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Jaroslav Halak blanks Habs in return to Montreal

St. Louis v Montreal Canadiens

MONTREAL, CANADA - JANUARY 10: Jaroslav Halak #41 of the St. Louis Blues stops the puck in front of Lars Eller #81 of the Montreal Canadiens during the NHL game at the Bell Centre on January 10, 2012 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. (Photo by Richard Wolowicz/Getty Images)

Richard Wolowicz

For a goalie with a rather bland style, Jaroslav Halak sure has a flair for the dramatic.

Surely Montreal Canadiens fans must have seen flashes of the goalie who helped them claw their way to the 2010 Eastern Conference finals tonight, as he helped the St. Louis Blues shut out his former team 3-0.

Halak didn’t exactly a break much of a sweat as he needed just 19 saves in the game, but at least he had highlight moments like that breakaway stop on Tomas Plekanec. Carey Price helped Habs fans get over Halak’s departure with a superior season in 2010-11 and it was probably even to start off this year, but Lou Korac points out Halak’s dramatic improvement with Ken Hitchcock in charge:

halakunderhitch

James

In Hitchcock’s most recent coaching stint, both Pascal Leclaire and Steve Mason put together single-season runs that helped them make a ton of money that some might argue they didn’t really deserve.*

Halak already received a big payday thanks to his enthralling playoff run, but he might just earn those big bucks with Hitchcock watching from the bench - even if every night isn’t as exciting as this Tuesday in Montreal.

* - People tend to forget that Leclaire notched nine shutouts the season (2007-08) before Mason won the Calder Trophy with 10 of his own.