Timing

If the Canes had to choose a pivotal game to win, this was the one. Not only are the Canes competing directly with the Habs for a playoff spot, but as luck would have it, Atlanta and the Islanders lost tonight and Tampa is in a dog fight with Florida at the moment (4-4 at the moment. 5-4 Florida win in OT, that's something).

Brind'Amour and Ward were on fire tonight. Ward was rock solid early on and basically kept the Canes in it before the offense kicked into gear. I enjoyed the game thoroughly from both sides - there was a lot of flow and back and forth action. Montreal is some kind of snake bitten right now and their fans can't be feeling comfortable with this state of affairs, especially with Huet going into surgery.