The Battle of Quebec was back for one night, and the Montreal Canadiens made their fans proud by dominating the Colorado Avalanche in a 7-3 win.
After being humiliated 7-2 by the Colorado Avalanche at the end of November, Jakub Dobes and the Montreal Canadiens had a chance to make amends at the Bell Centre on Thursday night. With the NHL’s agreement, the visitors were wearing their alternate blue Quebec Nordiques jersey, which allowed the Habs to market the game as a new chapter of the Battle of Quebec. It might not have been the real deal, but the 21,000 fans that filled up the arena seemed to love it as they sang along to the Canadian anthem louder than ever.
After the November defeat, Martin St-Louis had taken the blame, saying his strategy wasn’t right on the night as he had instructed his men to let the Avs players come to them rather than being aggressive on the forecheck. Given how badly that strategy failed, it wasn’t surprising to see the Habs play a much more aggressive brand of hockey on Thursday.
Mission Accomplished
For a second game in a row, Dobes played a significant role in the Canadiens’ win. While he wasn’t tested much in the first frame when the Avalanche only took five shots on goal, thanks in part to seven blocked shots by the Habs, he took center stage in the middle frame.
As soon as the 2nd period started, Martin Necas got to the net from the wing, and the Habs goalie was ready, sticking the pad out. Seconds later, with Montreal on the penalty kill, Mike Matheson turned the puck over in front of the net to Nathan MacKinnon, and he was stoned cold by Dobes. Minutes later, it was Parker Kelly who was alone in front, and he was stopped as well. Samuel Girard suffered the same fate on a breakaway; Dobes was in the zone.
Yesterday, Martin St-Louis praised Dobes’ compete level, and that character trait was on full display again tonight. The netminder was aggressive, challenging the shooters, coming out of his net and making the big saves. On Colorado’s second goal, he sent a big rebound to the side, unaware that Joel Kiviranta was right there, but he still dove for the puck. He believes he can stop any shot, and it shows. He didn’t get it, but it doesn’t matter; he fought for it.
For a second game in a row, Dobes was named the second star of the night, and he can honestly say mission accomplished after his performance in this 7-3 win over the best team in the league.
On The Pairings
Instead of using his usual pairings, St-Louis used Mike Matheson with Kaiden Guhle and Lane Hutson with Noah Dobson. Asked what motivated the change, the coach explained that with Colorado’s top line, he wanted to have a real shut-down pairing:
When there’s a first time that’s so loaded, I think it helps to have skaters like Guhles and Matheson, who cover a lot of space. We did it last year as well; it’s not new. We knew we could do that. Sometimes, you get led in a direction. When you give Guhle that kind of challenge, his game rises. I liked what I saw.
Guhle played over 22 minutes tonight, by far his highest total since he came back from injury, and he had a great game. Of course, there was that scary moment when he collided with Josh Manson and left the ice, spiking his helmet on his way to the room while holding his other arm completely still, which made everyone fear the worst. When he got back on the ice, though, he completely obliterated Artturi Lehkonen with a bone-crushing hit. I believe that translates to “I’m fine” in Guhle talk.
It’s also worth mentioning that Arber Xhekaj had a good game as well tonight. He was on the ice for 13:38 and made several good, safe plays. At one stage, he was going to hit someone in the boards, but he had the discipline to stop himself when he saw how the player was positioned. Not so long ago, he would have finished the check and gotten himself a boarding call; his game has really matured.
On The Third Line
Things are starting to click between Zach Bolduc, Jake Evans, and Kirby Dach. The line produced two of the team’s seven goals and was often in complete control on the ice, not giving the Avalanche a chance to come up for air. In their own zone, they were also very efficient, accounting for five of the 21 shots the Canadiens blocked.
Dach and Bolduc already had some chemistry before the former’s injury, but they were playing with Brendan Gallagher then; it’s reassuring to see that adding Evans to the combination has only made it stronger.
Overall, the Canadiens played a really clean game tonight, and when they made mistakes, Dobes was there to bail them out. Granted, Colorado was playing a second game in as many nights, but that doesn’t diminish how good a performance the Canadiens had.
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