10 Thoughts: Relentless Habs Keep Winning

The Habs capped off what was a ridiculously successful road trip by beating the Avalanche in what should have been a scheduled loss after a disappointing effort in Chicago on Friday. On Monday, they returned to the Bell Centre to face an excellent road team in the Vancouver Canucks with both teams heading in different directions.

With the Canadiens surging, Vancouver is struggling with recent locker room drama becoming the defining event of their season. This noise has resulted in a struggling Canucks team. On this night, both teams had moments of dominance as the score was back and forth until Montreal’s power play took care of business to earn a 5-4 overtime victory. 

Habs Lineup

Cole Caufield — Nick Suzuki — Juraj Slafkovsky
Michael Pezzetta – Kirby Dach — Alex Newhook
Brendan Gallagher – Christian Dvorak– Josh Anderson
Emil Heineman – Jake Evans — Joel Armia

Lane Hutson – Mike Matheson
Kaiden Guhle — Alexandre Carrier
Jayden Struble – Arber Xhekaj 

Samuel Montembeault 

10 Thoughts

1) It was a strong start to the game for the Habs as within the first 90 seconds, Guhle had absolutely rocked Jonathan Lekkerimaki in the neutral zone and then the Habs’ forecheck caused chaos which allowed Caufield to be left alone in the slot. Slafkovsky found him and he sniped home his 22nd of the season. The Habs continued to play quite physically in the opening half of the period as Guhle delivered a second huge hit and Suzuki dropped Tyler Myers with another big hit (he’s been doing this more lately). 

2) The Canucks answered physically with runs against Hutson and Caufield. Then, an intelligent Quinn Hughes pinch in the offensive zone got the puck to Nils Hoglander who found J.T. Miller cross-ice who was uncovered and buried a one-timer. Montembeault had little chance on the play, but he also wasn’t tested much otherwise as it was a second half of the period that was sloppy for both sides. 

3) The physicality of the Habs was a bit of a strange strategy against a team featuring Vincent Desharnais, Myers, and a pretty sizable bottom of the roster, but it made for an intriguing opening period. The Canucks were so focused on the physicality by the end of the period that they awarded Montreal a power play on a Conor Garland interference call with four minutes to play. After Dach nearly scored on a net-front play, the rest of the advantage was rather quiet, and the period ended with a 6-4 shot advantage for the Canadiens.

4) Four minutes into the second period, the Canucks got a lucky bounce as a dump-in hit a stanchion and bounced out to Lekkerimaki. The Canuck fanned on his partial break, but the off-speed shot fooled Montembeault who allowed a big juicy rebound. The Montembeault rebound was made worse by Carrier and Guhle covering Lekkerimaki and not covering the rebound to Miller who scored his second on the night on the rebound. 20 seconds later, a quick breakout by Miller and Brock Boeser sent in Lekkerimaki and Myers on a two-on-one. Lekkerimaki opted for the shot that beat Montembeault and just like that it was 3-1 Vancouver. 

5) The next shift saw Vancouver get too aggressive as Noah Juulsen delivered a hit on Suzuki who didn’t have the puck. This sent the Habs to the power play which was ineffective and shortened by a Heineman interference that made it 4-on-4. The easiest way to describe the first half of the second period was brain fatigue for the Habs as they would work hard to get to an advantageous position only to force a low percentage play. 

6) Surprise, surprise! An extended shift for the fourth line where they completely dominated the Canucks in the offensive zone got the Canadiens back into the game halfway through the second period. The shift ended with a point shot from Guhle that had eyes through a crowd that included Kevin Lankinen as the Habs made it 3-2. The rest of the period was dominated by the Habs but Lankinen stoned Suzuki, Dach, and Armia twice in the last six minutes. The Habs killed a penalty to end the period where Montembeault was excellent. Shots were 16-13 for Montreal by the end of the period. 

7) The third period started with Myers picking Evans’ pocket to skate down and hit the post. The second shift saw the Canucks take a penalty after Hutson really took over the shift. This time, the Habs made them pay as Dach collected a rebound after some nifty puck play by Suzuki and Hutson at the top of the zone.  

8) With 13 minutes left to play and the Habs controlling the tempo, Hutson picked off a clearing attempt by Hughes. He skated down and tried to centre a pass. The puck bounced off Hughes to beat Lankinen and the Habs were now up by one. But Vancouver would answer within two minutes after a bad retaliatory penalty by Caufield who didn’t get an interference call and responded by slashing Myers’ stick out of his hands. The power play goal was quick as the initial clear was intercepted by Hughes who sent a cross-ice pass to Miller. Miller faked a shot that caught everyone including Montembeault before he sent it back across to Jake DeBrusk who had a tap-in to tie it back up. 

9) The Habs almost scored right back but Lankinen made a great save on a one-timer when Heineman found Newhook cross-ice and then stopped Slafkovsky point-blank. With five minutes to go, Hutson almost came up clutch as he walked in and found Gallagher on the doorstep, but the veteran sent his redirect just wide. With 36 seconds left to play, Hoglander was called for interference after getting stuck defensively without a stick against Hutson. The third period ended tied but with a 23-20 shot advantage for the Habs. 

10) The Habs started overtime on the power play and they made it count immediately. Just 48 seconds into the extra frame, Suzuki, Hutson, and Caufield played keep-away until Suzuki liked the angle and let it rip to end the game. 

HabsWorld Habs 3 Stars

1st Star – Lane Hutson 

Habs fans have been starving for years for a game-breaker, and the irony is that a fan base that was willing to lose to find this player ended up finding one at 62nd overall. Hutson’s first two periods were fairly mundane, but when he took the game over in the third period, there was simply nothing that could be done to stop him. What a performance in the final 21 minutes by Hutson. That he might have a partner coming next year only to know that the Habs have another two high-end draft picks this season, this fan base has something really fun to look forward to. 

Stats: 1 goal, 2 assists, +1, 3 shots, 25:19 T.O.I. 

2nd Star – Nick Suzuki 

Not satisfied with a game-breaking blue liner, another dynamic forward incoming in Demidov, and two more high draft picks? How about a true top-line centre who is producing at a point per game while still being defensively responsible and being able to take the unfair criticism that comes from being the captain of the Habs? Another strong Suzuki performance pushes his totals to 41 points in 40 games this season. Did I mention this team is getting exciting again? 

Stats: 1 goal, 2 assists, -1, 4 shots, 23:03 T.O.I. 

3rd Star – Kaiden Guhle 

Guhle was a huge presence on this night as he threw his weight around early, scored in the second period, and was easily the most reliable defender for the Habs. It’s usually not flashy for Guhle, but I have to say that the hits were pretty loud and he ended the night with a snapped 19-game goalless drought. Not a bad game to be noticed for Guhle. 

Stats: 1 goal, -1, 2 shots, 2 hits, 21:16 T.O.I.