10 Thoughts: A Big Win Against Vegas

After two straight losses where they deserved a better fate, the Habs were back in action on Tuesday as they hosted Vegas.  They couldn’t hold the lead again but it didn’t matter as Jake Evans scored on a two-on-one in overtime to give Montreal the 4-3 victory.

With Samuel Montembeault having couple of down games, it wasn’t surprising that Martin St. Louis made a change in goal with Jakub Dobes getting the start.  Meanwhile, the rest of the lineup from Saturday’s game remained intact (beyond a couple of tweaks on the back end) with the team lining up as follows:

Caufield – Suzuki – Texier
Slafkovsky – Kapanen – Demidov
Gallagher – Danault – Anderson
Bolduc – Evans – Dach

Matheson – Dobson
Hutson – Carrier
Guhle – Xhekaj

10 Thoughts

1) With Vegas coming off a 7-1 drubbing at the hands of Ottawa, it was expected that they’d come out strong and they did just that.  For the first few minutes, Montreal was pinned in its own end and Dobes was fighting the puck early as he has been for a while now.  Not exactly confidence inspiring out of the gate.  I know some of that is not a lot of playing time lately but it’s hard to earn the trust of the coaches when you’re struggling to stop an unobstructed wobbler two minutes in.

2) The good news is that the Canadiens pushed back after a few minutes and started to carry the play in the Golden Knights’ zone.  Unfortunately, Ivan Demidov couldn’t get the puck to Alexandre Carrier in the offensive end and with Carrier coming down from the blueline, Vegas was off on a two-on-one with Demidov trapped too deep to catch up.  Lane Hutson played it pretty well, taking away the pass and crowding Pavel Dorofeyev but Dorofeyev (playing in his 200th game) was still able to roof a shot on Dobes to open up the scoring.

3) If you’re a fan of fast-paced hockey, this was the period for you.  There were all of eight whistles during the opening frame with one of those being Dorofeyev’s marker.  It shouldn’t be confused with wide-open hockey as top chances were limited but Montreal kept up quite well with one of the better teams in the West.  On the other hand, hitting the net with just eight of 26 shot attempts isn’t great.

4) The second period looked like it was starting better.  The Habs got an early power play and after some good puck control, Cole Caufield’s one-timer beat Akira Schmid to tie the score.  Meanwhile, half his stick landed in the crowd, shattering on the shot.  Unfortunately, the better part of a minute earlier, Caufield was offside on the zone entry, negating the goal.  The good news was that most of the power play time went back on the board but they couldn’t do anything with it.

5) They did get back to their good start to the frame after that and this time, they were rewarded for their efforts.  Zach Bolduc got the puck near the blueline and his shot was tipped by Phillip Danault past Schmid to open up the scoring.  That’s now two for Danault in four games.  It’s too early to suggest this will get him going but a two-way version of himself would be a great thing to have down the stretch.

6) A little before the nine-minute mark of the second, Caufield was robbed on a two-on-one.  Between that, the called-off goal, and a big save on him in the first period as well, perhaps his luck was coming to an end?  Or not, as seconds later, Noah Dobson skated to the slot and sent a shot toward the net that bounced to Caufield and he quickly snuck it home to give the Habs the lead.  Fourth time’s a charm, I guess.

7) After that, the game actually turned into a bit of a wide-open affair with some big chances for both sides.  Dobes was quite sharp in goal while Vegas drew a couple of penalties, including one that carried over into the third period, a frame where the Golden Knights were +23 heading into the game.  Meanwhile, for a team that typically struggles in the second, the Habs had a pretty solid period overall.

8) Montreal did well to kill off the carryover penalty plus another one.  However, they couldn’t get much of anything going offensively for most of the third period.  Dobes was quite sharp throughout and made several big saves.  Unfortunately, with a little over three minutes left, Dorofeyev was able to tip a Ben Hutton point shot to tie the game and eventually send it to overtime.  Considering the game had been pretty even to that point, that seemed reasonable, even if the blown lead was far from ideal.

9) Alexandre Texier drew a penalty late in regulation, setting up a fairly long four-on-three in overtime.  As they’ve done before, they went with four forwards.  Again, it didn’t work.  Montreal’s power play is predicated on movement and speed.  This had neither.  Two players stayed largely in their area and while Caufield and Nick Suzuki moved back and forth, it was a pretty easy kill for Vegas, aside from one big diving stop on Juraj Slafkovsky.

10) The penalty ended and it was four-on-four from there.  Honestly, given how three-on-three has become a game of keep-away, this was a refreshing change as the play actually somewhat resembled normal hockey.  Texier made an impact here as well, springing Jake Evans on a two-on-one with just over a minute left.  With Kaiden Guhle on the other side (who barely stayed onside, I thought he was offside watching live) being covered by John Marino, Evans drove the net, got Schmid to go down, made a quick deke, and deposited it home for the unlikely winner.  That was his first goal in six weeks (in part due to injury).  That’s a nice way to break the drought.

HW Habs 3 Stars

1st Star: Jakub Dobes – He was shaky early on but once he settled in, he was quite sharp.  He made several cross-crease stops, tracked the puck well, and even his rebound control was better.  It’s enough to earn him the start against Colorado although he’s going to need more than one good game to stake a stronger claim to the starting job.

Stats: 32 saves on 34 shots, 1.89 GAA, .941 SV%

2nd Star: Cole Caufield – It took a lot of effort (and technically two goals) to finally extend his goal streak to six straight games.  He’s a streaky player but when he’s going, Montreal’s top line is more dominant and more impactful overall.  This won’t last – it never does – but it’s worth enjoying this hot streak.

Stats: 1 goal, +1 rating, 2 PIMS, 5 shots, 19:27 TOI

3rd Star: Noah Dobson – This could easily go to Jake Evans for his winner but he was fairly quiet overall.  Dobson, on the other hand, had a very strong game in all facets.  He made several key defensive plays, started multiple rushes, and showed the poise to get to the middle for what turned into Caufield’s goal.  These are the types of performances the Habs are looking for, steady and productive.

Stats: 1 assist, +2 rating, 2 hits, 3 blocks, 20:41 TOI