10 Thoughts: Habs Win Stingy 3-2 Contest

After a wildly disappointing loss to the Capitals over the weekend, the Habs had the chance to quickly get back into the win column on home ice on Monday as they hosted the Anaheim Ducks who were welcoming their new addition in Jacob Trouba. The Habs know Trouba well this season after the Justin Barron injury and the Josh Anderson fight.

These events did not factor into this game as both teams needed the win and could not focus on such shenanigans. The Ducks were the better team in the first period, but the Canadiens came out much stronger in the second. The third got physical before the overtime got boring. Montreal ultimately got the victory in the shootout by a 3-2 score and continued what has been a successful home stand that ends on Thursday.

Habs Lineup

Cole Caufield — Nick Suzuki — Alex Newhook
Juraj Slafkovsky — Kirby Dach — Patrik Laine
Josh Anderson – Christian Dvorak – Brendan Gallagher
Emil Heineman – Jake Evans — Joel Armia

Lane Hutson – Mike Matheson
Kaiden Guhle — Justin Barron
Arber Xhekaj – David Savard

Samuel Montembeault

10 Thoughts

1)  The Ducks were the better team in the first period. They came out strong but took a penalty three minutes in that allowed the Canadiens to get going. Montreal controlled play after the goal, but Anaheim’s transition goal completely flipped the script for the second half of the period where they were in complete control. They ended the period with an 11-5 shot advantage and the Habs were lucky to get out of the period with a tied game.

2) The Habs wasted no time in making them pay when they got a man advantage. A good play down-low saw Slafkovsky miss the net but forced respect for that pass. Hutson kept the play alive by negating the clear, then went cross-ice to Suzuki. The captain faked the shot and went back across to Laine who one-timed it home for his third goal in his four games back. The Habs would get another advantage but were unable to capitalize.

3) Anaheim evened the score as the second half of the period started. Kirby Dach threw a blind pass in front of the net in the offensive zone. This sent the Ducks on a rush where Montembeault completed a fantastic cross-ice save. Unfortunately for him, Slafkovsky was there but did not physically commit to his back-check coverage and Dach covered no one on his. Troy Terry got a free look at the rebound to even the game.

4) Much like the first period, the second was a tale of two halves where the Habs looked like they were going to get blown out to start the period but then bounced back and were the more dangerous team in the second half. The bottom six players had a long list of chances, but Lukas Dostal bounced back nicely after the miscue on the goal. Guhle got into a fight near the end of the period that he handled quite well though many Montreal fans were holding their breath with his concussion history.

5) The Ducks were not able to capitalize on the initial Newhook holding penalty, but the Xhekaj penalty opened the door as Alex Killorn found Terry who scored his second on the night on the goalmouth feed. It was a play that really exposed the diamond formation, so I’m sure other teams will take note and that the Habs will quickly have an answer for the play.

6) 11 seconds after the Terry goal, Slafkovsky caught Dostal sleeping as he intercepted a pass and sent it to Dach in front who tapped it into the empty net to tie it back up at two. This woke up Dach and Slafkovsky who played much better for the rest of the period. Slafkovsky won a puck down low which created a Laine scoring chance in the final seconds of the period.

7) It was a much more physical period in the third as Radko Gudas and Trouba started to lay the body and get away with plays that were more or less legal. Guhle was not willing to let things slide and delivered his own big hit and got away with a couple questionable plays as well.

8) Despite playing much better in the second, Dach was still guilty of the dumb blind pass up the middle in the third. He was then called for a hooking penalty that was unbelievably soft considering the plays that were not getting called as mentioned above.

9) The Habs controlled the pace of play for most of the period. Montembeault had to make the save of the night in the final few minutes. He wasn’t tested a ton but made huge saves in key moments to get the game to overtime.

10a) In overtime, Montembeault made a big save early and Suzuki cleared the rebound. Evans appeared to injure a shoulder in his one shift. Most of the overtime was Anaheim controlling but not attacking which led to the shootout:

10b) Laine: Off Dostal’s pad and in, but it counts. MacTavish: Came in slow but missed the net. Caufield: Stutter-step before a quick release to the top corner over Dostal’s blocker. Terry: Montembeault lost his balance but got enough of the puck to send it wide.

HabsWorld Habs 3 Stars

1st Star – Patrik Laine

Sure, it’s three goals in four games and they’ve all come on the power play. Sure, he scored on his shootout attempt. To me, his play away from the puck was more impressive on this night. He made a key coverage play in overtime, but even throughout the game, he made several plays away from the puck to place his teammates in advantageous positions with the puck. This was a component of his game that was criticized in his previous NHL stops, so it will be interesting to see if it holds up, but so far, so good for the newest Hab.

Stats: 1 goal, 1 assist, even, 2 shots, 13:50 T.O.I.

2nd Star – Lane Hutson

With his assist on the Laine goal, Hutson has the franchise record for the longest point streak for a rookie defender with seven straight games. It was a secondary assist, but an earned one as the entire play happened thanks to important hustle by Hutson to keep the play alive at the offensive blue line. Much like Laine, what was most impressive for Hutson on this night was his play away from the puck. He was excellent defensively in what was a tight-checking contest. He was also quite good at making reads with the puck and giving up the puck instead of trying to create when no play was to be made which would place teammates in bad spots. He’s learning, and quickly. It makes him look good and his teammates even better.

Stats: 1 assist, even, 2 shots, 25:11 T.O.I.

3rd Star – Samuel Montembeault

The final ten minutes of play and the shootout gave Montembeault the nod for me over members of the Dvorak line who also had an excellent game. Montembeault didn’t make a high volume of saves, but he was up to the moments of the game in making key game-saving stops. These key saves include but aren’t limited to the glove save with three minutes to play in the game, the big stop in the opening moments of overtime, and his two stops in the shootout.

Stats: 27 saves, 29 shots, 1.85 G.A.A., .931 save %, 65:00 T.O.I.