Friday, March 03, 2006

Huet holds the hot hand again!

Since he was tossed the puck and told to go play, Christobal Huet has turned the Habs and their fans into believers. The fellow, who up until four weeks ago was thought of mainly as Jose Theodore’s back up, has taken full advantage of the spotlight and led his team on to victory.

With Montreal battling ancient rivals Toronto for the final playoff spot in the East, Huet has been a big part of the Habs march to playoff destiny. His latest victory, a 1-0 shut out of the Florida Panthers. Huet handled all 24 shots and recorded his third shutout in the last seven games, a pace that has made him the talk of Montreal of late.

Alexei Kovalev scored the only goal of the game with less than six minutes to go in the game, the Habs having been stopped by Roberto Luongo 26 times during the course of the game.

The win was another important victory for a Montreal team that is desperate to claim a playoff spot as the season winds down towards the Stanley Cup playoffs. The Habs will have to do without Theodore until the end of March at the earliest, but so far Huet has more than stepped up to lead the way.

The Canadiens are playing confident hockey in front of him, picking up their checks and playing a tight checking style of play. Give them a one goal lead and as Florida found out, it becomes a major challenge to get a puck into the Montreal end, let alone past a stingy Huet.

As the trading deadline approaches, the Habs might want some help on the blue line or a bit more firepower on the wings, but in the net they’re in pretty reliable hands. A Hot Huet is keeping them ahead of the pack seeking out that final playoff spot, should they get in anything can happen, the NHL history books are full of teams that have ridden a hot goaltender a long way into the playoffs, Huet looks like one of those guys that can make his team a surprise come playoff time!

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