The Montreal Canadiens left Ottawa with two points they didn't deserve tonight, according to their own coach.
For a third game this season, Samuel Montembeault and the Montreal Canadiens were taking on the Ottawa Senators in the nation’s capital on Saturday night. It’s no secret that these two teams hate each other, and you expect high intensity all around. While the Habs had a 10-point lead over the Sens in the standings going in, Martin St-Louis’ men knew this divisional duel was highly significant, with both the Buffalo Sabres and the Boston Bruins coming up in their rearview mirror.
While the game started well for Montreal, when Ottawa took two penalties in the first frame and was unable to stop the Habs’ power play, the Canadiens’ domination on the scoreboard would be short-lived in what turned out to be a roller coaster of a game.
The Habs Achille’s Heel
Montreal has struggled in the second frame all year long. Before the start of this game, they had a minus-10 differential in that period. That abysmal record got even worse on Saturday night, as the Senators scored four goals on Montembeault in those 20 minutes.
St-Louis has repeated time and time that the fact his team would allow early goals bugged him, and that was once again the case in that duel. Brady Takchuk scored just 42 seconds into the second, but of course, you’re setting yourself up for a fall when you go down two men at the end of the first frame.
Less than three minutes later, Tim Stutzle was allowed to walk in on Montembeault from the goal line, and no one bothered him as he got near and had time to put his stick between his legs for a filthy goal near-side. He had shaken off Alexandre Carrier’s coverage near the face-off dot, and Kapanen failed to close him down, leading to a highlight-reel goal for the German.
Josh Anderson, who was forming a new line with Phillip Danault and Brendan Gallagher, gave the Canadiens some hope back when he put them back in the lead. Still, the Senators turned up the heat a notch and dictated the rest of the period, scoring two more goals to get their first lead of the game. Montreal now has a minus-13 differential in the second frame.
About The Man Advantage
It looked like the Canadiens would have a good time on the power play when they put up two goals in the first frame. One came from a quick shot by Juraj Slafkovsky from the bumper position, while the other came off a reasonable Cole Caufield individual effort. After these two goals, though, the Habs completely lost confidence.
On their next man advantage, Claude Giroux, who has played on the penalty kill for most of his 19-season NHL career, decided not to let the Canadiens set up their usual “slapshot” play where one player skates up before dropping the puck to Nick Suzuki, who comes in with speed. When he pressured Lane Hutson, who was in the process of taking the puck up the ice, it was like the wheels came off the wagon. For the rest of the game, Montreal struggled to generate much of anything on the man-advantage.
Waking Up Just In Time
After an atrocious second frame and having generated just two shots on goal in the first 15 minutes of the third, the Habs somehow managed to get back in the game when St-Louis pulled his goaltender. Danault won the faceoff, Hutson took a shot, which Slafkovsky deflected to put the Canadiens back within one. Just over a minute later, Carrier tied it up with a slapshot off an Ivan Demidov feed.
Five goals on only 16 shots for the Canadiens, clearly not a great save percentage for the Senators’ goaltender, but a great shooting percentage for the Habs. Meanwhile, at the other end of the ice, even though Montembeault didn’t have a great game, he was solid in the third frame as Ottawa kept peppering his net with shots. Shane Pinto had an opportunity to deal the final blow to the Habs on a breakaway, but Montembeault kept them in.
The overtime period didn’t last long. Hutson looked intent on wrapping things up right away, but he was stopped, and Stutzle and Giroux went the other way on a two-on-one, but the German fanned on the puck. Hutson got it back and launched a long pass to Caufield, who opted to shoot on the two-on-one with Suzuki, scoring his second of the night and 24th of the season.
For much of the game, the Canadiens were far from the better team on the ice, but in the end, they found a way to win in an exciting fashion. Of course, a win in regulation would have been better, but given how dominant the Senators were for long stretches, the Canadiens can count their blessings for those two points. After the game, St-Louis said his team didn't really deserve that win, something he's not said often this season, even when he could have.
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