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The Habs played their last game before the Olympics on the road as they visited Winnipeg on Wednesday night. The Jets have surprisingly struggled this season, as they sit nine points out of the playoffs and figure to sell the small number of expiring contracts they have after the break.
Montreal wanted to take advantage of a decimated blue line to play to its strengths as one of the league’s top scoring teams. They survived a slow start, got some depth scoring all night long, and saw much-maligned Samuel Montembeault show up in a big way to get the Habs into the break on a positive note after a 5-1 win despite not having their fastball on this night.
Habs Lineup
Cole Caufield — Nick Suzuki — Kirby Dach
Juraj Slafkovsky – Oliver Kapanen — Ivan Demidov
Josh Anderson – Phillip Danault – Brendan Gallagher
Zach Bolduc – Jake Evans — Joe Veleno
Mike Matheson – Kaiden Guhle
Lane Hutson — Noah Dobson
Jayden Struble – Alexandre Carrier
Samuel Montembeault
10 Thoughts
1) Play was relatively even out of the gate as both teams appeared to be studying each other. The first five minutes saw Winnipeg take two shots before Anderson got caught with a high stick off a faceoff. The Jets’ power play looked good, though it was aided by a few terrible clearing attempts and some bad rebound control from Montembeault. Finally, a cross-ice play from Gabriel Vilardi to Kyle Connor opened the scoring.
2) The Canadiens slowly got going to keep up with the Jets but not before Winnipeg hit a post. The Kapanen line was the most dangerous in scoring chance creation, as Kapanen whiffed on a nice chance in the slot created by Demidov. Kapanen then skillfully tipped a missed pass by Demidov for his second chance. Kapanen scored on his third chance as a tipped point shot from Dobson created a rebound where the rookie centre showed nice patience within chaos as he outwaited Connor Hellebuyck on the rebound before putting it home.
3) The teams exchanged soft calls as the Habs got a 90-second power play before Bolduc was called for interference to end the period. Despite a 13-11 shot advantage for the home team and not being the better team on the ice in the period, Montreal managed to get back to the room with a 1-1 tie.
4) The second period started with the Canadiens killing what was left of the penalty without conceding much to the Jets. It was low-event hockey through the first five minutes, but the Habs were able to take advantage of the Jets being less aggressive in the neutral zone. This allowed Montreal to attack with speed and score twice. The first goal of the period saw a point shot by Struble hit Anderson on its way to the back of the net. Two minutes later, the Habs struck off the rush. Anderson went across the zone to Hutson who snuck in a shot short side to fool Hellebuyck and make it 3-1 for the visitors halfway through the period.
5) The two goals got the Canadiens going as they controlled a good chunk of time that followed the goals. Meanwhile, Hellebuyck stood tall and kept the game from spiralling completely out of control. The final five minutes saw Winnipeg push back and this time it was Montembeault who stood tall on a few occasions to end the period with the two-goal lead preserved. The shots were 12-9 for the Jets in the period, but the scoring chances were likely close to even.
6) Two minutes into the third, the Habs were once again in penalty trouble as Carrier was called for holding. Winnipeg’s power play got three shots and Montembeault was the best penalty killer on the sequence. The Habs then opened up the play for the rest of the opening half of the period. It was nice to see them get away from sitting on a lead, but it was curious to see the defence still activating. Regardless, the outcome was scoring chances at both ends of the ice. A Matheson rush with 11 minutes to play resulted in a Winnipeg penalty to end the up-and-down flow of the period.
7) The second Montreal man advantage of the night was absolutely atrocious with errant passes all over the ice. With ten seconds left in the advantage, Bolduc attacked Luke Schenn before flipping a pass deep to Dach who quickly found a lane across to Gallagher who put it home for a 4-1 lead. With Winnipeg’s scoring woes, that goal appeared to be the final nail in the coffin, sending both teams to their Olympic break even if there were still eight minutes left to play.
8) In those eight minutes, the Jets had already checked out as Montreal completely dominated the play and were unable to extend a lead that was never threatened, as Hellebuyck was the only Jet player to show any sign of life in the final stretch of the game. He made stops on Caufield and Gallagher. The Jets pulled Hellebuyck with over five minutes to play. Gallagher got called for a penalty and Danault finally hit the empty-netter after the team missed many chances. The final shot tally in the game was 37-27 in favour of the Jets.
9) Ever since last season’s playoffs (and really dating back before last season), the biggest challenge for Montreal has been teams that carry bigger bodies. This was the case in January when they got bounced around by Buffalo and Detroit for a few games. Washington clearly had their size advantage pay dividends in their game plan in last year’s postseason. For this reason, I find their recent stretch where they’ve been able to get very positive results against teams with that profile very interesting. Recent results against the Golden Knights, Avalanche, Sabres, Wild, and now Jets suggest that perhaps the Habs have figured out how to play against this team profile which would be a very positive development.
10) Montembeault had himself a game. 36 saves was nothing to sneeze at. Having said that, we’ve seen good games like this from Montembeault. What hasn’t been in his repertoire has been stringing these games together to create a sense of stability in his crease this season. Having this mental boost heading into the extended break might be a huge blessing for him. Hopefully, both he and Jakub Dobes can return from the break and provide some timely saves for their teammates who have no problem scoring. With just league-average goaltending, the Habs score enough to be a serious threat in the Atlantic Division, and both goaltenders have proven capable at times. Can one of them do it regularly down the stretch?
HabsWorld Habs 3 Stars
1st Star – Oliver Kapanen
Kapanen was easily the best player for the Habs in the first period and their only goal-scorer on what I would count as three decent scoring chances. The team’s third goal was also a direct result of responsible defensive play after a defensive zone faceoff win by the rookie pivot. That he made that play while stuck on the ice with non-familiar wingers due to an icing is just gravy. His stat line might not be as great as other depth scoring options on this night, but his game allowed the Habs to get going.
Stats: 1 goal, +2, 4 shots, 1 hit, 13:44 T.O.I.
2nd Star – Josh Anderson
Anderson was absolutely flying on this night. With less than two months left in the season, having the veterans start to find their form will be key for the Canadiens down the stretch and into any playoff series. Seeing playoff Anderson on this night was a nice reminder of the importance this player can have for this team. For a team that is already third in the league in scoring, Montreal could be a real threat if they can score even more.
Stats: 1 goal, 2 assists, +3, 3 shots, 1 hit, 15:21 T.O.I.
3rd Star – Brendan Gallagher
Everything that was said above about Anderson can be copy/pasted here. Gallagher has a certain track record and if these two can find some magic with Danault like they did last season with Christian Dvorak, it would be a huge development for the team.
Stats: 1 goal, 2 assists, +2, 1 shot, 2 hits, 12:38 T.O.I.
