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In Hainsight: Allen Steals Another One |
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Follow me @KarineHains for all updates about the Montreal Canadiens and women's hockey
If most pundits agreed prior to the season that Samuel Montembeault would be starting the season as the Habs de facto number one, neither Martin St-Louis nor Jake Allen had received the memo. The head coach decided to give the net to the veteran to start the year in Toronto, but Allen had a lackluster game, giving a couple of bad goals. Samuel Montembeault then took a turn, but he was not up to par in the game against the Wild and Allen saw an opportunity which he grabbed with both hands, playing extraordinarily well for the last two games. The Canadiens had no business winning last night, not when they were “sleepskating” for most of the first 40 minutes, but thankfully, Allen wasn’t asleep at the wheel and multiplied the big saves to keep his team in the game.
To be fair, the Canadiens came out strong and Justin Barron scored the opening goal less than three minutes into the game after a Xhekaj shot was blocked and jumped straight to him. Shortly after that though, Brendan Gallagher took a silly penalty in the offensive zone which led to the Sabres’ equalizer and had the effect of a gut punch to the team’s collective stomach. The alternate captain wasn’t the only guilty party last night as the Habs once again took too many penalties, with five players visiting the box for minor infractions. One can argue that the referees didn’t have a great night, but the Canadiens are a marked team, leading the league in penalty minutes.
Perhaps Gallagher felt guilty for being assessed the first penalty or he just decided that someone had to step up, but the right winger took matters in his own hands in the last frame. For a second game in row, the alternate captain scored one of his patented “Gallagoal” crushing the net and whacking the puck in while most players believed the play to be dead. The 31-year-old might not have the legs and cardio he once had, but Justin Barron said it best when he mentioned Gallagher “still got it” around the net.
The number 11 wasn’t done though, and he got an assist on Tanner Pearson’s power play marker which came from a perfect play for the second man advantage unit. While only Newhook and Gallagher got assists on the play, every Hab on the ice touched the puck before it ended up in Comrie’s net, it was a five men tic-tac-toe play.
For the second game in a row, the only forward who saw less action than Gallagher (11:14 TOI) was Mike Pezzetta who only skated for 8:56. Clearly, Martin St-Louis is aware that he needs to manage the veteran’s ice time and the result is a more efficient Gallagher who’s determined to make the most of what little ice time he gets. This, ladies and gentlemen, is the “Gallagher nouveau” and fans would do well to learn to appreciate what he brings to the table rather than complaining about how much money he makes. Right now, he’s not using up cap space the Canadiens need to sign core players, when that time comes though, I believe Kent Hughes will address the situation in the best possible way both for the team and the player.
Speaking of the Canadiens’ general manager, the trade he made with the Canucks to rid himself of Casey De Smith is looking better by the day. If there were some question marks about Tanner Pearson and his health initially, the left-winger has silenced those who were quick to say he was done. The Canucks’ cap dump has got 5 points in 5 games so far with the Canadiens and the “grey haired line” he forms with Monahan and Gallagher has been instrumental in the last two wins. Should both Pearson and Monahan manage to stay healthy this season, they could both bring interesting returns at the trade deadline.
It’s hard not to root for Sean Monahan right now, just like last season, he’s proving to be a key cog for the Canadiens, and he really deserves to be left alone by the injury ninja. Last night, he won 70% of his faceoffs and he’s got a 65.4% success rate on the season, he’s a huge part of the reason why the Canadiens are currently first in the league when it comes to this crucial part of the game with 58.1%. For years, this had been a weakness for the Sainte-Flanelle, perhaps investing in a skills coach helped, both Jake Evans (63.4%) and Nick Suzuki (57.8%) have become more efficient in that department.
Finally, David Savard might have had the penalty kill shift of the year last night. The rugged defenseman had an insane shift in which he blocked several shots, even from his knees once he lost a skate blade, but he had to leave the game afterwards. Hopefully, he's not seriously injured. In the post game media availability players and coach alike saluted his hard work and called him inspiring.
The Canadiens won’t have much time to savor last night’s win as they’ll be back in action tonight at the Bell Center against the New Jersey Devils. Martin St-Louis said he didn’t know who would be manning the net for the Habs, but it would be madness to ask Allen to play a second game in as many days, especially with his injury history. Allen has won eight of his 10 career games against New Jersey and has a .933 save percentage when facing them, but Samuel Montembeault also has a good record when facing the Devlis (2-0-1) and has got a .930 save percentage. Could Primeau be given the nod after working one-on-one with goalie coach Eric Raymond yesterday? That’s another possibility. We’ll know around 4:00 PM as St-Louis will address the media then since there’s no morning skate today.
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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