10 Thoughts: Habs Stay In Mix with Win Over Canucks

The Habs continued their trip out West with a visit to Vancouver on Tuesday. The Canucks are a similar team to the Canadiens in many ways. Both teams have a ridiculous negative goal differential for teams who are in the thick of playoff races. Neither team scores many goals and both have been playing near .500 hockey of late.

The Canucks are a much better road team, but the Habs are also slightly better at home, so neither team was playing in their preferred position on this night. Montreal had a huge first period and hung on in the third period. After an empty-net goal, the Habs left Vancouver with a 4-2 victory. This was a win that was quite important for the Habs’ playoff hopes and it was a hurtful loss for Vancouver’s similar hopes. 

Habs Lineup

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

Mike Matheson – Alexandre Carrier
Jayden Struble — Lane Hutson
Arber Xhekaj – David Savard 

Samuel Montembeault 

10 Thoughts

1) A minute into the contest, Suzuki was sent off to a breakaway on a nice flip pass to the center by Caufield. Suzuki protected the puck well against Tyler Myers before completing a Datsyuk-ian deke on Kevin Lankinen that promises to find itself on many highlight reels for the rest of the season. 

2) The early pace of the game after the Suzuki goal was quite fast and made it obvious that the game featured two teams fighting for their playoff lives. The Canucks spent more time in the offensive zone, but the Canadiens protected the middle and did not give up much in terms of scoring chances. With shots 6-6 with five minutes to play in the period, the Canucks had a push to end the period. They buzzed in the Montreal zone for the rest of the period, ending the period with an 11-7 shot advantage. 

3) Near the ten-minute mark, the Habs would extend their lead when Slafkovsky collected the puck in the neutral zone, skated in with speed and, overwhelmed the Canucks defender going wide. In gaining body position on the defender, Slafkovsky opened some shooting lanes, and he fired one off the post and in on a shot Lankinen likely should have stopped. 

4) Emil Heineman is often said to be the straw that stirs the drink on the Evans line. When one pays particular attention to the rookie, there were multiple occasions that highlighted why this is true. While everyone is aware of Armia’s strength in puck protection and Evans’ ability to chip in offensively while remaining a good defensive player. Heineman is often recognized for his shot, but what sets him apart on this line is his willingness to attack the middle of the offensive zone. Moreover, his ability to properly identify when it is appropriate to do so opens the rest of the zone for Armia and Evans to be effective within their strengths. 

5) If both goaltenders started the game fighting the puck a little bit, Montembeault got stronger as the first period finished. In the opening minutes of the second period, both netminders exchanged saves from high-danger positions on the ice. Nils Hoglander and Heineman were stopped to set the tone in what would be a physical second period, a strategy that was brought forward and was to the advantage of the home side. 

6) Five minutes into the second, the Habs were gifted an advantage when Marcus Pettersson slashed Suzuki’s stick out of his hands nowhere near the play. The advantage was not very good, and it was shortened by a Slafkovsky interference call. The penalty kill was once again excellent for the Canadiens and this was an important kill as they would extend their lead on the following shift. Montreal was able to kill a second disadvantage with Suzuki leading the way. 

7) Upon his return to the ice after his penalty, Slafkovsky was all effort. The shift started with a few bad decisions where it was obvious that Slafkovsky was trying to do too much to make amends for the penalty. However, it ended well as he won a puck battle and made a nifty short pass to Suzuki in the neutral zone. Suzuki skated to the offensive zone and found a streaking Caufield on the back door and Caufield made no mistake to extend the lead to 3-0. Shots were 12-9 Canucks for a 23-16 total advantage. 

8) Five minutes into the third period, Vancouver would finally get on the board. It was a point shot from Filip Hronek that had eyes through significant traffic that would make the score 3-1. The play was really a result of a rather poor neutral zone play by Heineman who opted to try to create an offensive chance with a risky pass instead of taking the safe play. If Heineman is near irreproachable in the offensive zone and on the forecheck, he does have some questionable moments on his side of the red line. 

9) After two good shifts by the top two lines, Savard was called for slashing which was completely ridiculous as it was simply a puck battle won by Savard. Vancouver’s power play struck within 30 seconds as Elias Pettersson found some traffic in front of Montembeault and shot from far to score and make it a one-goal game. The Habs had plenty to say to Chris Lee after the goal and rightfully so.  

10) The final seven minutes saw both teams get some offensive zone time as the Habs were absolutely not sitting on their lead. The final 90 seconds remained in the Montreal zone with the Canucks pushing for the equalizer. Montembeault made a few solid saves, while Evans and Matheson got some big-time clears before Matheson was finally able to bury into the open net with 15 seconds left on the clock.

HabsWorld Habs 3 Stars

1st Star – Juraj Slafkovsky 

An effort like this one for Slafkovsky, when put up against his effort against Calgary on Saturday is what will drive Habs fans crazy if Slafkovsky doesn’t mature out of this behaviour. After a performance on Saturday that was really not good, he was excellent on Tuesday night. His defensive plays were directly responsible for the two goals for that did not come from his stick. Slafkovsky would add a goal on a night that looks great if you own him in fantasy hockey. 

Stats: 1 goal, 2 assists, +3, 4 shots, 1 hit, 16:00 T.O.I. 

2nd Star – Nick Suzuki 

The undisputed offensive leader on this team continued an excellent pace since the break. Suzuki was the team’s best penalty killer in the second period and drove play for his line throughout the night. Even in the third period, when the Canucks were pressing to tie the game, the Suzuki line was able to spend an entire shift in the offensive zone where they created 3-4 good chances. It was the Habs’ best three players on the night as usual. 

Stats: 1 goal, 1 assist, +3, 1 shot, 2 hits, 19:00 T.O.I. 

3rd Star – Samuel Montembeault 

Montembeault prevents the sweep here by the top line which would have been the other possibility. He fought the puck early in the first period, but he settled quite well as he made a few big saves at the end of the first period. This was important as he was key in the third period. Big saves, not panicking after goals allowed, making the right call on a potential goaltender interference, just an overall mature performance by the team’s number-one netminder. 

Stats: 29 saves, 31 shots, .935 save %, 2.00 G.A.A., 60:00 T.O.I.