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Montreal’s final game of their seven-game road trip that started on December 21st came to an end in Dallas on Sunday afternoon. The Canadiens were was shut out 2-0 by the Blues the evening prior, Jordan Binnington having delivered an excellent performance and the Habs forwards unable to close out multiple man advantages.

Samuel Montembeault also returned to the starting crease for Montreal, their goalie carousel becoming less and less clear as Jacob Fowler continues to win games. Dallas was coming off a loss of their own, and showed their own resilience by fairly successfully squeezing Montreal along the margins and perimeter of the ice. The Habs got their regulation-time goals by using the middle of the ice as a passing lane, shot deflection, and bumper opportunities, and were very tightly checked outside of these chances. Montreal returns home with a victory and 10 of 14 points to show for their extended efforts.

Habs Lineup

Alexandre Texier — Nick Suzuki — Cole Caufield
Juraj Slafkovsky – Oliver Kapanen — Ivan Demidov
Zachary Bolduc – Phillip Danault – Brendan Gallagher
Sammy Blais — Joe Veleno — Owen Beck

Mike Matheson – Noah Dobson
Lane Hutson — Alexandre Carrier
Arber Xhekaj – Adam Engstrom 

Samuel Montembeault (Starting) – Jacob Fowler (Backup)

10 Thoughts

1) Both Montreal’s and Dallas’ top lines got early chances in the first five minutes of the afternoon start. Jason Robertson and Roope Hintz played catch around Montreal’s defenders and almost opened up the scoring with a lightning back-door pass that Montembeault had to stop two minutes in. Some shifts later, Caufield was unable to get his shot off on the breakaway after a Thomas Harley giveaway. Carrier, Danault, and Gallagher connected to open up the scoring for Montreal nine minutes into the game. After working the puck through the neutral zone towards Jake Oettinger, Danault left the puck for Bolduc inside the blue line. Bolduc sent it over to Gallagher on the opposite circle. It was a hot puck, so the veteran winger outletted the pass to Hutson at the point, who centered for Carrier. Carrier then put a wrist shot on net and got double-deflected, bouncing off both Danault and Gallagher in front of the net in layers and then past Oettinger.

2) Minutes later, Mavrik Bourque was able to tie the game up with a dastardly wrap-around with no pressure in front of Montembeault. Caufield lost a puck battle in the Dallas corner with Miro Heiskanen taking the puck from him, and then Robertson dumped it in behind Montembeault. Bourque beat Dobson along the wall to the puck and took it past him back along the goal line, and then wrapped it immediately to Montembeault’s right. The puck went more straight across the crease and then glanced off his stick into the net, a poor bounce for Montreal but an entirely preventable play.

3) The first special teams play of the game went to Dallas after Ivan Demidov was called for holding Matt Duchene as he skated down the wall in the Habs zone. Apparently, his free hand gripped Duchene’s arm too tightly as the Dallas forward protected the puck, and Montreal was sent to the penalty kill. After successfully winning the opening faceoff and clearing the puck, they were able to hold the blueline for the first minute. Furthermore, once Dallas gained the zone, the Habs collapsed on each loose puck in front of Montembeault. The kill was highlighted by a spectacular left pad save on the goal-scorer Bourque when Duchene fed him across the crease.

4) Lane Hutson drew Montreal’s first power play when he stripped Jamie Benn in the defensive zone and tried to turn up the ice. With only 33 seconds remaining in the first period, the top unit tried three set plays off the faceoff. Demidov took the puck from the win right to the top of the slot and went for a Slafkovsky deflection, but Oettinger was there to stop him. Suzuki also had two opportunities, but the buzzer rang before any more pressure could be put on the home team. Montreal came out in the second period with 1:27 left to work with, and they snapped the puck around the zone again. The top unit was unable to solve the Stars’ defensive scheme, each defender holding strong to their position and getting in the shooting lanes. Ilya Lyubushkin was rung up for hooking Bolduc shortly after the penalty to Benn expired. The second unit got most of the runway with the man advantage, as they were played first and controlled play for the majority of the two minutes in Dallas’ zone. Dobson and Texier’s shots from the point and circle respectively continued to get blocked by fearless Stars forwards.

5) Montreal was caught with too many men on the ice in the latter half of the second period. Bolduc sat for the call, likely because it was his assignment that he jumped onto the ice for and touched the puck. The Habs, even while pushing into Dallas’ zone, consistently had two or three players floating around the top of the zone on the attack, and in the second period, that’s precisely where the bench is also located. Montreal played another tight penalty kill, however, for the defenders, Dallas had yet to score on the man advantage since the Christmas break, making this opportunity prime to bring the data back to the mean. Unfortunately, the penalty just expired as the home team sent three passes across the zone and into the bumper for Wyatt Johnston. In a tic-tac-toe play, Heiskanen went from the top of the left point to Robertson at the circle, who one-touched the puck for the slot shot. The Stars went up 2–1 in the second, but Kapanen and Demidov were able to soon answer back.

6) Kapanen scored his 13th of the season after ripping home a feed from Demidov and finishing off a great play from their line driver, Slafkovsky. Slafkovsky took a pass in the neutral zone and spun off his check, dropping the puck behind his back for a streaking Demidov. Demidov crossed into the zone and pulled the puck back, curling towards the wall and then rotating all the way around before seeing Kapanen across the zone. He whizzed a pass along the slot for a Kapanen one-timer and the tying goal.

