After playing their last four games on the road, the Montreal Canadiens were back at the Bell Centre tonight to take on the Ottawa Senators. A rivalry Saturday night game, just like fans enjoy.
It was Nick Cousins’ first game against the Habs since he delivered a massive slash on Ivan Demidov in a preseason game in Quebec. Most expected him to get a talking to from Arber Xhekaj, but Travis Green played it smart. By putting Cousins on his first line, he ensured Xhekaj would have very few opportunities to get to him.
The Bell Centre crowd didn’t miss a chance to boo him mercilessly, though, and it almost felt like the former Hab was the second coming of Zdeno Chara. Cousins couldn’t avoid Jayden Struble, though, and it was the NCAA graduate whom he had to fight.
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A Lot Of Animosity
There’s no love lost between the two sides, and the fact that the Canadiens landed 15 hits in the first period alone is quite telling. Last week, in Seattle, they had 18 hits in the whole game —15 in Edmonton, 16 in Vancouver, and 17 in Calgary.
Ottawa had 10 of its own, and both teams reacted when they didn’t like a hit. When Zack Bolduc hit Jake Sanderson by the bench with a legal hit, Kurtis MacDermid jumped on the Canadiens’ player, who refused to engage, and got the Canadiens a power play on which they scored.
Even though he’s 6-foot-2 and 202 pounds, Sanderson isn’t a very physical player. Going back to last season, there have been a few instances in which he turned away from the puck, not being willing to “pay the price,” so to speak.
When Tyler Kleven hit Alexandre Carrier, it was Joe Veleno who came to the rescue. While Kleven did fight him, Veleno got a two-minute minor for unsportsmanlike conduct, but Ottawa couldn’t capitalize on the power play. In the end, each team received 16 penalty minutes and had 27 hits.
In The Net
Montembeault wasn’t overly tested in the first frame, but when Mike Matheson gave the puck away in a danger zone, he made a big save, the kind of big save that gives both the team and the goaltender confidence.
In the second frame, Montembeault failed to track the puck and was clearly surprised when Drake Batherson beat him with it to cut the Canadiens’ lead in half, but the second goal wasn’t on him at all. Zack Bolduc flew away on a breakaway but shot wide, and when the puck went the other way, the Sens attacked in close, and the puck bounced off Matheson and into the net. To make matters worse, the goal was initially waived off for goaltender interference, but after a challenge, it was allowed.
Meanwhile, at the other end, Linus Ullmark kept his side in the game, making a few big glove saves and even stopping Lane Hutson on a penalty shot. After 40 minutes, the Canadiens had 16 shots and two goals, while the Sens, who had only 12 shots, still had two goals.
In the third frame, the Habs’ goaltender made another good save after a Cole Caufield turnover, but Tim Stutzle scored on Montembeault's near side with a backhand with less than eight minutes to go. There’s no doubt the Becancour native would have liked to get that one back. Thankfully for him, his teammates tied the game and won it in overtime, but he needs to start making the big saves. It’s not about blaming him, but while he got the win tonight, this is not a performance that will put the chatter to rest.
While Martin St-Louis keeps telling the media he trusts his goaltender, he did everything he could to ease his mind in the run-up to tonight’s game. The bench boss told Montembeault he would get the start when the team landed from Seattle:
I think I wanted to limit both stress and uncertainty. I think that’s all it was, that way he could start to manage his days, there was no surprise, and I believe it can help him to calm down and get ready.-
On knowing what his goaltender needed, St-Louis added:
If I go to someone and keep asking him, “How are you doing?” —if I do that constantly— they might interpret it as me worrying, right? So I give them the space, but I was very direct: “Monty, you’re playing the next game.” He knew that when we landed from Seattle, you’re playing the next game. Maybe that can help him clear his mind, and he can do whatever he wants with that information.-
Comeback (And Overtime) Kings
Once again, after taking the lead, the Canadiens were not only unable to preserve it, but they were unable to make it more sizeable. Something the coach has talked about a lot already this season:
I think they know we can get a big goal, but it would have been good to get a little bit more separation. We've had opportunities to lead by more than two goals, and that’s the way it's been since the start of the season; it’s not for lack of opportunities, but we can’t seem to separate ourselves. It’s not an easy league, and you have to keep going.-
While this may not be sustainable, at least the Canadiens are indeed able to get the big goal they need this season; it wasn’t always the case. Now, they have a few game-breakers who want to take charge and have the puck in those big moments when they need a big goal.
Two of those players led to the equalizing goal tonight, the Demidov-Hutson connection produced a beauty of an equalizer when the Russian made it look like he was going to shoot before passing to the American, who then passed it back to him. With plenty of space in the slot, Demidov was able to score to send the game to overtime.
After the goal, the coach put Demidov’s line back on the ice, but he replaced the goal scorer with Jake Evans. That gives you a good opportunity to win the faceoff, but it also lets you rest the youngster and have him fresh for extra time. While he didn’t get a point, he was on the ice for the game winner, he was dispossed but Batherson turned the puck over to Alex Newhook, who took flight alone and scored the game-winning goal.
After the goal, Dobes, Xhekaj, Struble, Hutson and Noah Dobson all skated to Montembeault to celebrate, all very aware of the fact that the goaltender needed that win.
It was a critical triumph for the Canadiens, and while in an ideal world they wouldn’t have dropped a point to a divisional rival, at least they came out of it with two points and landed in first place of the Eastern Conference and third in the league.
The Canadiens will play their next game on Tuesday evening when the Philadelphia Flyers come to visit.
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