Comparisons, continued

The Montreal Canadiens won their 8th straight game tonight against the Ottawa Senators in a 5-3 victory on the road. The win marked the first time since the 1992-'93 season, their last Stanley Cup year, that the team had won 8 games in a row. If the 'Drive for 25' hasn't already picked up enough momentum, it sure has now.

The last time the Habs had as successful a month as they were in March was January, 1993, when Patrick Roy and Kirk Muller, among others, led them to Cup #24. Tonight, the Habs beat a depleted Senators roster that still played an extremely strong game. The Sens peppered David Aebischer with 47 shots, but Aebischer finally proved his worth in making key saves and showing that his positioning and poise were up to the challenge. And while the Canadiens' month of March was successful mostly due to the calibre of their opponents, the Habs faced adversity in a tight game against Ottawa tonight and still came out on top. Mike Ribeiro had a goal and 2 assists, Alex Kovalev had 3 assists, Saku Koivu scored a goal and added a helper, and Michael Ryder, still searching for his 30th of the season, picked up two assists on the night in an offence-filled affair.

While they were badly outshot, it is now safe to say that the Canadiens are in for the long haul. Unless things change drastically, their offence is running smoothly, Andrei Markov and Sheldon Souray are holding the fort on defense, and they have two very capable goaltenders in Cristobal Huet and David Aebischer. And who can forget the incredible performance of late of rookie forward Chris Higgins, who notched his 21st goal of the night, the same number he wears on the back of his Canadiens jersey. If the Canadiens can keep up the consistency against their remaining opponents, you can expect good things of them come playoff time.