Canadiens: Not So Terrible Tuesday

The Montreal Canadiens welcomed the Calgary Flames at the Bell Centre tonight and it wasn't like the last two Tuesdays.

They say things come in threes, and the Montreal Canadiens will start to believe that applies to terrible Tuesdays. On Oct. 22, they were schooled 7-2 by the New York Rangers, and on Oct. 29, they were outclassed 8-2 by the Seattle Kraken, but tonight, they at least battled hard before conceding the win to the Calgary Flames.

In the last two games, the Canadiens had come out very carefully, so focused on not making any mistakes in their own territory that they had all but forgotten there was an offensive zone. Tonight, that wasn't the case. 

In the first frame, the Canadiens attacked whenever they could, and they weren't picky about their shots either. Whenever they saw the net, they took a shot, keeping Dustin Wolf as busy as possible. The Flames' netminder faced 15 shots and four power-play minutes.

The Habs didn't score, but they were able to apply a lot of pressure in the offensive zone and even managed to make a full change while attacking. It wasn't perfect; there were a couple of occasions where they lost the puck, which led to an odd-man rush and a breakaway, but Samuel Montembeault stood tall and looked in full control. 

The new lines concocted by Martin St-Louis also had a good first 20 minutes. The Alex Newhook, Jake Evans, and Juraj Slafkovsky line got a golden opportunity, but Newhook was stopped in close. Christian Dvorak seemed energized playing alongside Brendan Gallagher and Josh Anderson. He also won four of his five faceoffs, second only to Evans, who won his three. Clearly, they paid attention to Marc Bureau's advice on Monday. 

As is too often the case, though, after a great start, the Canadiens cannot keep up the same level of effort. After shooting 15 times in the first frame, Montreal could only test Wolf five times in the middle one.

Calgary dominated the first five minutes of the stanza, and Connor Zary whacking a free puck in the slot gave them a 1-0 lead. For much of the rest of the frame, the Flames were in control, and the Canadiens struggled to get any momentum going.

On Montreal's third power play of the game, the second wave broke through after the first man-advantage unit could not beat Wolf. Gallagher scored his fifth goal of the season and the 223rd of his career, which allowed him to tie Peter Mahovlich as the 20th most prolific goal scorer with the Canadiens. The alternate captain is only two goals away from Stephane Richer in 19th place. 

If the Canadiens' effort in the second period was disappointing, Montembeault's wasn't. He made some very important saves to keep his team behind by just one, and this is the kind of performance that could help build the goaltender's confidence back up. 

With 20 minutes to go in regulation, both teams had everything to play for. When Lane Hutson took a hooking call, the penalty killers rolled up their sleeves and decided that mistake wouldn’t be costly. Not only did they kill it, but they also got a shorthanded goal when Evans found Armia with a perfect feed on an odd-man rush.

Minutes later, Montreal thought they had put the game away when Gallagher found the back of the net again, but the goal was called off for offside. With less than three minutes left to play, the Flames were able to tie the score, and once again, the opponent’s goal seemed to unsettle the Canadiens. There’s a smell of panic when Montreal gives up a goal, and that’s never a good sign. 

St-Louis elected to start the overtime period with Suzuki and Dvorak, a decision aimed at winning the faceoff, but it didn’t go that way. While Dvorak won the faceoff and tied up his man, Suzuki lost his stick in a battle, and that's all it took for Matt Coronato to fire off the game-winning goal. 

Speaking with the media after the game, the coach explained that even though his team didn't throw up over itself tonight, the result still made him a bit nauseous. The bench boss loved his team's first period, calling it their best so far, but unfortunately, they just couldn't separate themselves on the scoreboard. 

Asked about how he would explain Gallagher's longevity, St-Louis explained:

He's a warrior, he works, he's combative, he shot hard tonight and that line played an excellent match. 

As for what makes him an offensive threat, he could laugh and repeat that he's a combative warrior before also adding that he's a smart player who has bought into the team's offensive concepts. 

Interestingly, when the pilot was asked if he saw Dach as a winger or a center, he wouldn't commit. He did, however, say that if he had been asked 13 months ago, he would have said he was a center. Until he's back to where he was, though, he doesn't think it's fair to make a call one way or another. 

It's worth mentioning that Arber Xhekaj had a solid game tonight. He only applied one hit, but his decision-making was much improved. When he was retrieving the puck, he took his time to work out the best course of action. He didn't rush his play and took the time to make the right one. He also managed to kill several scoring chances, including one from a miscommunication between Jayden Struble and Dach. 

The Canadiens will be back in action on Thursday night when they take on the New Jersey Devils. They will then head to Toronto for a Saturday night tilt with the Maple Leafs, who could be without their captain and a matinee in Buffalo on Monday. 

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