The Montreal Canadiens were back at the Bell Centre on Saturday night for a game against the Colorado Avalanche. The arena was packed, and the fans were loud, booing the American national anthem and cheering for every big hit by the Canadiens. However, the Avalanche quieted the crowd quickly by scoring two goals in the first period.
Not the Right Time to Send Messages
Even though goaltender Samuel Montembeault had struggled in his previous two games, Martin St-Louis chose to stick with him for this important match. Why? Because it wasn’t the time of year to make a statement, and the Canadiens wouldn’t be in their current position without him.
That decision makes sense, but it doesn’t have to be about sending a message. It’s possible to tell your goaltender that he needs a break and give him a night off. However, the Canadiens were down 2-0 after the first period, but the goals weren’t Montembeault’s fault.
The defense was a bit out of sync, especially the David Savard-Arber Xhekaj pairing, which ended the first period with a minus-two rating.
Xhekaj Has Grown
In the second period, Xhekaj showed signs of maturity. After Josh Anderson and Keaton Middleton got into a pushing match, Xhekaj didn’t jump in like he might have done earlier in the season. Instead, he skated away and waited for the linesmen to separate the two. Once that happened, Xhekaj invited Middleton to fight. The Colorado player quickly skated over, and the two dropped their gloves. Xhekaj ended up winning the fight after both players threw some punches.
The Bell Centre was brought back to life, and it could have been a turning point for the Canadiens. Unfortunately, just under two minutes later, they took a too-many-men penalty. Still, the team played a much better second period, dominating the shots 10-7. The power plays helped, but Xhekaj was key in the Canadiens’ improved play as they got back into the game.
Montreal Canadiens celebrates a goalThere’s No Quit in This Team
As St-Louis explained, his team struggled to execute early in the game, but they were able to stop the bleeding and improve as they went along. Even though they were down 3-1 at the start of the third period, they weren’t ready to give up. The coach said:
“I reminded the guys between the second and the third that we had scored five in the third against Ottawa, two in an empty net, but we had to get three in anyway, we scored two against the Islanders… We could have scored even more than three (in the third). We had our chances afterward as well.”
Even after Colorado scored a fourth goal, the coach was impressed that his team didn’t let the game get out of hand. On his third line, St-Louis said:
“Early on, Andy was… Andy was a wrecking ball, he just kept going. That line, they just keep going, whatever the score is, I’m getting the same thing every shift, every night and they’re helping us out. Dvo’s goal tonight was a big goal.”
Martin St-Louis on his third line
St-Louis was also impressed with the Canadiens’ performance in the faceoff circle. Montreal won 57% of the faceoffs, even though the Avalanche has strong centers. Nathan MacKinnon won only eight of his 24 faceoffs, a 33% success rate, while his season average is 49%. Mike Matheson and Alexandre Carrier, who defended against Colorado’s top line, both finished with a plus-two rating, which was quite impressive.
With an assist in the game, Brendan Gallagher moved into 28th place on the Canadiens’ all-time scoring list, tying Pierre Mondou with 456 points. Alex Newhook had another strong game, showing great speed, but still needs to improve his finishing touch. Luckily, on his best opportunity, Joshua Roy was there to grab the rebound and score.
While two points would have been ideal, the Canadiens earned one point with their 5-4 shootout loss. It was an important point, keeping them in the second wild card spot, just one point ahead of the New York Rangers, who won against the Vancouver Canucks. However, Montreal has two games in hand on New York. The Canadiens will have Sunday off before traveling to St. Louis on Monday for their game against the Blues on Tuesday.
