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Montreal entered its game at the Bell Centre on Tuesday sitting third in the tightly contested Atlantic Division. The game itself was a tale of three teams: the Carolina Hurricanes, Montreal Canadiens in the first period, and then the Montreal Canadiens for the rest of the game. They decidedly did not have their legs beneath them during the first ten minutes, giving up two goals and the puck away much more than that. They were bailed out with a choice deflection by Kapanen, then remembered that they were a quality hockey club. Caufield and Slafkovsky notched markers in the second and turned the flow of the game in their favor, even as penalties stymied healthy five-on-five play.

The third period broke open with two more goals for Montreal, including Evans’ empty-netter and Demidov’s smokeshow in a 5-2 victory. Jakub Dobes got another start, a clear statement from the coaching staff that further establishes him as the starting netminder for the foreseeable future. He played exquisitely at home on Tuesday, and looks ready for playoff form after posting a .926 SV% against Detroit and another stellar .953 SV% against Carolina. Montreal, at this most critical time of the season, has found its goalie.

Habs Lineup

Cole Caufield — Nick Suzuki — Juraj Slafkovsky
Alex Newhook— Oliver Kapanen — Ivan Demidov
Zach Bolduc – Jake Evans – Alexandre Texier
Josh Anderson – Phillip Danault — Brendan Gallagher

Lane Hutson – Jayden Struble
Mike Matheson — Noah Dobson
Kaiden Guhle – Alexandre Carrier

Jakub Dobes

10 Thoughts

1) The game’s first penalty of the match came when Josh Anderson – returning to the lineup – caught William Carrier with a high stick off an in-zone faceoff. Carrier attempted to pursue the puck towards Montreal’s corner, and Anderson’s stick cut him off midway. Dobes was needed to make two quick saves as the group of Seth Jarvis, Sebastian Aho, and Nikolaj Ehlers worked the puck down low in an attempt to break the Habs down. Consequently, Ehlers’ pass to Jarvis in front of the net was blocked and deflected behind Dobes by Mike Matheson. Matheson’s stick shot out like a snake to block the on-ice pass, but the puck found the small hole between the post and his right arm.

2) Moments after the goal, Lane Hutson coughed up the puck inside Carolina’s zone, and Dobes was forced to make two more premier saves on Taylor Hall (breakaway) and Jordan Staal before the play could be blown dead. Dobes certainly was the only reason the Habs were only down by one instead of three. Montreal came out sleepy in the first stages of the game, turning pucks over, letting loose pucks get away from them, and they were punished again less than ten minutes into the game.

3) Staal scored the second marker for Carolina after taking a swiping pass from Jalen Chatfield at the Habs blueline. Matheson was brutalized by Jordan Martinook when the forward chopped his stick out of his hands as he tried to receive a dump-in pass from Chatfield. The puck dropped to the ice at the blueline, and both Chatfield and Oliver Kapanen swung at it. The Hurricanes’ stick made contact and sent the puck perfectly to Staal, who was in Dobes’ face, and the captain buried it with a rapid wrister.

4) Montreal’s third shot of the game was their first goal, and the first offensive play on the home team’s side as well. A simple chip-in from Ivan Demidov earned them the zone, then Kapanen retrieved below the red line and then sent the puck around to Alex Newhook opposite him. Newhook, feeling the pressure, bumped it quickly toward the middle and Demidov kept it moving towards the point. Jayden Struble spent little time resetting the puck before firing it towards the net, where Kapanen had resumed his position screening Frederik Andersen. Kapanen got the high tip to change the direction of the puck and sneak it past Andersen and give the Canadiens life in the game. The goal seemed to power up Montreal’s legs, and they were able to skate with the Hurricanes for the remainder of the period.

5) Late in the first, Sebastian Aho was rung up for interfering with Cole Caufield as the winger tried to break free into the Hurricanes slot. Slafkovsky went to feed him, and Aho’s left arm reached out like a backwards clothesline, and Caufield’s hopping-style stride assisted the fall to the ice. With 0.9 seconds remaining, Montreal would hold the power play primarily in the second period. Carolina’s penalty killers were tenacious in their defence, but the enthusiasm led to a further penalty and a five-on-three opportunity for Montreal. K’Andre Miller tripped Nick Suzuki as the captain passed by, getting his stick into Suzuki’s legs on the zone entry. The home team called a timeout to draw up a play, but further missed passes and good pressure from the visitors kept the Habs from achieving any high-danger chances on either power play outside of a single shot by Kapanen.

