Posted by Jim Wilkie
To honor their centennial celebration, the Montreal Canadiens have been showing the kind of scoring punch you should expect from the Bleu, Blanc et Rouge.
The Canadiens have scored 19 goals and have been getting balanced scoring during their 4-0-1 streak. They'd be downright scary if they could find the back of the net on the power play, which is in a 1-for-22 funk and sitting next to last in the Eastern Conference at 13.9 percent.
The line of Alex Tanguay, Robert Lang and Alexei Kovalev combined for two goals, four assists and a plus-8 in Montreal's 4-1 victory over Calgary on Tuesday night. The hope is that Lang and Kovalev can repeat the chemistry they had between 1999 and 2002 when they were linemates on the Pittsburgh Penguins.
So far, so good. Lang, who scored twice against the Flames, Kovalev and Tanguay have notched five goals, nine assists and a plus-12 in the four games they've played together.
But Kovalev still hasn't scored in his past 17 games, two games shy of his longest career drought, which was during the 1995-96 season while he played for the New York Rangers. Help is on the way, however, as the lowly Lightning are next on tap Thursday at the Bell Centre.
Lately, the Habs' hottest line has been captain Saku Koivu in between Matt D'Agostini and Andrei Kostitsyn. That line has produced seven goals, eight assists and a plus-14 in the past five games.
Rookie winger D'Agostini is on an amazing tear with a four-game goal streak and five points in five games since he was called up from Hamilton of the AHL on Nov. 27.
"It's gone according to plan, I'd say, but even I never thought it would come like this, this fast," D'Agostini, 22, told The Associated Press. "The goals are coming, obviously, but I'm pretty happy with my all-around play, and hopefully I can continue to do better and better."
D'Agostini has shown a good nose for the net on a few of his goals, and against the Flames he blocked a point shot before outracing two Calgary defensemen and stickhandling around goalie Miikka Kiprusoff's attempted pokecheck.
The 2005 sixth-round draft pick had 25 points in 20 games for the Bulldogs before his call-up. He was a steady point producer in the minors with 44 goals and 58 assists in 139 games in the previous two seasons for Hamilton, and in junior with 49 goals and 76 assists in 125 games for Guelph of the Ontario Hockey League.
D'Agostini's pace certainly will slow, but he's showing he deserves to stick around and is worth gambling on in deep fantasy leagues as long as he keeps playing with such talented linemates. Habs coach Guy Carbonneau certainly has confidence in his rookie, as he boosted his power-play time to 4:06 and 3:30 the past two games.
Defenseman Andrei Markov's contributions can't be overlooked. He has chipped in three goals, four assists and a plus-5 in the past five games while taking over the team's scoring lead with 23 points. He's just two points behind the league's top-scoring defenseman, Shea Weber of the Predators.
Ice chips
Wild winger Marian Gaborik, who has missed the past 24 games with a suspected groin injury, took part in practice Tuesday, raising hopes he could soon help boost Minnesota's lackluster offense. "He looked OK. For the first day with us, he was fine," Wild coach Jacques Lemaire told The AP. "He still has a long ways to go conditioning, but it's good that he's back." The earliest Gaborik could return is Dec. 17, as Lemaire said he won't play on Minnesota's three-game road trip, according to The AP. … Canadiens forward Christopher Higgins left Tuesday's game late in the first period because of an upper-body injury and didn't return. An MRI is scheduled for Wednesday, The AP reported. … Right winger Sergei Kostitsyn played for the first time in four games after being lambasted by Carbonneau because he took three penalties in a victory over the Sabres, but he was scoreless in 13:46. … Flyers goalie Martin Biron, who stopped 24 shots in a 4-3 victory over the Islanders, has nine consecutive wins over the Isles dating back to last season. … Islanders forward Doug Weight had a goal to give him 16 points in his past 16 games. … Pavol Demitra's goal in Vancouver's 3-1 victory over Nashville gave him 38 career points in 41 games against the Predators. Demitra has 13 points in his past 13 games since returning from a rib injury. … Jason LaBarbera illustrated the Kings' goaltending inconsistencies by allowing three goals in the first 8:16 of the game and finishing with 20 saves in Los Angeles' 6-1 loss to Colorado. LaBarbera was coming off a shutout of Columbus on Saturday, when he stopped 23 shots. … Avalanche forward Marek Svatos suffered a back injury and left the game in the second period. … One of Colorado's top prospects, forward Chris Stewart, scored his first NHL goal and assist against the Kings in his third game of the season since being called up because of Joe Sakic's back injury. Stewart had 11 points in 19 games with Lake Erie of the AHL. Stewart, 21, was Colorado's first-round choice (No. 18 overall) in the 2006 draft.
