10 Thoughts: Montembeault Shines in Win Over Predators

After their overtime win on Tuesday, the Habs looked to make it two straight victories as they hosted Nashville on Thursday.  Offence was hard to come by but Montreal was the only team to score as they collected the 3-0 win.

There weren’t any plans to make a lineup change from last game.  However, Kaiden Guhle was a late scratch due to illness, resulting in Justin Barron returning to the lineup.  Meanwhile, Michael Pezzetta (who last played in the final week of October) continues to wait to get back in.  The team lined up as follows:

Caufield – Suzuki – Newhook
Slafkovsky – Dach – Laine
Anderson – Dvorak – Gallagher
Heineman – Evans – Armia

Hutson – Matheson
Struble – Barron
Xhekaj – Savard

10 Thoughts

1) It was noted that Guhle’s absence was so short notice that Barron wasn’t able to take part in the warm-up.  I get that a call like this for a player who’s sick can be a late one.  But why wasn’t Barron in the warm-up anyway?  Smart teams have at least one extra forward and defender in the warm-up in case someone gets hurt (or sick, in this case) so that they’re not thrown into the game without a chance to skate beforehand.  That’s one of those lack of attention to detail things that should be cleaned up because every so often, something like this will happen.  Fortunately, Barron got through his first few shifts without any issues.

2) Nashville had the first power play of the game seven minutes in when the Habs were called for too many men.  Despite a first unit that was pretty solid on paper, the Preds couldn’t muster up much.  Then, Jonathan Marchessault whiffed on a pass in the offensive zone, sending it to Jake Evans instead.  He turned up-ice with Joel Armia hustling to try to make a two-on-one.  Evans ultimately kept, delayed, and then beat Justus Annunen short-side to open the scoring.  Nice move with the delay and a nice shot but that was also a goal that Annunen, making his Nashville debut after being acquired from Colorado over the weekend, would want back.

3) The Canadiens got a late power play when Mark Jankowski went off for a hold on Brendan Gallagher.  They didn’t score in the first part of it before the buzzer but it was notable how much Patrik Laine’s presence opened up lanes for others.  With the Predators shading toward him, Cole Caufield and Lane Hutson both had more room to operate.  It didn’t work in terms of a goal but it’s easy to see how the man advantage could have a bit more success now moving forward.

4) The Habs aren’t the most opportunistic of teams at times and we saw that in the first half of the second period.  Laine made a perfect feed to Barron in the slot and Barron got a decent shot off but Annunen got enough of it.  Then, a few minutes later, Christian Dvorak was in all alone on a breakaway but was stopped.  Watching the game, it felt like they were going to rue those missed opportunities.

5) Just past the midway mark of the second, David Savard was sent off for roughing.  This time, Nashville’s power play hemmed in the Canadiens for the entire advantage but Montembeault was up to the task, turning aside five shots.  As Savard jumped out of the box, he got the puck at Montreal’s blue line and was off to the races on a breakaway but fired wide.  It’s not often that Savard is the fastest player on the ice but with everyone else on for two-plus minutes, that’s exactly what happened.  And again, a key missed opportunity to give themselves some breathing room.

6) For the second period in a row, the Habs got a late power play, this time for a Gustav Nyquist trip.  The Canadiens got some late pressure resulting in a scoring chance and, more importantly, a Colton Sissons interference penalty on Hutson with three seconds left.  Admittedly, that didn’t feel like a great penalty call but Montreal certainly wasn’t going to complain.  Could they draw up a play or two to take advantage of a long two-man advantage to start the third?

7) Well, not really.  For the first minute of the third, Montreal couldn’t get anything going.  Even getting set up in Nashville’s zone was a challenge.  But the Canadiens caught a break when Alexandre Carrier lost his stick.  Nick Suzuki made a great play to keep it in the offensive zone and sent it to Hutson on the sideboards.  He went cross-ice to Laine and with Carrier unable to pressure since he didn’t have his stick, Laine had extra time and space and made no mistake, getting a precise shot past Annunen for Montreal’s first five-on-three goal in more than two years.  They were due.

8) Unfortunately, the Habs took their foot off the gas, allowing Nashville plenty of offensive zone time.  It led to three penalties, including a two-man advantage for the visitors but Montembeault held the fort while Nyquist had a goal called back for kicking the puck in.  Meanwhile, Evans was denied on a breakaway.  Getting through that sequence thankfully settled Montreal down as they were sharper after that.

9) Armia had an interesting sequence with Annunen pulled for the extra attacker.  His first attempt at the empty net hit the post.  His second missed and went for icing which meant he couldn’t change for a fresh defender.  The Habs won the ensuing draw and it went back to Armia again, this time on a partial breakaway and he made no mistake.  Not a bad 36 hours or so for him, getting a goal and a spot on Finland’s entry for the 4 Nations Face-Off.

10) I was curious to get a closer look at Nashville for this one.  For a team with that much firepower on paper and an offensive-minded coach in Andrew Brunette, it seems unfathomable that they’re dead last in the league in goals scored.  Having seen this game, it’s a bit easier to see why.  This is a group that really looks disjointed.  I know they’re integrating several new players into the fold (and not having Ryan O’Reilly, injured on Wednesday in Toronto, doesn’t help) but a robotic, methodical type of offence generally doesn’t have much success in today’s NHL.

HW Habs 3 Stars

1st Star: Samuel Montembeault – His selection to Team Canada for the midseason event has drawn some criticism but it’s an outing like this that shows that he’s capable of elevating his game to be a difference-maker.  The Preds didn’t pepper him with a high volume of shots for good chunks of the game but he made the timely saves and a few big ones as well.

Stats: 29 saves on 29 shots, 0.00 GAA, 1.000 SV%

2nd Star: Jake Evans – Fourth liners don’t often make a big impact on the game but Evans did in this one.  He scored the opening goal shorthanded (and nearly had another one) and was above average at the faceoff dot.  His line wasn’t the greatest at five-on-five but that didn’t matter here.

Stats: 1 goal, 1 assist, +2 rating, 2 shots, 2 hits, 6/10 faceoffs, 15:15 TOI

3rd Star: Mike Matheson – There are a lot of games where Matheson is miscast as a true number one defender.  This wasn’t one of those.  He was strong at five-on-five, did well on the penalty kill, and logged a ton of minutes with Guhle not available.  After a true clunker of a game on Sunday in Boston, he has bounced back quite nicely.

Stats: 0 points, +1 rating, 2 shots, 2 hits, 28:17 TOI