The Montreal Canadiens finally signed a first win in extra time this season when captain Nick Suzuki beat Elvis Merzlikins with his own rebound.
After losing two games in a row, the Montreal Canadiens were looking for a bounce-back performance against the Columbus Blue Jackets and hoping to keep their winning streak against the Ohio outfit, having won the last six duels.
For a second game in a row, Martin St-Louis made some changes to his lines, the only one remaining for the previous game was the Cole Caufield-Nick Suzuki-Alex Newhook unit. Juraj Slafkovsky found himself playing with Christian Dvorak and Brendan Gallagher while Kirby Dach was now centering the third line, flanked by Joshua Roy and Josh Anderson. Jake Evans and Emil Heineman joined Joel Armia on the fourth line.
The start wasn't all that reassuring as the Blue Jackets rang a shot of the post behind Cayden Primeau, but instead of panicking, the Canadiens got their working boots out. Still, Columbus took the lead on a Mathieu Olivier goal after Justin Barron lost his man. Montreal came right back though as Slafkovsky finally scored his second of the year on a good individual play following a turnover. The smile on his face told the story of how much of a weight that was off his back.
After 20 minutes, both sides had eight shots and ten hits, which painted a pretty accurate picture of the first frame and was at least an encouraging sign for St-Louis' newly formed lines.
Within five minutes of the start of the second frame though, the Jackets took the lead back after Yegor Chinakhov beat Jayden Struble in a footrace and Primeau with a good shot. Once again, within less than two minutes the Canadiens came back. This time, Slafkovsky spotted Caufield in space and sent him on a breakaway.
It was an opportunity the sniper wasn't going to miss. In Johnny Hockey's home, the new number 13 scored his 13th goal of the season, worthy of a Hollywood script, especially considering Slafkovsky's assist was his 13th of the year as well and the goal came with 13:26 left in the period. In his post-game interview, Caufield himself mentioned this was the kind of script that writes itself and that the opportunity was on his mind before the game tonight.
It was another evenly fought battle between the two sides, and there was even a fight, no, it wasn't round two between Arber Xhekaj and Olivier, it was a tilt between 5-foot-9, 184 pounds Gallagher and 6-foot-2, 211 pounds defenseman Zach Werenski. While I always admire the alternate captain's devotion, determination and leadership, fighting shouldn't be something he does, especially considering his medical history.
With 20 minutes to go, both teams still had everything to play for and the table was set for an intense third frame, provided the Canadiens didn't end up running on empty after playing the night before.
Emil Heineman gave Montreal its first lead of the game when he outmuscled Damon Severson to cut to the net and beat Elvis Merzlikins. It was the rookie's fifth goal on the season and a very deserved one at that. He shows up every game and does whatever it takes to help the team.
Just like Montreal though, Columbus fought back. Werenski, clearly not too tired from his one-sided tilt with Gallagher threw the puck in front of the net and it deflected on Kaiden Guhle's skate to get past Primeau.
For a second game in a row, overtime was needed but it had a better ending for the Habs. Lane Hutson took advantage of Sean Monahan losing his balance in the offensive zone to pick up the puck and turn on the jets, followed by Nick Suzuki. The young blueliner fed him the puck and while his shot was stopped, the captain pounced on his own rebound, 4-3 Montreal, game over.
It was a seventh win in a row for the Canadiens against the Blue Jackets and tonight, the Habs' best players were their best players. They all answered the call for this game and gave a real team effort. Two points for Slafkovsky, one each for Suzuki, Caufield (who had five shots) and Hutson, but it should be noted the rearguard finished his night with a plus-three rating no one else was above a plus-one for the Tricolore.
As for Cayden Primeau, he's probably as relieved as Slafkovsky was when he scored, it's just his second win on the season and it should ease the pressure on him ever so slightly. He gave three goals on 24 shots for a .875 save percentage which is nothing to write home about, but will still allow him to get a confidence boost.
The Canadiens' next game will be a Saturday matinee against the struggling New York Rangers (yes you read that right) who have lost their last four games. It will be the first game of the second back-to-back of the week since Montreal will then head to Boston to take on the Bruins at 3:00 PM on Sunday.
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