7) Esa Lindell was sent off for another Dallas penalty when he slashed the toe of his stick into Blais’ midsection and the shaft of the stick along his left wrist. Montreal’s top power play unit of Demidov, Slafkovsky, Caufield, Hutson, and Suzuki possessed the puck for 95% of the time and did not put a single substantive shot on goal. They played excellent keep-away from the Dallas defenders, a characteristic that often forces those two to three skaters to the top of the offensive zone while on the attack as it is the least dangerous area since you are typically furthest from the opposing team. However, to the dismay of Canadiens fans, you cannot win hockey games if you also then keep the puck away from the most dangerous area of the ice, the net. Suffice to say that the power play did not score, and even-strength play returned for a few moments before another call of Dallas was issued. As the Stars entered the zone, Sam Steel did a fly-by on Lane Hutson and slashed the stick out of his hands. On this power play, Montreal did not dilly-dally. Upon winning the faceoff, the Canadiens immediately attacked downhill towards the net. Demidov missed his first one-timer from Hutson, but Suzuki, Slafkovsky, and Caufield retrieved the puck and got it back to Hutson. Hutson and Demidov played some catch above the circles to relieve the aggressive pressure, and then Hutson’s point shot was actually deflected just past the net. Suzuki retrieved the puck again, put it back to Hutson, then got it back before feeding Slafkovsky in the bumper for Montreal’s own tic-tac-toe power play goal.

8) Montreal and Dallas both emerged from the dressing room with energy and pace. Dallas gained the upper hand early, with only Slafkovsky’s line able to gain any pressure in the offensive zone and escape their own. Montembeault showed up twice for tremendous saves as the Stars skated around tired Montreal forwards for the first minutes of the third period. Notably, play was also stopped relatively early when Jamie Benn smashed his face and cheek on the ice after falling in the Canadiens’ slot. Benn was trying to slip past Bolduc but they clipped hips and Benn fell; he was seen bleeding and was very gingerly helped off the ice.

9) With 9:49 left in the third period, Montreal was hemmed in its own zone by the Stars’ bottom six. After turning the puck over at the blue line, Steel took it back away from Slafkovsky. He then turned towards the net and the goaltender had to deliver a vintage blocker save to keep the Canadiens ahead. Johnston wiped the incredible saves from Montembeault off the board when he scored at 11:07. The Habs were on their heels, the Stars buzzing around their zone and completely out-skating them. Duchene won the faceoff back to Heiskanen, who took the puck all the way behind the net and sent a cross-ice feed that hit a leg and went right to Johnston who made no mistake to tie the game.

10) Unable to escape the onslaught, Montreal took another penalty when Danault hooked Mikko Rantanen as he came downhill towards Montembeault. The power play would only last just over a minute, however, as Johnston took down Dobson in front of the net with a hook of his own. Four-on-four play ensued, and the Stars were able to continue to possess the puck until the power play started for the Habs. With 37 seconds to work with, Montreal determined that dumping the puck in twice and just giving it to Dallas was the most optimal decision. Thankfully for the Habs’ record, both teams were content to let their defencemen pass the puck back and forth to play out the final two minutes until overtime, banking at least one point for each squad. In the overtime period, Montembeault denied Johnston for a hat-trick goal on the breakaway to keep the game alive long enough for the Habs to close it out. Lane Hutson took a crashed faceoff win across the blue line, through the slot, into the open ice of the left circle, and then ripped his cross-body wrist shot past Oettinger’s glove hand to give Montreal the win.

HabsWorld Habs 3 Stars

1st Star – Samuel Montembeault

In his second game since playing in Laval, Montembeault shut the door consistently on both Dallas and the Panthers. Point-blank shots, odd-man rushes, and floaters in from the point were all stopped consistently. He has not looked frantic or emotional in net, and his side-to-side movement has been controlled and concise. His stop on Bourque in the second period was instrumental at keeping the game locked up at that stage, and the early third-period stops on Rantanen and Hintz gave the Habs the oxygen they needed to keep the lead. Montembeault kept the Habs in the game when they had nothing going late in the third period to get them to overtime.

Stats: .889 SV%, 24 SV

2nd Star – Juraj Slafkovsky

Throughout the game, Slafkovsky’s play was representative of the drive and effectiveness his line produces shift after shift. Slafkovsky was the only forward to drive into the middle of the ice while carrying the puck and attempt to destabilize the Stars, aside from the Danault-Gallagher deflection goal. He has been rewarded with 13 points in his last nine games, a feature not unique but indicative of his line’s chemistry and obvious commitment to a specific type of gameplay.

Stats: 1 goal, 1 assist, +1, 4 shots, 1 hit, 20:21 T.O.I.

3rd Star – Lane Hutson

Montreal’s phenomenal defenceman showed once more why he is the defending Calder Trophy winner. With another multi-point night, Hutson played an instrumental role in the victory over Dallas by his defensive play and offensive commitment to contact. While he has a lightning-fast snake of a stick to jostle loose pucks in his own corner, Hutson takes contact along the wall to establish zone control or get the puck to the forwards for the attack. Hutson’s shot is one we have seen numerous times practiced and is stopped, but today it beat a premier goaltender who will be at the Olympic Games for his country.

Stats: 1 goal, 1 assist, +2, 1 shot, 2 hits, 27:58 T.O.I.