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In Hainsight: Smothered by the Avalanche |
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Follow me @KarineHains for all updates about the Montreal Canadiens and women's hockey
Montreal came out strong last night, pace, energy, tenacity, and they deservedly went back to the locker-room with a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes. Unfortunately for St-Louis and co. though, hockey games last about 60 minutes and not showing up for 40 of those minutes isn’t a good idea. Had it not been for Jake Allen’s performance, the Habs would never have taken this contest to OT.
Even with 2 of their brightest stars injured (MacKinnon and Landeskog) and with 10 forwards and 8 defensemen dressed, the Avs were just too much to handle for the Habs last night. The Colorado outfit let lose on Allen, sending 36 pucks to the net, many of which were dangerous shots, but the Habs netminder held his own, only giving up a shorthanded goal in regulation to former teammate Arturri Lehkonen and the OT winner to Rantanen. While Allen would have deserved better, the rest of the team didn’t simply put.
The night will forever be etched in Anthony Richard’s memory though, the 26-year-old recent call up from the Rocket scored his first career goal in just in 4th NHL game. It was a beautiful effort as well; a sharp burst of speed allowed him to put distance between himself and Erik Johnson and he flew in all alone on Goergiev whom he had no trouble beating with a precise shot. After years in the AHL, Richard is making quite an impression in two games so far.
As for Jonathan Drouin, his strong play since coming back from injury continued and he very nearly won the game for the Habs in overtime. For once, he really charged the net, using his speed to cut in front of the net but Georgiev shut the door on him. The puck laid there unclaimed for a few seconds, and anyone could have put it in, if only there had been a Montreal player in the vicinity. There’s no denying that Drouin really is trying of late, but it’s probably too late for him, with the Habs anyways.
After the game, the Canadiens were meant to travel to Dallas for Friday’s game, but they were grounded because of the weather and this morning’s practice was cancelled. We’ll see how the situation develops, but there has already been 2 games postponements for Friday night and the NHL doesn’t want any team to be stranded for the holidays. With the weather cocktail forecast in Montreal tomorrow, it wouldn’t be surprising if the league decided to send the Canadiens home today, but we’ll see.
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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