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The Habs had an opportunity to make the fan base quickly forget about a very forgettable effort at the Bell Centre on Tuesday night when they lost to the rival Ottawa Senators. The Hellebuyck-less Jets would have been a perfect opponent for such an event, except for the fact that they had hit rock bottom and held a players-only meeting after their recent loss to the Sabres.

On a night where the Habs honoured Andrei Markov, they played much like their former defender as they scored on the power play and used their speed to create offensively throughout the night. The Habs faced a stellar performance by Eric Comrie in what was a wildly entertaining game. They needed the shootout, but they finally were able to gain the very important second point in a 3-2 win at the Bell Centre.  

Habs Lineup

Cole Caufield — Nick Suzuki — Juraj Slafkovsky
Alex Texier – Oliver Kapanen — Ivan Demidov
Josh Anderson – Jake Evans – Brendan Gallagher
Zach Bolduc – Joe Veleno — Jared Davidson

Mike Matheson – Noah Dobson
Jayden Struble — Lane Hutson
Arber Xhekaj – Alexandre Carrier 

Jakub Dobes

10 Thoughts

1) The start of the game was high in energy but mostly focused on tight checking as the shots were 3-1 for the Canadiens after ten minutes. The effort from both teams was evident, but that included their defensive efforts which was combined with both teams clearly playing not to make the first mistake. Montreal carried play in the period, notably in the second half and had to be disappointed to get back to the locker room without a lead.

2) The second half of the period started with the game’s first real fury of activity, which started with Eric Comrie making consecutive excellent stops on Suzuki and Caufield. This was followed by a big hit on Matheson that got Anderson angry as he spent his shift crashing everything that moved. For all the talk about Anderson’s uneven efforts, this version of Josh had yet to emerge, and it was a great sight to see. Comrie continued his Connor Hellebuyck impersonation as he robbed Gallagher and Evans before Xhekaj took exception to a heavy hit by Adam Lowry on Carrier to have his best fight of the season as he decidedly dropped the Jets’ captain. 

3) With two minutes to go in the opening period, Dobson lost a 50-50 race in the neutral zone. This sent both himself and Matheson scrambling. They got no defensive support from the Suzuki line as the puck found the trailer in Mark Scheifele who was all alone and buried on Dobes. The opening period ended with Winnipeg up 1-0. 

4) If the urgency was a bit more evident for the Habs in the opening period, both teams had moments of dominance in the second period. When the speed game came to the forefront, the Habs had the Jets tangled up, enabling two goals for the home team. The first came only 27 seconds in their only power play of the game to that point as Suzuki and Caufield worked a tic-tac-toe one-timer to Slafkovsky in the slot. The second game with the Habs back down one as Demidov won a battle against Josh Morrissey before finding Kapanen in the slot to tie the game at two apiece after two periods. 

5) The Jets had far more push back in the second and they really dominated between Montreal’s two goals as they established their physical presence in the Habs’ zone. They put a ton of pressure on the smaller Montreal defenders and Dobes came up with a few strong saves to keep the Habs in the game. Right after the power play marker, Matheson had his stick break and Slafkovsky gave him his. Despite a valiant and physical effort by the big winger to get the puck out, he was unable to do so, and Kyle Connor made him pay with a great shot to beat Dobes who had already made multiple strong stops on the shift. If the Habs deserved better in the first period, the Jets likely felt similarly after the second period with a 22-19 shot advantage. 

6) The third period was a bit of a chess match, albeit an intense and entertaining chess match, as both teams were very careful to not make many mistakes as the two teams were desperate for points in the standings. Both teams were able to get free a couple times but Comrie and Dobes continued excellent performances to keep the game even through eight shots by the Jets and seven by the Canadiens. 

7) The overtime was awesome entertainment. The Habs were the better team, but Comrie continued his stellar night. Demidov was stopped first by Comrie’s glove. Then, Demidov was guilty of one too many passes on a 3-on-1 chance with the last pass handcuffing Kapanen which allowed Comrie to come across with a save. Dobes fired back as he made two excellent saves of his own in the final minute. Even the final tally in shots was even at 31. 

8) In the shootout, round one went to the Habs as Caufield scored five-hole after going wide before Connor tried a change of speed that Dobes stopped. Texier then missed the net before Scheifele was also stopped by Dobes. Suzuki tried the same manoeuvre as Caufield but went low-blocker only to see Comrie stop it. It didn’t matter because Gabriel Vilardi beat Dobes only to hit the post as the Habs got the gigantic W. 

9) There was some criticism of the coaching staff over their decision regarding lineup decisions. Most notably, the addition of Texier to the Demidov and Kapanen line. Texier, to me, has been really solid since his arrival and while I thought he had good chemistry with Evans, I didn’t mind this trial. Of course, this is much easier to write after the line had an excellent game. What was most notable with this addition to the line is that Texier clearly understood when to be F1 on this line and when to be defensively responsible. This is key because another defensive presence allowed Kapanen to join Demidov and create offensively. 

10) Not much negativity to go around after this one, so let’s highlight another positive as the duo of Matheson and Dobson had yet another strong defensive performance as they teamed up for a combined 10 blocks. Add in Lane Hutson and this group of defenders has to be on every team’s game plan board heading into a match against the Habs. What a treat to watch for years to come. 

HabsWorld Habs 3 Stars

1st Star – Ivan Demidov 

Hands down the best player for the Habs on this night, Demidov was an offensive threat that increased as the game wore on. The pass to Kapanen on his goal was insane, and his four shots are an improvement in that department even though he likely needed to be more decisive with the puck on the overtime odd-man rush. With the fan base screaming for more Demidov ice time, they got it and the player delivered. Maybe this can be the start of strapping a rocket on Demidov and enjoying the ride, almost with identical timing to when they did it with Hutson last season. 

Stats: 1 assist, +1, 4 shots, 1 hit, 19:29 T.O.I. 

2nd Star – Juraj Slafkovsky 

Slafkovsky has been playing some excellent hockey all season long. A recent trip to the second line where he was asked to be the leader on there seems to have added some confidence to his game. He returned to the top line tonight and was absolutely dominant in all three periods. Add that he’s now being rewarded on the scoresheet, and being this productive this early is trending toward a career year for the young Slovak. 

Stats: 1 goal, -2, 3 shots, 3 hits, 20:06 T.O.I. 

3rd Star – Jakub Dobes 

The game’s first star was without a doubt Comrie. For Dobes, it wasn’t as flashy and spectacular, but he was excellent in this game as he made giant stops in important moments. Considering the uneven goaltending performances over the last month, this was a needed solid game by the young netminder. More importantly, Dobes made the saves without swimming everywhere in his crease. He was a quiet presence who seemed in complete control throughout. 

Stats: 29 saves on 31 shots, .935 save %, 1.85 GAA, 64:51 T.O.I.