10 Thoughts: Habs Take Care of Business Against Boston

After some late-game heroics from Nick Suzuki on Tuesday, the Habs looked to make it three straight wins as they hosted Boston on Thursday night.  An impressive second period made the difference as the Canadiens picked up the 4-1 win.

While Oliver Kapanen rejoined Montreal on Wednesday, he’ll have to wait a little longer to make his return to the lineup.  Frankly, with minimal practice time since returning, that probably is the prudent call.  Martin St. Louis elected to keep the lines intact from the last two games while Samuel Montembeault once again got the start.  The team lined up as follows:

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

Guhle – Hutson
Matheson – Carrier
Struble – Savard

10 Thoughts

1) Going into the game, Boston hadn’t won in nine straight games and hadn’t lost in regulation to Montreal in 16 straight matchups.  There’s catching a team at a right time but when that team has your number, that certainly lowers the confidence a bit, even if the Bruins didn’t have most of their top players between injuries and last month’s trade deadline.

2) It was an eventful first couple of minutes.  Mike Matheson got an early partial breakaway that Jeremy Swayman stopped and then Montembeault came up big on an Elias Lindholm breakaway soon after when Jayden Struble stumbled and couldn’t catch up.  It was also an eventful last couple of minutes with the rest of the opening period being largely uneventful.

3) In those final two minutes, the Christian Dvorak line had Montreal’s best shift of the opening period.  They had two strong scoring chances with one being swept off the goal line while Dvorak rang one off the post soon after.  Moments later, it was a Boston two-on-one with John Beecher being stopped before Patrick Brown thought he could subtly push Montembeault and the puck into the net and somehow, in an era of video replay, no one would notice.  That set off a scrum with Brown getting the extra two minutes for slashing, probably because they couldn’t give him a minor for stupidity.

4) The ensuing power play was one to forget.  The Habs couldn’t get set up in Boston’s end while Patrik Laine couldn’t have looked any less interested if he tried, aside from getting a late one-timer.  Before that, he gave away the puck in the offensive zone, didn’t hustle back, and attempted a half-hearted dump-in.  For a player talking pregame about the excitement of playing in meaningful games, that excitement wasn’t exactly noticeable out there.  There’s more to the power play than setting up for the shot.

5) The second period went much better than the first.  Not long after the carry-over penalty expired, it was the veteran line making its presence felt again.  Brendan Gallagher took a shot through a screen that Swayman couldn’t corral, sending the rebound into traffic.  The puck eventually landed at the feet of Dvorak and after he hit the post in the first, he beat Swayman clean once again, this time into the back of the net.

6) Not long after that, Swayman made a highlight-reel save on Alexandre Carrier who got a strong shot off near the goal line that the goalie stretched out to get a glove on.  Frankly, Swayman had a solid period, doing well to thwart most of Montreal’s chances.  It was one of the Habs’ best periods of the season but for the longest time, it looked as if they’d only get the one goal out of it.

7) Fortunately, the Canadiens were rewarded for their efforts.  With a little under six minutes to go, Suzuki and Cole Caufield came in on an odd-man rush.  Suzuki slowed, drawing a second Boston defender to him before threading a perfect pass to Caufield who had an open net and made no mistake.  That capped a strong period that saw Montreal outshoot Boston 17-3.  I can’t help but wonder where that was in the first.

8) Not surprisingly, Boston came out with a bit more effort in the third but Montembeault made a couple of early saves.  Then, at the three-minute mark, the Habs put the final nail in the coffin.  Casey Mittelstadt’s clearing attempt went off the skate of Jake Evans right to Brendan Gallagher in the slot.  If there’s one place where Gallagher knows how to score from, it’s there, and he made no mistake.

9) With Montembeault getting a lot of games lately, it was nice to see him get somewhat of a night off.  The Bruins only got 19 shots and while one got by him late when Elias Lindholm poked home a rebound to ruin his shutout bid, taking advantage of this lighter portion of the schedule to try to at least partially limit the wear and tear on him will be crucial for the Habs.  Mission accomplished on this night.

10) With Lindholm’s goal coming with a little under seven minutes left, the Bruins made it interesting with a couple of decent shifts after but the Canadiens didn’t wilt.  Eventually, they picked up an empty-netter with Evans setting up Suzuki.  On the goal, Joel Armia got an assist, snapping a 26-game drought in that regard.

HW Habs 3 Stars

1st Star: Nick Suzuki – Montreal’s top line wasn’t consistently dominant in this one but when they were on, they made their presence felt with the captain once again leading the way on that front.  His toe-drag to set up the Caufield goal was quite impressive while he made some good defensive plays as well.

Stats: 1 goal, 1 assist, +2 rating, 4 shots, 2 blocks, 7/12 faceoffs, 19:39 TOI

2nd Star: Brendan Gallagher – His line has a lot of chemistry and confidence right now and it’s giving the coaching staff a second trio they can rely on consistently.  Gallagher brought his usual spark to the table and had an involvement on Dvorak’s goal while scoring the key one early in the third to give Montreal some key secondary scoring.

Stats: 1 goal, 1 assist, +1 rating, 3 shots, 2 blocks, 13:40 TOI

3rd Star: Emil Heineman – This is more of an ‘honourable mention’ selection here but this was a solid game from the rookie.  He hit the post early on and had a couple of other good scoring chances that he couldn’t convert on.  The goal drought continues but he looked more comfortable and noticeable on Alex Newhook’s line.  With Kapanen being likely to play sooner than later, Heineman has to work to keep his spot on that trio.  A game like this certainly helps.

Stats: 0 points, even rating, 1 shot, 5 hits, 13:25 TOI