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Game 5: Canadiens vs Blue AKA Rocking the Blues

October 13, 2019, 9:25 AM ET [91 Comments]
Karine Hains
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
After a disappointing showing on Thursday night, the Canadiens' faithful were hoping to see their favourites make amends last night and they most certainly did. Claude Julien had said on Thursday evening that there would be no practice on Friday but that they would be watching a lot of game tape to identify the issues and attempt to fix them and to be honest, the early returns are encouraging. If the third line had been Montreal's best line since the start of the season, last night, the first line was in fine form and it was nice to see the Tatar-Danault-Gally combo look like they did last season. They came ready to play and they set the tone for this match-up with the Blues. Not only was Tatar able to steer clear of the penalty box but he also put the Habs in the lead midway through the first period of a Danault face-off win followed by a Gallagher pass:



The Blues tied it with a little over two minutes left in the first period but once again, Jonathan Drouin was clutch in striking straight back 50 seconds late. He cut through the heart of the Blues' zone after a rather nice feed from Ben Chiarot who found himself on the bottom pairing alongside Christian Folin for the first time last night. That's 5 games in a row with at least a point for number 92 and that marker allowed the Canadiens to go back to the locker room with a 2-1 lead after 20 minutes.



Unfortunately, the lead was short lived and Sammy Blais put everyone back on level field just over a minute into the second period from an impossible angle. That's probably a goal that Carey Price would like to get back I have to say. The Blue took the lead for the first time of the night midway through the second when Lehkonen was in the penalty box and the penalty killing unit once again faltered... The Canadiens are currently 29th in the league when it comes to the efficiency of their man down unit with a measly success rate of 64.7%. Thankfully, less than 3 minutes later, the Habs' first line stroke again when Gallagher and Tatar joined forces to set-up Danault's second goal of the season. After 40 minutes the score stood at 3-3 and the Canadiens were putting in a great performance against a rather strong team.

For the first time in a few games, Claude Julien did not feel the need to mix and match his lines either. As expected, Jordan Weal was on the 2nd line and Nick Suzuki was down on the 4th one while still getting some power play time. To be honest, that might be a good solution for the kid, there's more space and time on the ice with the man advantage and it allows him to take just a bit more time. In the end, he played just over 16 minutes last night, almost 5 of which were spent on the man advantage. As for the defence, the "new duos" seemed to click. Kulak was back playing alongside Jeff Petry and both men ended the night with a +2 rating. Meanwhile, Chiarot was +3 in 17 minutes on the ice. It's also worth mentioning the Jeff Petry was on the ice for over 24 minutes while Weber had 21. This is smart time management by Julien and co. Weber is getting older and Petry has showed himself to be able and reliable.

The Habs came out strong in the 3rd and the period belonged to them. They wanted to get their first home win of the season and they did just that. Lehkonen put them back in front 7 minutes in before Gallagher notched an insurance marker in unconventional fashion. Had it not been for the new penalty for unsuccessful challenges rule, I bet the Blues would have contested that goal... Gallagher back into the goalie, bumped him and the puck trickled in. By his own admission, Gally wasn't sure that it was a good goal but hey, he'll take it! Max Domi completed the score with an empty netter in the dying minutes of the game by diving to push the puck in. I must say that Gallagher and Domi give us some of the best goal celebrations I've seen, the passion that animates those two is just amazing to see.



Gallagher was deservedly the first start of the game with a goal and two assist while Drouin was the second with a goal and a helper and Danault was the third. Normally, the French broadcaster has a post game interview with the first star of the match but last night, it was Jonathan Drouin that Renaud Lavoie interviewed and it made for a great moment of television. When he said that his confidence and the crowd support this season made a big difference for him, the fans broke into an ovation that made the player oh so very emotional...As Lavoie once said, it was "unbelibable"!



The Canadiens will now enjoy a couple of days off before having a morning skate in Brossard on Tuesday in readiness of their match-up with Tampa that evening. Hopefully, they'll be just as dialled in when the puck drops, I'll be in attendance and would love to see that kind of display!
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