The Habs were feeling good about themselves after finally winning a game on Monday in Buffalo. This much was evident as they travelled to Minnesota to take on a much more formidable foe in the Minnesota Wild. The Habs put up a very good fight despite an outcome that had them returning to the losing side of the battle. The Wild won 3-0 but needed a power play goal and an empty netter in the third period to get there. The Habs could have capitalized on some chances and made this tougher for the Wild.
Montreal’s Lines
Juraj Slafkovsky — Nick Suzuki — Kirby Dach
Cole Caufield – Jake Evans – Alex Newhook
Brendan Gallagher – Christian Dvorak — Josh Anderson
Emil Heineman — Lucas Condotta — Joel Armia
Kaiden Guhle – Mike Matheson
Lane Hutson — David Savard
Arber Xhekaj – Jayden Struble
Samuel Montembeault
10 Thoughts
1) The majority of the first period was played in the neutral zone as both teams were content to keep the opposition to the perimeter and kill any plays that attempted to do otherwise. This is evident by the final shot tally that was 4-2 in favour of the Wild. Nothing sandwich, overall.
2) Even though the Wild had more time of possession in the period, I believe most would argue that this was a pretty textbook opening road period and one that is a welcome sight for the defensively challenged Habs.
3) The second period had a bit more pace as the shots finished 11-7 in favour of the Wild. I find that tally to be deceptive because the more the period advanced, the better the Canadiens looked as they spent more and more time in the offensive zone. Slafkovsky was particularly dangerous as he got two great backhand chances that he essentially whiffed on from the slot.
4) On the second of the Slafkovsky chances, the play was heading the other way when Ryan Hartman clearly interfered with Slafkovsky and sent him crashing into the Wild net. Filip Gustavsson took exception to Slafkovsky pushing the net off its moorings and jumped on Slafkovsky. The craziest part of the whole play was that despite two obvious infractions, Minnesota skated away without a penalty.
5) The missed call was crucial as the Wild scored the first goal on the very next shift. Dvorak made an inexplicable pass in the neutral zone that turned the puck over and sent Minnesota into Montreal’s zone. Savard and Hutson missed their defensive assignments, and the Wild were able to complete a gorgeous play that Matt Boldy finished to finally beat Montembeault.
6) The Habs crumbled a little bit after the goal and Montembeault had to make a few key saves to keep the snowball from growing. Eventually, the Canadiens got their bearings back and finished the period strong, but it was in large part thanks to Montembeault who made some key saves after the Wild’s goal.
7) The third started with a similar pace to the opening period as Montreal attacked and the Wild were content to kill plays and keep the Habs on the perimeter. Five minutes in, they got their second man advantage of the game after a Boldy interference call.
8) The first power play unit was atrocious, but Hutson and Gallagher showed some pride, and the second unit was far more dangerous. Too bad Gallagher and Newhook ultimately fanned on the glorious chances provided. At the end of the sequence, Jakub Lauko and Gallagher exchanged several shots that earned them both a penalty.
9) At the end of the four-on-four, Struble was trying to support the attack and got his stick up on Jared Spurgeon. It was the most obvious call of the night and Struble was in the sin bin for four minutes. The Habs successfully killed the first two minutes after strong work by Anderson and Armia. However, Marco Rossi was able to find some ice and fire home an awesome shot to the top corner to extend the lead to 2-0 with just four seconds left in the advantage.
10) The Wild were immediately penalized on the next shift for a high-stick, but the Habs were unable to capitalize despite the first unit finally looking dangerous on the sequence. The final five minutes were more of the Canadiens trying to attack and Montreal simply killing plays and keeping Montreal to the perimeter.
HabsWorld Habs 3 Stars
1st Star – Lane Hutson
Hutson was easily the most impressive Hab on this night and that story is getting repetitive. Some players should be closer to Hutson on a nightly basis from a raw skill perspective, but no one comes close to combining the skill, compete, and consistency. If ever Hutson hits a wall as a rookie out of college, I shudder to think what this team will look like.
Stats: -2, 2 shots, 20:16 T.O.I.
2nd Star – Samuel Montembeault
More than the numbers on that stats page, what has been mostly missing from this season for both Montembeault and Cayden Primeau has been the timely save. Montembeault provided some very timely saves at the start of the game and immediately following the first Minnesota goal that kept the Habs in the game and confident throughout the contest.
Stats: 25 saves on 27 shots, .926 save %, 2.06 GAA, 58:21 T.O.I.
3rd Star – Kaiden Guhle
I don’t think it’s a huge surprise that since Guhle’s return, the Habs have somewhat settled down defensively. He’s a huge presence on the back end and that was no different on this night. What an important presence that allows Hutson to be able to be himself and not shackled to huge defensive responsibilities.
Stats: even, 1 shot, 1 hit, 21:31 T.O.I.