|
In Hainsight: Team Effort Nets Win on Home Opening Night |
|
|
|
|
|
Follow me @KarineHains for all updates about the Montreal Canadiens and women's hockey
The Habs home opener coincided with Connor Bedard’s first visit in Montreal and it seemed like the Canadiens didn’t want to take the limelight away from the Hawks’ prodigy. In all my years of following the Habs, I’ve never seen such a boring home opener. The way the players were introduced felt rushed and impersonal and the torch was nowhere to be seen. The best part was probably the raucous cheer Arber Xhekaj received, proving that no matter how talented Kaiden Guhle may be, it’s the gritty defender that’s the darling of the Bell Center. Head coach Martin St-Louis also received the warmest of welcomes from the Canadiens’ faithful and so did former players Paul Byron and Carey Price when they were showed on the jumbotron later in the game.
Those who came to see the Hawks’ new attraction weren’t disappointed, Bedard came as advertised, shining brightly on a lackluster Chicago team. The youngster was dominant and took as many shots as he could, he got most of the Hawks’ scoring chances and ended his night with an assist on the broken play that led to Tyler Johnson’s first goal of the game in the third frame. Every time Bedard touched the puck, the Bell Center crowd booed him copiously and while the youngster said that he loved it, it felt like a harsh treatment for the 18-year-old. There are those who say that’s a mark of respect from the home crowd to boo a talented player, but personally I believe such treatment should be reserved to the Chara and Marchand of this world, not to sensational rookies. I was in attendance when Connor McDavid made his debut in Montreal and there was no booing. Bedard’s parents were in the building last night and they looked less than impressed.
As for the actual game, it was a treat to watch, as the Canadiens rallied together to edge the Hawks by a score of 3-2. Still, some players stood out, Sean Monahan who had 22 points in 24 games against Chicago before last night’s game scored a beauty of a shorthanded goal, nicely fed by a Harvey-Pinard superhuman effort. Monahan also had an assist on Tanner Pearson’s first goal with the Habs, a wicked shot from inside the dot in the second period. The again line completed by Brendan Gallagher had a strong night and the alternate captain looked much better than Wednesday in Toronto, particularly in the second wave of the power play, on which he got two shots from the slot.
Harvey-Pinard had another strong night, flying all over the ice and being a nuisance for the Hawks in all three zones. His active stick broke more than a few plays and his effort level was constant all night. In two games, the fourth line completed by Jake Evans and Jesse Ylonen has been much more than an energy line. All three players can certainly play hockey and they’ve made that very clear. Center Jake Evans won 78.6% of his faceoff, ensuring the Habs had plenty of possession.
Team captain Nick Suzuki and Sean Monahan were also successful at the faceoff dot winning 75% and 87.5% of their duels respectively. Suzuki had a busy night, especially after fellow center man Kirby Dach injured himself on a hard check by former Habs prospect Jared Tinordi. Hopefully, the injury isn’t serious, but it did look like it was a knee injury, judging by the way Dach tested it on the ice before heading back to the room never to be seen again. In his post-game presser, head coach Martin St-Louis simply said Dach would be evaluated further today, and he didn’t have any further information or comment on the matter.
Speaking of knee injuries, Kaiden Guhle who’s had more than his share of knee issues so far in his career showed that he was fully healed, following Hawks’ forwards all night, and making plenty of direction changes especially on the penalty kill. His zone exit was instrumental in Pearson’s goal, and he was named the second star of the game.
Sniper Cole Caufield picked up exactly from where he left off, scoring a second goal in as many nights and he did it in spectacular fashion to shake up his coverage and tap in his own rebound behind Petr Mrazek to score the all-important first goal of the game. Speaking of Caufield, his mum was in attendance last night and she took the time to thank a fan for supporting her son because he was wearing Caufield’s number, let’s hope she didn’t do that for every fan who was rocking number 22 because she would have had to thank at least a thousand people.
The Canadiens were meant to have a practice in Brossard this morning, but it was canceled following the win over Chicago. This week, Montreal only plays two games, one on Tuesday against the Wild and another one on Saturday night against Alexander Ovechkin and the Capitals. The Great Eight was pointless in his team’s first game of the season and at 38, he cannot afford too many games without a goal as he carries on chasing Wayne Gretzky’s goal scoring record of 894 goals, with 822 in the bank, he’s 72 goals away.
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»