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The Utah Mammoth, until 15 months ago still known as the much-maligned Arizona Coyotes, arrived in Montreal just two points adrift of the Canadiens, and also playing a similar speedy style of hockey, also with a young team, but one that is capable of keeping pucks away from the net. The Canadiens were back at the Bell Centre to start a home stand, but coming off two disappointing losses in a shootout and overtime. The question was whether they would be able to up their intensity and be able to take a win against a strong team, hopefully in regulation.
After giving up another early goal, the bleu blanc et rouge settled down to play the way they have played much of the early part of the season. Ivan Demidov and Oliver Kapanen combined for yet another goal, and Cole Caufield scored two. Add in the strong play of Samuel Montembeault and the late-game markers scored by Nick Suzuki and Kirby Dach, and there was much rejoicing in the stands as the Habs finished with a convincing 6-2 victory.
Habs Starting Lines
Caufield – Suzuki – Slafkovsky
Newhook – Kapanen – Demidov
Bolduc – Dach – Gallagher
Anderson – Evans – Veleno
Matheson – Dobson
Struble – Hutson
Xhekaj – Carrier
Montembeault
Dobes
Ten Thoughts
1) For the second game in a row, the Canadiens gave up a quick goal to start the game. This time, it was Samuel Montembeault in the net, not Jakub Dobes, but sloppy defensive play was once again a key contributor. This time, it was Joe Veleno not taking care of Kailer Yamamoto on a Utah rush attack, giving the Utah winger an open shot from just in front of the net. Do the players need to set their alarm clocks 15 minutes earlier?
2) Ivan Demidov and Oliver Kapanen combined again for a nice goal, but this time it was Kapanen making the play, carrying the puck through the neutral zone and passing to Demidov in the offensive zone. Demidov sent it back to Kapanen, who made no mistake in threading it through Karel Vejmelka’s pads to make up for the Habs’ early mishap.
3) We saw good, aggressive shorthanded work by Montreal’s penalty kill units early in the second, but if you are going to pass back into your own zone from the attacker’s end of the ice, you need to make sure you handle it in your own end. Kill some seconds and then take a safe clearing shot. Alas, that’s not how it worked out, as Mike Matheson immediately flipped it to a Utah player, giving them a quick attack.
4) Only about three minutes after the kill, though, the Habs managed to gift another go-ahead goal to the Mammoth. Ian Cole interfered with Josh Anderson in the Montreal zone, and the team lost its focus while doing a line change, giving the visitors an opportunity for an effective three-on-one rush, with only Lane Hutson defending. It was a tic-tac-toe goal, passing from Jack McBain to Michael Carcone to Lawson Crouse, inevitably drawing Montembeault out of position. If only the players had focused on the game rather than looking at the referees…
5) The Mammoth did give the Canadiens an opportunity to get that goal back, less than a minute later, by not paying sufficient attention to Cole Caufield. No longer just a one-dimensional sniper with a one-timer shot from the hash marks, the Habs’s star winger took a Noah Dobson pass, carried it around the back of the Utah net–with no one chasing him–and then curled back to take a shot from barely in front of the goal, snapping the puck into the narrow space between Vejmelka and the near post for his 11th of the season, to tie the game back at 2-2.
6) Kapanen added an assist to his first-period goal with 6:44 to go in the second with a nice play, though with a very much different pass than a typical first assist. With the young Finn carrying the puck behind Montembeault’s net, Barrett Hayton crashed into him, but Kapanen had the presence of mind to focus on the puck, and was able to send a pass to Alex Newhook as he fell down on the back boards. Newhook, a fast skater, put on the afterburners as he sped along the boards, and the only Utah player in front of Vejmelka was JJ Peterka, a right winger. Newhook waited for Peterka to lean in and then made his move, stepped around him, and then snapped a quick wrister past Vejmelka to move the Habs ahead for the first time in the game.
7) There were many people complaining after the New Jersey game that Martin St-Louis had the team playing not to lose in the third period, when the bleu blanc et rouge were hanging onto a single-goal lead. That was not the case tonight, as the home team was outskating, outhustling, and outplaying the Mammoth in the final frame, doubling the Utah shot count in the 13-odd minutes it took for Caufield to tuck the insurance goal inside Vejmelka’s left post. Need some killer instinct in order to avoid giving up late leads, and the Habs showed tonight that they can do it. At least they could in this one.
8) The Mammoth apparently didn’t want to be beaten on the poor line change count, as they gave the puck away in front of their bench with two minutes to go. Newhook, the winner of that transaction, passed it to Suzuki, on his left, and the Habs’ elite centre drilled it past Vejmelka for a 5-2 lead.
9) And that wasn’t quite enough yet, as the Bell Centre faithful got to feast on the sigh of yet another Montreal goal. With 30 seconds left on the clock, Kirby Dach intercepted a pass just inside the Habs’ defensive zone. A hard skate and a deceptive move to forehand and then backhand, and the big centre finalized the numbers at 6-2 for the home team.
10) So, 15 games into the season, the Canadiens stand at 10-3-2 with 22 points, and tied for first overall in the league. A year ago, it was 4-9-2 for 10 points, and tied for dead last. There may be some luck involved in this year’s wins, and the pace is not sustainable, but this start, and the way the team is playing, certainly makes a playoff berth a very realistic and attainable goal for this season.
HW Habs Three Stars
First Star: Alex Newhook (1g, 1a, 5 shots, +3, 14:53 TOI) scored a spectacular breakaway goal from Kapanen’s falling-down pass behind Montembeault, undressing JJ Peterka and beating Karel Vejmelka. Add to that the breakaway pass to Nick Suzuki and the goalpost on the shorthanded breakaway, and Newhook had an unquestionably excellent night.
Second Star: Oliver Kapanen (1g, 1a, 2 shots, +2, 13:55 TOI) made a great play with Ivan Demidov to tie the game back at one in the first period, but his defensive efforts were possibly even more impressive, including numerous board battles and his pass to Newhook.
Third Star: Samuel Montembeault (27 shots, 25 saves, .926 save %, +0.37 GSAx) had a chance to save that first goal, but was outstanding for much of the rest of the game. He could not be blamed for the second goal (on a three-on-one) and he made numerous strong saves in the Utah attacks, especially late in the second and early in the third period. It looks like Montembeault may be getting his mojo back, which is exactly what the Habs need as the core of the season schedule approaches.