6) Caufield equalized the contest and scored his 44th of the season when he pounced on a rebound in the Hurricanes’ corner. Sustained Montreal pressure led to Dobson driving the net and the puck slipping back to Slafkovsky to Andersen’s left. The Canadiens are playing a “positionless offence” style system, which encourages them to move fluidly around the offensive zone and prioritize zone time and possession. The play truly demonstrated that, as Suzuki sent his shot on net from the centre of the blueline after Slafkovsky sent the puck to him. Andersen knocked out the rebound wide to his left, and Cole sniped the tight angle.

7) Caufield doubled down and momentarily tied Nathan MacKinnon for the league lead in goals when he expertly deflected a shot from Dobson past Andersen. Dobson had started the play from his own zone by skating the puck through the neutral and around the Hurricane defenders before dropping it off for Matheson along the wall. Matheson followed up in Dobson’s path and carried the puck around the zone before hitting Suzuki in his normal spot at the blue. Suzuki moved the puck horizontally along the line to Dobson, whose on-ice shot smacked Caufield’s stick blade with precision. Unfortunately for Caufield’s record, the puck then actually deflected off Slafkovsky’s shin pads to redirect again and beat Andersen, giving him the goal.

8) Kaiden Guhle and Martinook took opposing minors late in the second, leading to more super entertaining four-on-four hockey. Guhle “held” Martinook and brought the forward to the ice, then Martinook stood up and laid a pick on a much smaller Brendan Gallagher, earning an interference call of his own. After less than a minute of frantic defending from the Canadiens, Dobson drew a tripping call via Sean Walker’s stick in his skates. Slafkovsky, Caufield, and Dobson nearly had goals on the four-on-three, as well as giving up a two-on-one of their own. The period expired just as Caufield was alone in front and failed to beat Andersen with a quick stickhandle.

9) Montreal opened up their third period startlingly similar to the first, but quickly recovered after giving up three dangerous chances. Demidov almost dangled the entire Hurricanes lineup but couldn’t close, just as Zach Bolduc couldn’t get his stick on a flying puck during a quick strike two-on-one. Play began to open up as the minutes crept by, with turnovers galore for both teams. With around ten minutes remaining, Montreal’s top line was hemmed in their own zone for nearly two minutes before Slafkovsky sent a puck clear out of the zone and into the crowd. Carolina’s power play was patient and let Ehlers slow the pace of play down heavily following the commercial break. He drove the advantage from the bottom of the zone, creeping behind the net and switching the puck off with Aho at the base of the circle. Dobes stopped a sneaky shot from Ehlers at the goal line and caught a blast from Chatfield in his crest. Montreal escaped from the power play, but not the Carolina forecheck as they initiated Directive: Chip Puck Out of Zone.

10) Demidov added an insurance marker by casting an illusion spell on Andersen and dancing him for Montreal’s fourth goal. His unassisted effort involved chasing down a bobbled puck at the blueline and beating out Miller to get to the net. Miller tried to take an outlet pass from his forward below the red line, but for reasons the New York Rangers fully understand, he couldn’t handle it. Demidov was covering him, chipped the puck ahead of them both, then made a backhand-forth deke on Andersen while under pressure from behind the entire skate. With four minutes to go, Carolina pulled Andersen, but the Canadiens were able to keep much of the play out of their zone. Dobes made seven more saves in the last sequence, and Jake Evans eventually hit the empty netter to ice the game out with less than a minute remaining on his bobblehead night.

HabsWorld Habs 3 Stars

1st Star –  Jakub Dobes

With 16 saves through the first 30 minutes and more than another dozen added over the remainder, Dobes once more demonstrated that the trust in him is justified. He stopped Taylor Hall and Logan Stankoven on the breakaway, pepperings on the power play, and shots from all around the zone during five-on-five play that Habs fans would imagine that Montembeault may have had trouble with. He was stalwart and calm in net, clearly ready to compete in the playoffs. Throughout the match, Dobes was the one constant, and despite another goal late with the Hurricanes’ netminder pulled, he closed the door.

Stats: 41 SV, 2 GA, .941 SV%

2nd Star – Cole Caufield

Montreal’s star winger earned critical points and is currently riding a seven-game point streak with his captain Suzuki. His offensive dynamism inspired a lethargic Habs lineup and both crucial points enabled the home team to grasp mental control of the game over the Hurricanes.

Stats: 1 goal, 1 assist, +2, 2 shots, 18:33 T.O.I.

3rd Star – Ivan Demidov

A number of other skaters could have been mentioned in the third star slot, but Demidov’s third-period goal cannot be ignored. “Playing with his food” is an apt description of Demidov’s relationship with Chatfield and Miller during the game even beside the goal. Demidov also ended up on shifts with Danault and Evans, as the coaches were playing with matchups to keep the momentum in the second and third periods once Montreal took the lead.

Stats: 1 goal, 1 assist, +1, 1 block, 1 shot, 11:58 T.O.I.