boston Bruins, who thumped the Ottawa Senators 6-0.

Lars Eller filled in for the injured Mike Cammalleri, but that experiment soon ended and Tomas Plekanec found himself centering Mathieu Darche and Benoit Pouliot, and it paid off.

The trio was on the ice for both goals and Pouliot would provide the game winner, at 6:03 of the third period, firing a wrist shot past a well out of positioned Henrik Lundqvist.

The Canadiens have now won three straight games will be hoping to roll out of New York, before the snow sets in, to return home to face the Pittsburgh Penguins tomorrow.

Looks like I’ll be digging out myself tomottow morning, so here’s just a few quick notes.

Eller in the Sin Bin:One of Eller’s faults this season, that has put him in Jacques Martin’s dog house, is his ill timed penalties. While the Canadiens did only manage three minors tonight, with Chris Leeofficiating, the rookie’s first period holding call in the offensive zone likely did not go well with the Canadiens coach.

What to do with AK46:Andrei Kostisyn still remains a really big question mark for the Canadiens. Although he did seem to show some improvement, as the game progressed an interesting question was posed on CJAD’s post-game show  was, “What kind of trade value could we get for Kostitsyn right now?” Any ideas?

Getting better and better: Pouliot in the meantime is quickly showing improvement in Montreal. He was on the ice for close to 17 minutes tonight, and recorded a season 18:37 in Saturday’s win. Both he and Darche have been playing well on a line with David Desharnais, and Martin rewarded them by putting them with the team’s best forward.

A balanced defense: Martin used his defence well, factoring in tomorrow’s game. with Roman Hamrlik, James Wisniewski, Hal Gill and P.K. Subban each logging in just over 22 minutes. Jaroslav Spacek played 16:30, but it may have been the best 16 minutes of the season for the veteran rearguard. Spacek played a solid defensive game, was +2 and banked a shot off the skate of Darche to pick up an assist.

It’s all in the details:The Scott Gomez line may not have registered on the score sheet, but it was one of those “little details” nights that contributed to tonight’s win. Gomez was 10-3 in the faceoff circle, and Max Pacioretty had four SOG and four hits.

An All-Star faceoff tomorrow?: Will the Penguins start Marc-Andre Fleury against Carey Pricetomorrow. The Pens goalie did not start last week against the Habs and is reportedly still shell shocked from last season’s playoff collapse.

Will Desharnais and Paciorety make the game? David Desharnais was voted as a starter the the AHL All-Star game, and Max Pacioretty was also named to the team. Only problem is, both of them are with the Habs right now. Curtis Sandford was also named as a goalie for the Western Conference.

More on the game from Blueshirt Banter