CAR 5, FML 2

Hurricanes: more dangerous than rioting Habs fans!

Tonight was a great night to be a Carolina Hurricanes fan.

I mean, seriously, think about it. Here's one of the most important franchises in the NHL, ahead of the 'Canes in the standings, and away from a playoff spot by just one point. One little, tiny, minuscule point.

(And if I were any other blogger, right now I'd be making a joke about how "little" isn't a problem for this year's Habs.)

It's not just that the Habs played poorly, it's that the 'Canes played well. I think this was less of a "Why did we lose?" and more of a "What can we do to get Eric Staal on our team?" kind of game. Honestly. Near the end of the game Staal's eyebrows looked dangerously pale, and I tend to hate hockey players who don't have eyebrows. It was a pretty close call, but he burned Montreal pretty badly tonight.

Habs I/O proves that thing about a picture being worth 1000 words

This wasn't anyone's best game. I feel like this team has been working a lot on finesse, and skating little circles around the enemy (fancy Eric Staal-style?) but this wasn't the night for that sort of play, whether they were tight or a little clumsy. Tonight, the Habs had to be the perseverant, North American-style team we thought they would be once the roster was announced. It just wasn't there tonight.

Maybe we shouldn't be disappointed. This season's Habs are nothing if not surprising, and they can lose two games in a row just as easily as they can win them, and kick the Sabres' asses while having their own handed to them - twice - by the Hurricanes.

Maybe I should have let Kristin Chenoweth sing "Maybe This Time" to me a few more times. Maybe my friend shouldn't have prayed for Canada to win a gold medal at any cost, even the Canadiens missing the playoffs. (She admitted this to me about an hour ago. I had no idea.) Maybe it's because of the ice girls.

Yeah, it's definitely the ice girls and their half-shirts and their bad mojo. Lucky for us, there are no ice girls at the Bell Centre.