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One of the Canadiens’ strengths so far this season has been the faceoffs, no matter who they take on, Montreal’s centers shine when it’s time to win faceoff, except last night. The Devils completely dominated that aspect of the game winning 62.2% of the draws, giving them a lot of puck possession. To complicate things even further for themselves, the Canadiens took three high sticking penalties including a four-minute double minor to top penalty killer Nick Suzuki during which New Jersey scored twice. Normally, the Canadiens would have lost that game, but not yesterday.
Samuel Montembeault had yet another strong game stopping 28 of the 30 shots he faced, meaning he was only beaten when Montreal was down a man. Sean Monahan, who has been more discreet than early on in the season lately, led the charge offensively getting two primary assists. In his mid-season media availability refused to confirm there was an agreement in place with Monahan to trade him, but he did mention they had an understanding that the situation would be evaluated near the trade deadline to see if he could be flipped to a contender. If Monahan wants to be moved, he needs to carry on providing similar performances.
Cole Caufield also had a strong showing, but not in the usual manner. The Canadiens’ sniper only took two shots on goal, but he played a complete game and his astute forechecking led to a New Jersey turnover which he batted out in midair to backhand the puck to Juraj Slafkovsky who was alone in the slot and made no mistake with it, scoring his ninth goal of the season.
In the third game of his young NHL career, Joshua Roy looked much more comfortable on the ice, putting himself in space and shooting five times on the night. The Saint-Georges native even scored his first career goal, with Sean Monahan on a two on one, the veteran waited for the defenseman to take himself out of the play, before dishing up a perfect pass to Roy who beat Niko Daws from the slot. At the end of the night, Roy had five shots on net in 12 minutes of ice time and a nice souvenir puck. It seems going out for a meal with David Savard (who picked up the tab), Rafael Harvey-Pinard and Samuel Montembeault the night before was just what he needed to feel comfortable.
As the cliché says, there’s no such thing as a safe lead in hockey and within two minutes of the start of the final frame, the Devils had scored two power play goals to come back in the game. Still, the Canadiens’ didn’t panic and they traded blow for blow with the Devils, each team taking turns on the attack. Cole Caufield, who normally likes to take shots from the outside, decide to get into traffic and as luck would have it, he was right next to Nico Daws when he wasn’t able to control the puck on a Sean Monahan shot. Caufield only had to tap it in, perhaps for one of the easiest goals he’s ever scored.
The Canadiens were able to hang on to their one-goal lead and left New Jersey with two points. They’re now 24th in the league and only four points out of a wildcard spot for the playoffs. Do not get too excited though, by the time the season is over, the Canadiens won’t be getting ready for the playoffs but heading for the golf greens and that’s not a problem, this is what’s supposed to happen in a rebuilt.
Montréal won’t have much time to celebrate the win as they’ll be back in action tonight facing the Senators in Ottawa. Jacques Martin’s men will be eager to bounce back after losing their last game 7-4 to the Avalanche on Tuesday night, but it won’t be easy as they’ve only won three of the last 10 games and currently sit in 30th place in the standing with only 30 points, that’s 15 points less than the Canadiens, so much for those who felt like the Sens would be ready to compete for the playoffs this year.
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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