It wasn't easy, but the Montreal Canadiens won 4-3 in the shootout to make it eight in a row, and a perfect road trip.
The Montreal Canadiens put the finishing touch on their five-game road trip when they took on the New Jersey Devils at Prudential Center on Saturday night. There was no surprise in the Habs’ lineup, at least on the ice. Jakub Dobes was in the net, but Samuel Montembeault was acting as backup, a first since Jacob Fowler was recalled from the Laval Rocket on March 11. His presence on the bench doesn’t mean he’s out of the doghouse, though. With the two teams meeting again on Sunday night, it was reported that the Tricolore had sent Fowler back to Montreal to rest before he starts Sunday’s game.
While Fowler was heading back to Montreal, a lot of Canadiens fans did the opposite. There were a lot of Habs fans in the stands when warm-up started, with Cole Caufield being on the verge of scoring his 50th goal of the season. Fans were hungry to see him accomplish the feat in person, and they didn’t want to risk missing it if it happened away from the Bell Centre.
Another Strong Game For Dobes
With the former first-string goalie watching from the bench, Dobes played yet another great game and as has become a habit, he kept Montreal in the game in the first frame. After the first 20 minutes, Sheldon Keefe’s men had the upside in shots with 14 to Montreal’s nine, but once again, it was the visitor who held a 1-0 lead, nonetheless.
Since Eric Raymond has been dismissed and replaced by Mario Marciane, the Czech netminder has been looking much more confident and poised in net, and it has paid off. He doesn’t overcommit anymore, but he remains aggressive in net, knowing when to move forward to cut the angles or to use a poke check when an opponent is too daring. Wherever the shot comes from, he’s ready. In the second frame, he made a cracking save on a one-timer from the slot off the stick of Simon Nemec.
When the Canadiens struggled on a four-minute power play, he made a big save on an odd-man rush, but when the Habs gave up another one in quick succession, he couldn’t neutralize that one. Still, on a four-minute power play, he made three saves while Jake Allen only needed to make one.
While he gave up three goals in regulation for the first time since March 14, Dobes cannot be faulted for the Devils tying up the game. On that third goal, Kaiden Guhle provided the perfect screen in front of his own goaltender.
Granted, he made the overtime somewhat scary by coming out of his net, but in the end, he managed to fix his own mistakes.
Caufield The Passer
While everyone was waiting to see Caufield’s 50th goal of the season, he treated them to a couple of nice assists instead. He had the primary assist on the first goal of the game as he fed Jayden Struble for a very Caufield-like shot that beat Allen. On the second goal of the game, he had the puck in his office on the power play. Still, instead of going for the shot, he saw a perfect passing lane to Ivan Demidov, who was sneaking in towards the goal, and he took it, allowing the Russian rookie to notch his 60th point on the season.
Perhaps the Habs were just as keen as the fans to see Caufield get his 50th goal, though. When they got the four-minute power play at the end of the second frame, you could see them try to get the puck to the sniper. After giving up an odd-man rush, the Habs tried to feed Caufield, who was waiting on the offensive blueline, but the pass was off target, which led to another odd-man rush, and that one was costly.
Caufield still found the back of the net, but it was in the shootout and therefore doesn't count as number 50. With the next four games at home, you can expect the Bell Centre to erupt if/when he finds the back of the net.
It’s Not Over Until It’s Over
With a 3-0 lead and a four-minute power play, it looked like the Devils were dead and buried, but they weren’t. The Canadiens' inability to generate much on that power play was a turning point in the game and nearly cost them their win streak.
This will serve as a reminder to a young Habs team that might have felt invincible on a seven-game winning streak that it is not. However, they did win it in the end, thanks to an Oliver Kapanen goal in the shootout. On Sunday night, both teams will be at it again, and it will be interesting to see if the Canadiens have learned their lesson.
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.