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The Habs kicked off a crucial and difficult four-game road trip on Tuesday as they visited the red-hot St. Louis Blues at the Enterprise Center. The Blues had won six straight heading into the contest as one of the few teams rolling more than the Habs since the 4 Nations break. While the Habs have recently cooled off, they still maintained their position as holders of the last Wild Card spot thanks to a recent ability to salvage loser points when they haven’t won games.

One interesting aspect heading into the game was that the Canadiens had the tables turned on them slightly in this one as the Habs were the better offensive team coming in and the Blues were better defensively and the more physical team. On the ice, this game saw the ice be heavily tilted in one direction and it was not in favour of Montreal who were completely dominated for 60 minutes as St. Louis handled them easily 6-1.

Canadiens Lines

Cole Caufield — Nick Suzuki — Juraj Slafkovsky
Patrik Laine — Alex Newhook – Joshua Roy
Brendan Gallagher – Christian Dvorak– Josh Anderson
Emil Heineman – Jake Evans — Joel Armia

Mike Matheson – Alexandre Carrier
Jayden Struble — Lane Hutson
Arber Xhekaj – David Savard

Samuel Montembeault

10 Thoughts

1) It was a rough start to the game for Struble, who coughed up pucks on his first two shifts, allowing the Blues to gain early momentum. St. Louis would control the entirety of the period and end with a 2-1 lead. The Habs were extremely lucky to get out of the period with that score as it should have been much worse if not for a solid period by Montembeault. The shot disparity was 8-0 for the home side in the first ten minutes and 14-5 in the period.

2) The Habs were first to get on the scoresheet but not in a good way as Xhekaj was called for slashing on a rather innocent play that just happened to break the player’s stick. They defended well and gained some momentum from the penalty kill. They also had a good response to the first Blues goal as they scored a minute later. The goal came off a strong forecheck by Slafkovsky that allowed the Habs to get just about their only shift in the offensive zone of the period. The result was a point shot from Hutson that was tipped by Suzuki to fool Jordan Binnington.

3) With 1:53 to play in the period, Roy got picked off his defensive coverage which opened the lane for a Philip Broberg point shot that was deflected by Jordan Kyrou to finally beat Montembeault. St. Louis would regain their lead with 4.2 seconds left when another Broberg point shot was deflected by Montembeault, this time by Dylan Holloway who was likely the best Blues player in the first period.

4) The Blues kept up their domination in the second period as they extended their lead only 3:21 in. Matheson gave up the defensive blue line a little too easily at 4-on-4 and was then the victim of a pick play that gave Robert Thomas all the time he needed to skate in and beat Montembeault with a quick release. The home side would make it 4-1 nine minutes in when the Canadiens collapsed around Montembeault but the rebound from Cam Fowler’s shot found its way to Alexandre Texier who simply had to tap it into the empty net.

5) The Habs kicked off the second half of the game with a power play thanks to an offensive zone penalty from Texier. It was an excellent advantage as Suzuki won four offensive zone faceoffs and Montreal got shots, looks, and controlled zone time to get some rhythm going for the first time in the game.

6) The visitors controlled the second half of the period as the Blues started playing defensive hockey and simply boxing out the Habs and preventing any high danger chances. It allowed the Canadiens to gain the shot advantage in the period as they got it 13-12, but scoring chances were few and far between which gave the distinct feeling that Saturday’s magical sequence was not to be repeated on this night.

7) The Habs came out stronger in the third and hit a post in the opening minutes before Newhook was guilty of an offensive zone hooking infraction that sent the Blues to the man advantage. It was another strong kill for the Habs, this time most notably by Matheson who once again spent most of the sequence on the ice. 

8) Play found itself back in the St. Louis zone immediately following the Habs penalty, but the much bigger Blues were imposing their physical play to prevent scoring chances. Xhekaj and Nathan Walker found themselves in the box after a late hit on Slafkovsky that went unpunished by the officials. The Blues controlled the four-on-four sequence which would have been an excellent chance for the Habs to create offensively and get themselves back in the game. It just wasn’t working on this night. 

9) With ten minutes to play in the game, Broberg skated down the wing and released a shot that went through Montembeault. It was a shot that Montembeault should have stopped, but at that point in the game, with the way teams were behaving, it was rather inconsequential. However, it allowed the Habs to raise the white flag and give Montembeault a break as Jakub Dobes would come in to end the game. 

10) The Habs would squander another power play before the Blues would make it 6-1 on their power play after Anderson and Xhekaj lost their cool and started head-hunting. That the Blues would end the game with their physical players after Anderson and Xhekaj were ejected was a bad look, but luckily for them, nothing came of it. 

HabsWorld Habs 3 Stars

1st Star – Samuel Montembeault 

Montembeault played a good game, especially in keeping the Habs in the game in the first period. It wasn’t a spectacular performance by any stretch but considering his overuse, it is worth saying that the effort he provided should have been enough for his teammates to pick him up at some point in the game and make it a close contest. Instead, they continued to leave him out to dry and Montembeault did not finish the game.

Stats: 27 saves, 32 shots, 5.97 GAA, .844 save %, 50:12 T.O.I. 

2nd Star – Juraj Slafkovsky 

A little unfair that he didn’t get a point on Montreal’s first goal of the game as it was his forecheck that allowed them to even get the puck in the offensive zone to start. It was a theme on the night as he was one of the only forwards pushing the pace and trying to make things happen. The puck found itself around him on most shifts because he continued to try to make things happen. The first line was the main threat and Slafkovsky was the catalyst of the positive shifts for the line on this night.

Stats: +1, 3 shots, 1 hit, 16:24 T.O.I. 

3rd Star – Nick Suzuki 

On a night where Suzuki was not his usual self as a difference-maker for the Habs, he remains named in this section because it was rather hard to find three players to highlight positively and Suzuki was the author of the only Montreal goal. That’s pretty much all that can be said about this nomination.

Stats: 1 goal, even, 3 shots, 1 hit, 19:31 T.O.I.