|
Game 18: Canadiens vs Blue Jackets AKA Thank You Carey |
|
|
|
|
|
Shea Weber had missed practice twice this week including the morning skate today because he had the flu and it might have showed tonight. He managed to get himself two tripping minors in the first 20 minutes and while Carey Price was stellar and the best penalty killer out there, that gave Columbus a lot of rhythm and with just over 3 minutes to go, Eric Robinson scored his first career goal.The Jackets had the upper hand shot wise (15-12) but more importantly hits wise, they obliterated the Habs 13-2 in that department and it really showed. Add to that the fact that the CH committed 6 giveaways and that could have been a recipe for disaster. During those first 20 minutes alone, Jeff Petry played over 10 minutes, the fact that Weber spent 4 of them in the box accounts for that of course.
The second period wasn't much better with the Habs, they held their own shots wise but the Jackets' back-up goalie Elvis Merzlikins was stopping everything they were throwing at him. With only 8 minutes 48 left in the second period, the Canadiens had 4 measly hits and looked so insanely flat. They kicked it up a notch in the remaining minutes and had 8 to the Jackets' 18 when time was called on the second frame. This increased physical implication seemed to somewhat wake the Habs who had looked in a bit of a slumber until then, heck, Jonathan Drouin was even yawning during the national anthem.
Early in the 3rd period, Brendan Gallagher took a shot from quite a way away and somehow it snuck in between Merzlikins' pads to tie things up. The period was hotly contested with the Habs putting 7 shots on net while Tortorella's men landed 6. With less than 2 minutes to go though, Tatar gave the puck away and a few seconds later, Zach Werenski was putting it in the back of the net. Surprisingly, this did not suck all the air out of the building and the Canadiens pulled Carey Price right away and kept going. The Habs were deploying their attack at 6 against 5 and controlling the play until Seth Jones took the puck and aimed for the empty net only to see his effort hit the post and get called for icing. Claude Julien then took the decision of the game by not taking a time-out and deciding to change his players and maintain the attack. After the faceoff, Nick Suzuki sent the puck cross ice to Tomas Tatar who one-timed it in the back of the net and made the building erupt! Tuna truly went from zero to hero in less than 120 seconds and sent everyone to overtime.
The Habs had their chances at the start of extra time but unfortunately, the Jackets broke loose towards Carey Price and it looked like it might just all be over until Victor Mete skated back like crazy to nullify the threat but that cost him a 2 minute minor. Typically, a penalty in OT is a very bad thing but somehow, the Habs managed to not only kill the penalty but get themselves a couple of scoring chances while shorthanded. Kudos to Ben Chiarot and Shea Weber who were insanely good on that kill. After an intense 5 minutes, it was time for the shootout.
No one on the Blue Jackets managed to beat Carey Price although Cam Atkinson came very close only to see his shot land on the post. Price did make the save on Bjorkstrand and Nyqvist. Meanwhile Paul Byron's shot was stopped, just like Nick Cousins but Jonathan Drouin served a sweet backhand to Merzlikins to lodge the puck in between his pads and seal the deal. For once, Price showed some emotion at the end and you could see that he was glad to win this one:
For the second time in as many games, Carey Price stole the game with a save percentage of .943, in the first period he just stood on his head and boy is that reassuring to see! Meanwhile, Jeff Petry was once again a workhorse playing 32 minutes and 12 seconds. Also, Nick Suzuki played 12:53 and just looks more and more comfortable out there... speaking of comfortable, Victor Mete also looks so much more at ease now when he's joining the attack, it's like a metamorphosis. It was announced after the game that Ryan Poehling was being sent back down to Laval which is let's face it a very good thing. Tonight he was used as a fourth line winger and only saw 7:50 minutes of ice-time, that is no good for his development. According to Renaud Lavoie, his return in Laval means that Kotkaniemi will be back in the line-up. The Canadiens will be back in action on Friday night in Washington when they'll take on Ovie and the Caps, until then, we can enjoy the fact that Boston cannot seem to win anymore since the Canadiens beat them...
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»