By the time the puck dropped on Tuesday night’s game between the Montreal Canadiens and the Vancouver Canucks, Martin St-louis’s men were four points out of the playoffs and desperately needed a win. After putting together an impressive win streak after the 4 Nations Face-Off break, the Tricolore had lost its last two games and lost ground in the race to the Spring dance.
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After the Canadiens were shut out on Saturday night in Calgary, Nick Suzuki decided it wouldn’t happen again. Less than a minute was played when he escaped and beat Kevin Lankinen with a beautiful deke and a backhand shot. Both of his wingers got an assist on the play; it was Cole Caufield’s 26th and Juraj Slafkovsky’s 25th.
The goal was also Suzuki’s 20th this season, meaning he has now scored at least 20 goals in four consecutive campaigns. Slafkovsky doubled the Canadiens’ lead after picking up a loose puck in the neutral zone. It wasn’t Lankinen’s finest hour, but it still counted and gave every Hab on the ice more confidence.
Whenever the Canadiens are ready to go straight from the puck drop and surprise teams by taking an early lead, they struggle to keep it because they’re never prepared for the inevitable pushback.
The NHL is a competitive league; no team will take a couple of goals and give up. These are proud athletes, and they bounce back from a poor start. On Tuesday night, Samuel Montembeault stood tall in the net and was able to prevent Vancouver from scoring. However, still, when Cole Caufield scored the Canadiens’ third goal nine minutes into the middle frame, it was only the Habs’ second shot of the period because the Canucks were dominating.
Montreal might not have gotten burned on Tuesday night, but allowing shots like Rocky Balboa takes in punches for most of his fights is hardly a sound strategy. It’s hockey, not a Hollywood-scripted movie.
Freshly recalled from the Laval Rocket, Joshua Roy lined up with Brendan Gallagher and Alex Newhook for his first game. During the first intermission, he was asked by RDS what his instructions were for the game, and he replied he was told to bring some attack to the team and play a complete game on both sides of the puck.
It’s refreshing to see the St-Georges native finally be given a real audition on the top six considering his style of play. Better yet, for the first time in a long time, the second line was actually part of the rotation and wasn’t skipping turns as it had been when Patrik Laine was on it.
After 40 minutes, Roy had 10:24 of ice time, while Caufield had 10:04 and Slafkovsky 10:52. Suzuki led the forwards with 12:08, but he picked up extra shifts on the penalty kill after Joel Armia seemed to be bothered by a sore wrist after a fall in the first frame.
In the first half of a back-to-back, not having to overwork your top line is good news. In the end, Roy spent 13:33 on the ice, including a shift with five minutes to go as the Canadiens were hanging on to a single-goal lead.
Montreal managed to hang on for the win even though the Canadiens got a scare when the Canucks came back within one on a power play goal following a penalty that infuriated the Habs bench. Mike Matheson, who spent over 27 minutes on the ice, sealed the Canadiens’ win with what was perhaps the biggest empty-net goal of the season for St-Louis’ men. The 4-2 win allowed Montreal to reclaim the ninth spot in the Eastern Conference, just two points behind the Columbus Blue Jackets who are in the eight and final playoff spot.
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