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In Hainsight: A Multi-Generational Win |
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Follow me @KarineHains for all updates about the Montreal Canadiens and women's hockey
Since the start of the season, it would be fair to say the Canadiens have not been treated to good goaltending, but last night, Jake Allen put on quite a show. While most of the team seemed stuck in a deep slumber, the veteran netminder multiplied the impressive saves to keep his teammates in the game. He even weathered the storm through a couple of penalty kills to keep the score level at 0-0. For years, Alexander Ovechkin has been money in the bank for the Caps on the man-advantage, but yesterday, he seemed out of synch, taking the time to stop the puck before firing it on the net only to see Allen deny him. Washington’s star seemed annoyed and took a slashing penalty which seemed to ignite the Canadiens.
It was on the said penalty that Sean Monahan, battling for prime real estate in front of the net redirected Nick Suzuki’s pass behind Darcy Kuemper to give Montreal a 1-0 lead and a much-needed goal on the power play. The Canadiens doubled their lead in the second frame when Brendan Gallagher crashed the net to put an errant puck in, a typical Gallagher goal, picking up the garbage on the doorstep and shoving it and himself in the net.
With a 2-0 score in the third, the Tricolore had more than a couple of opportunities to plant the kiss of death on the Caps’ lips when Washington found itself two men down on a couple of occasions, but Montreal was unable to seal the deal. This seemed to give Washington a bit of life and Dylan Strome scored a brace to bring everyone back tom square one with two minutes to go in regulation.
Playing their second overtime period of the season, the Canadiens wasted no time putting the final nail in the Caps’ coffin when captain Nick Suzuki spotted Cole Caufield alone by the boards. The sniper was headed for a change, but he immediately recognized that he had a golden opportunity to seal the deal and he turned on the jets before firing a bullet in Washington’s net.
While the game should never have gone to overtime, the Canadiens were at least able to shake off the deception of letting Ovechkin and co. back into the game in time to get their first extra-time win of the season. More importantly, this victory was the result of a real team effort, sophomores and veterans alike got down to business and proved to be too much for the Caps to handle.
Jake Allen stopped 31 of the 33 shots he faced for a save percentage of .939 and he looked both loose and confident in net, like a quiet force who’s not worried about what’s coming its way. Seeing him multiply the saves out there definitely gave his teammates a much needed confidence boost.
Sean Monahan played a great game, notching a goal and an assist and the line he completed with Pearson and Gallagher was a threat all night long, the alternate captain seems to slowly be finding his footing and even though he had less than 10 minutes of ice time, those were at least very good minutes.
The line formed by Anderson, Newhook and Slafkovsky was a pain to handle in the offensive zone. They didn’t register a single point, but they did tire the aging Washington line-up. Anderson finished the night with five shots on goal while Slafkovsky showed clear signs of progress. He’s much better than last year in puck battles and realizes the impact the little things can have on the course of the game. The big Slovak winger drew a penalty when he hustled up to catch up to a puck that would have been an icing had it not been for him. On the power play, he had the presence of mind to hand over the puck to the Caps after a delayed penalty was called in order to ensure that the five on three would be as long as possible.
Meanwhile, Suzuki had himself quite a game registering a couple of helpers and winning 68.8% of his faceoffs. Sean Monahan was also impressive in that department with a 64.7% success rate, but even more impressive still is the fact that the Canadiens are currently first overall in the league at the faceoff dot. Montreal has collectively won 59.5% of its faceoff this season, which is nearly 4% more than the second place Rangers at 55.7%. Considering how much Montreal has struggled with this aspect of the play in recent years, this is very good news for the coaching staff and clearly, a tangible sign of progress.
The Habs will be travelling to Buffalo today for tomorrow night’s game against the Sabres and there will therefore be no practice or media availability. Montreal has a very busy week coming as they’ll be back and in action at the Bell Center on Tuesday night against the Devils, before taking on the Jackets on Thursday and the Jets on Saturday. With such a tight schedule, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Cayden Primeau get a start, just so he doesn’t get too rusty. If it was up to me, I’d give him the game in Buffalo, far from the Bell Centre boo birds who can be a lot to handle for younger players when things aren’t going their way.
Michael Pezzetta was the least used player last night spending only seven and a half minutes on the ice across eight shifts, so it wouldn’t be terribly surprising to see him make way for Joel Armia on the fourth line. The big Finn was called up from Laval after picking up four goals and an assist in four games with the Laval Rocket. For what it's worth, I believe calling him up rather than Joshua Roy was the right call, the young Quebecer will benefit from dominating in the AHL and playing a lot of minutes. This will be much better for his development than playing minimal minutes on the Canadiens' fourth unit. As for Filip Mesar, the Canadiens announced yesterday that he had been sent back to the Kitchener Rangers in the OHL. Considering how much depth the Rocket has up front, this is the right move for a player who has yet to figure out his game at the professional level.
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