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The Hurricanes celebrated Frederik Andersen’s return in style last night, handing the Canadiens a 4-1 defeat. The game didn’t start badly for Montreal though, Joshua Roy even scored his third goal (he had also scored one in Tuesday night’s win) to put Martin St.Louis’ men up 1-0 just short of six minutes in, but the lead didn’t last long however. It was Brady Skjei who beat Samuel Montembeault on a backhand to equalize.
The game might have turned out differently if Joshua Roy’s second goal hadn’t been waved off for goaltender obstruction. Since one of the referees waved it off on the ice, Martin St-Louis couldn’t even challenge the ruling. While it might have looked like interference from afar on the replay it looks like Alex Newhook avoided the contact with Andersen, but the Canes’ goaltender sold the contact well. This was a turning point as the Canadiens looked downright deflated after it.
Samuel Montemeault multiplied the saves as usual to keep his team in the game, but he could not score goals and that’s what was missing. The Canadiens’ number one goaltender faced nearly 40 shots while Frederik Anderson only had to turn 25 shots aside.
After the second Roy goal was denied, the Hurricanes looked like they were taking the Canadiens’ zone by storm. Stefan Noesen put the locals in front with another backhand goal during the second frame before Brady Skjei scored his second of the game three-quarters of the way in the final frame. Andrei Svechnikov then nailed the Canadiens’ coffin with an empty net goal.
It was yet another defeat for the Canadiens who looked like they didn’t want to be there at the end of a long road trip. To be fair though, almost no one would have predicted the Canadiens would come back from this trip with four points out of a possible eight.
As for the Hurricanes, their acquisition of Jake Guentzel could be a game-changer in the playoffs and perhaps beyond. I believe Carolina will try to sign him to a contract extension considering everything they had to fork out to acquire him. If Frederik Anderson stays healthy, the Canes could be dangerous in the playoffs.
Today shouldn’t be a very exciting day in Habsland. It might be trade deadline day, but Kent Hughes has very little to offer contenders looking for rental players. David Savard and Jake Allen still have another year to their contract, just like Joel Armia while Tanner Pearson hasn’t done much to catch the eye of potential buyers. Could Jonathan Kovacevic move to make some room for upcoming rookie defensemen? Perhaps, after all, right shot defensemen are a rare breed in the NHL, but the return would probably be negligible.
The Habs are now back in town but they’ve got a day off while Kent Hughes will speak to the media later this afternoon, after the 3:00 PM trade deadline has passed. Tomorrow, the Canadiens will be taking on the Maple Leafs as the Bell Centre.
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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