Patrik Laine had a big impact on the game tonight. Photo credit: Stephen Brashear-Imagn Images [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/91e19c27-976a-43b5-b49e-077e84408fd2.webp] Patrik Laine had a big impact on the game tonight. Photo credit: Stephen Brashear-Imagn Images The Montreal Canadiens [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/montreal-canadiens] got some reinforcements to take on the Seattle Kraken [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/seattle-kraken] on Wednesday night, as Patrik Laine [https://www.nhl.com/canadiens/player/patrik-laine-8479339] was back in the lineup. Unfortunately, Joel Armia [https://www.nhl.com/canadiens/player/joel-armia-8476469] had to pull out because of an injury sustained in Tuesday’s game. As a result, Martin St-Louis had to shuffle his cards a bit. Laine took Michael Pezzetta’s spot with Christian Dvorak and Josh Anderson, while Pezzetta joined Jake Evans and Emil Heineman. Reinbacher Sitting Is Precautionary [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/montreal-canadiens/latest-news/reinbacher-sitting-is-precautionary] Canadiens: Must Win Battle In Seattle [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/montreal-canadiens/game-day/canadiens-must-win-battle-in-seattle] Juraj Slafjkovsky Is Taking a Step This Season [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/montreal-canadiens/latest-news/juraj-slafjkovsky-is-taking-a-step-this-season] NOT EVERY GOALTENDER IS A THIRD DEFENSEMAN The NHL has seen its fair share of goaltenders who were so good around their net that they were almost an extra defenseman on the ice. Martin Brodeur and Carey Price are the two names now coming to mind. Jakub Dobes didn’t look like that kind of goalie on the game's first goal. He came out of the net and attempted to clear the puck, sending it up on the boards, but Jordan Eberle had no trouble intercepting the attempted clearance and setting up Brandon Montour for the goal. After that, the young netminder looked nervous and often deported to one side in his net. Puck tracking was also an issue, and the Kraken hit at least three posts in the first frame, on top of dominating 15-5 on the shot clock. He made 14 saves, but he wasn’t as confident as usual. Saturday, he was the calm and steadying presence at the back, but not Wednesday night. The Kraken second goal also came from the youngster's attempt to handle the puck behind his net. A ONE TRICK PONY? Brandon Montour's penalty was a bright ray of sunshine in a game heavily dominated by Seattle. It allowed the Canadiens to get back in the game and on his return to play, Laine scored from his office. The big Finn might not be very effective at five-on-five, but he’s a fantastic weapon on a man-advantage or four-on-four, as evidenced by his great feed straight on Alex Newhook’s blade to score the equalizing goal. After 40 minutes, Laine only had eight shifts and 7:39 minutes of ice time (Roy had two more seconds), but he was the spark plug that led to the game flipping on its head. The Canadiens had a surprising 3-2 lead at the end of the second frame. The sniper finished the game with 10:08 spent on the ice while Roy played 10:38 and Pezzetta 9:25. BOUNCING BACK While the first period must have been hard to watch for Canadiens’ fans and for St.-Louis, his players showed that they could bounce back. After being outrageously dominated in the first period, Montreal shook it off and got to work. Back in October, this team was utterly unable to do that. When things were going badly, they couldn’t stop the bleeding, and that’s how Seattle beat them 8-2 in the first month of the season. This is something contending team can regularly do and part of what this young Canadiens team still has to learn, being able to do it in the race to the playoffs certainly is valuable experience. Montreal really clawed its way back into the game, finishing the night with a respectable 25 shots and managing to take the lead against all odds. Some will say that Juraj Slafkovsky's second goal should have been waived off because the puck had been touched too high, but like any sports involving referees, you win some calls and you lose some. This was the young Slovak's 100th career-point. However, contending teams are able to pull the win off, which the Canadiens couldn't because of their own lack of discipline. Arber Xhekaj received three minors over the 60 minutes of regulation, and Seattle scored on the last one, before adding another power play marker on a David Savard penalty to tie up the game and send it to extra time. So close and yet so far for the Sainte-Flanelle who lost 5-4 in overtime, after just five seconds or extra time. The point allows the Canadiens to remain ninth in the Eastern Conference, but the extra point would have given them as many as the Columbus Blue Jackets. This defeat stings now and could sting even more if they miss the playoffs by a single point... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Canadiens stories, analysis, breaking news, and more! Tap the star to add us to your favorites on Google News [https://news.google.com/publications/CAAqBwgKMK-q0gsw7sXpAw/sections/CAQqEAgAKgcICjCvqtILMO7F6QMwo-DfCA?hl=en-CA&gl=CA&ceid=CA%3Aen], never to miss a story. Follow Karine on X @KarineHains [https://x.com/KarineHains] Bluesky @karinehains.bsky.social [https://bsky.app/profile/karinehains.bsky.social] and Threads @karinehains [https://www.threads.net/@karinehains]. Bookmark The Hockey News Canadiens' page [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/montreal-canadiens/] for all the news and happenings around the Canadiens.
