What a stinker

Jeez... Tonight, more than one member of the Montreal Canadiens took a look at the roster of the visiting Washington Capitals and thought to themselves, "cakewalk." The Caps out-hustled, out-muscled and out-finished the Habs. By the time les boys realized what hit them, the home crowd was already restless and they were in a three goal hole. They never recovered (for a change) and Washington stomped to a 5-1 win without a significant contribution from wunderkind Alexander Ovechkin.

To be fair, the Habs owned the play in the second and third but Kolzig looked strong and managed to get hit in the crest of his sweater by most shots. The performance of Danis and Theo was sub-par. Offensively, defensively and in the nets, Montreal lacked confidence.

Twenty-one games into the season, this was the first time this year that the Habs were significantly outplayed by a lesser opponent. Hey, it happens to every team once in awhile. Let's just hope a lesson has been learned.