After a strange and uneven effort against the Penguins on Saturday yielded no results for the struggling Habs, the team kicked off the week by hosting the suddenly cold Calgary Flames to the Bell Centre. The Habs came out firing, but Dustin Wolf was up to the task in a busy first period. The Canadiens cooled off and the game evened out even if Montreal was the more dangerous offensive team for most of the night. This was true even if the Flames outshot the home side.
In the end, a timely coaches’ challenge and some late-game heroics from Matt Coronato allowed Calgary to skate away with a 3-2 overtime win. A loss for the Habs in a game they likely felt they deserved won’t help an already fragile group as they head on the road for the next few games.
Habs Lineup
Cole Caufield — Nick Suzuki — Kirby Dach
Alex Newhook – Jake Evans – Juraj Slafkovsky
Brendan Gallagher – Christian Dvorak — Josh Anderson
Emil Heineman — Oliver Kapanen — Joel Armia
Mike Matheson – Kaiden Guhle
Lane Hutson — David Savard
Arber Xhekaj – Jayden Struble
Samuel Montembeault
10 Thoughts
1) After two consecutive Tuesday night stinkers, the first shift of the game left many worried as the Habs completely vacated the slot which gave Yegor Sharangovich a few good looks at Montembeault early. Unlike those games, he was up to the task and allowed his teammates to find their legs in this game.
2) The Habs had two power plays in the period. While they didn’t score, they certainly looked much more dangerous than in the last few games. Slafkovsky had his stick break on him on what was likely the best chance of them all, but this wasn’t without other chances for Newhook and Dach who completed some strong plays to create scoring chances.
3) The Canadiens finished the first period by dominating the second half and led the shot clock by a 15-10 margin. A 15-shot period is indicative of a good period and a higher compete level by the Habs. Not sure they’ve had this many shots in a period this season.
4) Connor Zary opened the scoring five minutes into the second period. The initial shot on the sequence looked scary as it was directed toward Heineman and another Flames player who were on the ground with their heads toward the shooter. The shot would bounce off Heineman directly to Zary. The scary sight caused Kapanen to stop playing so Zary was free to bury his shot.
5) At the end of the first half of the second period, the shots were 8-1 for Calgary. Montembeault was strong and the Habs were testing his capacity to hang in there.
6) A strong shift by Hutson, Evans, and Slafkovsky turned the tides of the period as Montreal finally controlled the puck and a strong shift by Dvorak on the next sequence caused the Flames into a penalty for the Habs’ third power play of the night. It was by far their worst advantage of the evening, but with five seconds left in it, a strong forecheck by Armia and Kapanen caused the puck to bounce out to the slot where Gallagher was all alone. Gallagher was patient and then slid it five-hole on Dustin Wolf.
7) The third period started slowly but Slafkovsky made a nice move five minutes in to create a scoring chance for himself that he rang off the post. Hutson then took a hooking penalty in the neutral zone that had the Canadiens in a tough spot. However, the Flames missed the play off a faceoff and Evans skated down on a 2-on-1 where he fed Armia who gave the Habs the lead with a shorty.
8) They thought they extended the lead when strong defensive plays by Struble and Kapanen created a two-on-one for Anderson and Gallagher. Gallagher put it home, but the goal was quickly negated when challenged for offside.
9) Coronato tied the game with 2:30 to play when the Habs gave him too much room and allowed him to attack the middle and fire home a rocket. The Flames attacked through the end of the period as the shots ended 32-23 for Calgary on the night.
10) Suzuki lost his stick off the faceoff to start overtime, allowing Coronato to walk in and bury the winner seven seconds into the extra time. A tough way to end it after having the lead late in the third.
HabsWorld Habs 3 Stars
1st Star – Jake Evans
Evans’ start to the season has been outstanding. He was rewarded for this on Tuesday with a game on the second line and he did not disappoint. He played to his wingers’ strengths, and it was really evident that this is what he was trying to do considering he made plays that allowed both Newhook and Slafkovsky on this night.
Stats: 1 assist, even, 1 shot, 1 hit, 17:25
2nd Star – Alex Newhook
Playing alongside Evans and Slafkovsky allowed Newhook to play a straight-line game and just use his speed all night long. It was easily his best game of the year as he was buzzing throughout the game. More nights like this will see that line touch the back of the net, and once it starts going in… Great game by Newhook. The coaching staff has to save what he did tonight on film for when he goes back to sleep.
Stats: even, 4 shots, 1 hit, 15:08 T.O.I.
3rd Star – Kirby Dach
It was a terrible first period for the top line, but Dach and Caufield got out of it and got better as the game wore on. Dach, in particular, showed really interesting flashes with the puck on his stick to create plays that had the Bell Centre buzzing. I don’t think it’s a good fit to have him and Suzuki on the same line as they both need the puck on their stick to be effective. Tonight, Dach was easily the better of the two, so it made sense that the puck was on his stick far more often.
Stats: even, 2 shots, 3 hits, 20:20 T.O.I.