After a lengthy break for the 4 Nations Face-Off, it wouldn’t have been surprising if the Montreal Canadiens and Ottawa Senators had been rusty on Saturday night, but that wasn’t the case. It took less than three minutes for the Habs to open the score, and five goals were scored in the first frame alone.
Brendan Gallagher Keeps Climbing The Ladder
Gallagher’s goal was his 15th of the season and the 233rd of his illustrious career, making him the 17th most prolific scorer in team history (tied with Tomas Plekanec). It took the Czech pivot 984 games to reach that milestone, but Gallagher did it in just 809 tilts.
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While 233 goals is an impressive total, especially for a player drafted in the fifth round, it’s even more remarkable considering the punishing style of play the diminutive right winger practices.
At 32 years old, Gallagher still looks ready for every game, and when you serve him a golden opportunity on a platter, you can be sure he will pounce on it. Some are slow starters and might have failed to capitalize on the turnover, but not Gallagher; when the puck drops, he’s on.
The veteran also gathered an assist on Josh Anderson’s second-period goal, which gives him 451 points, five short of Pierre Mondou, who has the 28th rank in team history with 456
Lane Hutson Has Learnt A Lot
It’s easy to forget that Hutson is a rookie. He spends so much time on the ice that fans and media tend to forget he’s a fresh-faced 20-year-old; when you consider that, though, his play is nothing short of remarkable.
In 57 games, the rookie has put up 39 assists and leads the team in helpers, tied with captain Nick Suzuki. How he set up Patrik Laine’s power-play goal on Saturday was impressive.
At the start of the season, he didn’t have the confidence to attack the net, and even on the power play, he would just dance at the blueline. But now, he drives the net and compels the opposing player to close him down, easing the coverage on the big Finn.
The young Slovak wasn’t kidding when he said he’d like to play more like Brady Tkachuk. On a night when the Ottawa captain was nowhere to be seen after suffering an injury at the 4 Nations Face-Off, Slafkovsky took more than a page out of his playbook.
The left winger chased pucks with a vengeance tonight and had an all-you-can-eat approach to dishing out hits. Through 40 minutes, he had dished out six bone-crushing hits (had a career-high eight in the game) and dropped the gloves in the third after taking exception with a Ridly Greig hit.
He wasn’t all about the physical side of the game, though. He also took five shots, all of which made it on net, scored a goal, and wrapped up his night with a plus-one rating. If he plays like that every night, he could soon become a thorn in the sides of many teams, if not all of them except his own.
Ultimately, the Canadiens took the game 5-2 and looked like the early January version of themselves rather than the team that plummeted in the standings right before the break. The players looked genuinely happy to be back and were all smiles not only at the end of the game but throughout it as well, especially when they saw Slafkovsky drop the gloves. Arber Xhekaj absolutely loved that.
Martin St-Louis must have been glad to see his men stop the bleeding way faster than the city of Montreal clears snow after a storm once the Senators returned from being two goals down. Granted, the power play came at the right time, but they still had to score on it.
The Canadiens headed back home right after the game. They’ll host their fans at the Bell Centre for their annual skills contest on Sunday morning. Montreal’s next game will occur on Tuesday night when the Carolina Hurricanes come to town.
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