Before Tuesday night’s game, the Montreal Canadiens had not lost a single game outside of regulation, but the Philadelphia Flyers put an end to that. Mind you, had the Canadiens played from the puck drop, overtime and the shootout wouldn’t have been necessary. For one reason or another, though, Martin St-Louis’ men just weren’t ready. The visitors scored three goals on their first six shots, and getting out of a 3-0 hole isn’t easy when you’re hardly shooting.
Montreal had given plenty of thrilling comeback hockey to its fans since the start of the season, but many believed that it just wasn’t sustainable, and, of course, they were right. It’s a miracle that it took so long before they were proven right.
Canadiens Surging Forward Has Been Big Surprise Early On
Canadiens: Looking For A Spark On The Bottom Six
Former Canadiens Center Has Broken The Ice
Montembeault Has Risen
The game didn’t exactly start the right way for goaltender Samuel Montembeault. He gave up a goal on the very first shot of the game, a significant deflection from the high slot. Then, Mike Matheson and Noah Dobson were sent to the box, leaving the door wide open for the Flyers to improve their lead, which is precisely what they did. After six shots, they had three goals. This could have been fatal for Montembeault’s confidence, but he battled back.
While it’s hard to blame a goalie for power play goals, it is the mark of a valid number one to be able to make those saves that look impossible from time to time and in the first frame, Montembeault didn’t do that. He did, however, for the rest of the game.
The Becancour native faced 42 shots on net during the 65 minutes of play, and that might have been precisely what he needed: to see a lot of rubber and reconcile himself with the puck. The more shots he received, the more confident he looked and the only goal he gave up after the first frame came while he had lost his stick. With 38 stops on 42 shots, the netminder ended the night with a .904 save percentage, which is what he had accustomed us to in previous seasons.
As for the mock cheers he got from fans on an easy shot from the blueline, he said he heard them and got it; he understood the fans' frustration at that point. He ended up having the last laugh, though, since they were all chanting “Monty, Monty, Monty!” in the third frame.
Dach Attack
On Monday, Martin St-Louis decided to tweak his lines slightly by putting Brendan Gallagher back with Kirby Dack and Zachary Bolduc, and it paid off. For whatever reason, Gallagher has a way to get the best out of his linemates, and his presence by Dach’s side tonight was instrumental in the big center scoring two goals.
Those two lamplighters tripled his production on the season, and it’s hard to see how St-Louis could decide to go back to his previous lines. This may not be good news for Jake Evans and Josh Anderson, but it makes sense to use Gallagher with wingers that have a greater offensive upside, which is the case for Dach and Bolduc.
Career High For Suzuki
When he scored the team’s second goal, Suzuki got a point in a 12th consecutive game, which is a career high for him. In the last 35 years, the longest point streak by a Sainte-Flanelle player is 13 games, set by Pierre Turgeon in 1994-95 (Kirk Muller had done it as well in 1991-92). If Suzuki gets a point in the next game, he will join those top players up there, but for now, he tied Saku Koivu (2006-07) and Vincent Damphousse (1992-93), who were no slouches either.
With 7.2 seconds left in regulation, there was a faceoff in the Canadiens’ zone, and the captain not only won the faceoff but also blocked the shot that came after the Habs lost the puck. That tells you everything you need to know about Suzuki’s leadership: he may not be the most vocal of leaders, but he certainly leads by example. Asked about the sequence, St-Louis said that’s the kind of playing that wins championships.
While the Canadiens did well to battle back and get one point out of a game that had started so badly, they might have needed that defeat, just like Montembeault needed a truckload of shots. It’s one thing to be told you will get burned if you play with fire, but it’s quite another to end up with an actual burn, in this case, a loss to the last-place team in the Metropolitan division.
Follow Karine on X @KarineHains Bluesky @karinehains.bsky.social and Threads @karinehains.
Bookmark The Hockey News Canadiens' page for all the news and happenings around the Canadiens.
Join the discussion by signing up to the Canadiens' roundtable on The Hockey News.
Subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here.