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The Montreal Canadiens looked to get back to their winning ways against a San Jose Sharks team just as much on the rise. Macklin Celebrini hit the ice in Montreal coming off a loss in Toronto the night before where he was held without a point.

In game four of their six-game road trip, San Jose were on their heels for much of the match Tuesday night and the Canadiens dominated pace of play and possession. At five-on-five, Montreal carried. They gave very little to the Sharks in terms of chances, and rode another two-goal lead into the third period.

Of course, they blew that lead, again, and went to overtime despite their clear control of the game. When Montreal has given up chances this year, they have led to goals against at a startling rate. Fortunately for them so far, the chances have been limited enough to prevent blowouts. Unfortunately, they gave away another point in an unnecessary overtime and lost a point with ridiculous missed coverages and unacceptable penalties that may cost players their roster spots.

Habs Lineup

Cole Caufield — Nick Suzuki — Juraj Slafkovsky
Chris Kreider – Alex Newhook — Josh Anderson
Zachary Bolduc – Phillip Danault – Alexandre Texier
Kirby Dach – Jake Evans – Oliver Kapanen

Kaiden Guhle – Alexandre Carrier
Lane Hutson — Noah Dobson
Arber Xhekaj – Adam Engstrom

Jakub Dobes

Game Points

– The first quality chance of the game came off Kaiden Guhle’s stick after the Canadiens kept another clearing attempt by the Sharks in the zone. Alex Nedeljkovic made an excellent glove save to rob the defenceman, but Montreal kept up the pressure on the following shift. The all-French line crashed the net when Phillip Danault sent the puck into Nedeljkovic’s pads, and the puck eventually trickled in after a whistle. The play was called dead, and a quick review confirmed the crowd’s chagrin.

– Lane Hutson’s magic was at work once more later in the first, and his move around Collin Graf at the blueline broke him loose to send a pass through the paint for a deflection and forcing Nedeljkovic to make the third significant save of the first five minutes. He was needed to be on task once more when the Canadiens top line passed around the Sharks defenders for another in-tight chance. Nurse intercepted a pass through the paint by Nick Suzuki six inches in front of Juraj Slafkovsky before he could put Montreal on the board.

– The Sharks got their first chances of the game about ten minutes in; the top line put pressure on Alexandre Carrier and Arber Xhekaj after chasing Cole Caufield and Slafkovsky out of their zone. Graf nearly gained them the lead as he fanned on a trickling puck in the crease that snuck through Jakub Dobes. The young Sharks attacked in a pack on loose pucks during their shift, but their enthusiasm put them on the penalty kill shortly thereafter. Ty Dellandrea attempted to move past Jake Evans near centre ice to grab a cleared puck, but held his stick en route.

– The Habs top unit was controlled and had two fast chances, but a brutal pass into the open slot by Slafkovsky gave the puck away and sent them back to the bench. The second unit fared little better, characterized by Noah Dobson’s giveaway as a hot pass bounced off his stick and into an opposition two-on-one. He played it well and the Habs escaped the chance, but their possession domination through fifteen minutes of play resulted in nothing more than a Macklin Celebrini breakaway goal.

– Jake Evans was pressured by Will Smith while standing alongside the Habs bench. Evans pivoted to pass up ice, and Will Smith curled around behind him and slashed at his stick as Evans let the puck go. The pass had little power behind it and was off-target, ending up straight on Celebrini’s stick as he came down the middle of the zone. One stickhandle, then he floated a perfect wrist shot over Dobes’ shoulder to give the visitors the lead.

– The captain capped off a series of shifts where the Canadiens dominated the pace of play near the end of the first. Hutson danced his way around the zone as he fed Kirby Dach, Zach Bolduc, and Dobson pucks to fire at Nedeljkovic, and Slafkovsky once more redeemed himself when the Habs moved to attack the zone. Hutson sent a leading pass vertical up the ice that was repelled by Dmitry Orlov, but a streaking Slafkovsky swatted the flittering puck in mid-air and let Orlov pass between himself and it as his momentum carried into the zone. Suzuki was matching his pace across the slot from him, and a gentle saucer pass from Slafkovsky gave Suzuki all the time he needed to hammer the top shelf and draw even with San Jose.

– Michael Misa was rung up for holding Danault as the Canadiens forward drove the net with the puck he won off the faceoff. The young attacker wrapped Danault up with his free left arm, and Montreal’s stars went back to the man advantage. Hutson got the best chance with a slap shot, but Montreal’s power play attack showed very little promise in the domain of high-danger chances. Everything was kept to the perimeter, and they were defended by an eerily similar-to-other-teams box structure that gave up the shot to Hutson but pushed out Montreal’s wings as far to the wall as possible.

– Slafkovsky put the Canadiens ahead with a splendid individual effort two minutes into the second period. Montreal’s top line had been hemmed by Celebrini and Smith, and a missed shot sprung the breakout. Caufield collected the puck as it crossed out of the Habs zone, then fed Slafkovsky as he glided over the crest and entered the zone. The Slovakian superstar then turned downhill and attacked Darnell Nurse, swinging his long stick wide to the left of Nurse and flipping the puck into the air. Then he dug hard into the ice and swooped to the inside, cutting between Nurse and the goaltender before corralling the puck and sweeping through the crease to tuck the puck behind Nedeljkovic. An absolute stunner of a goal to put Montreal in the lead.

– Over ten minutes of play in the middle frame, Montreal earned three more shots and a goal and San Jose generated four more shots of their own. Offsetting minor penalties added some flavour to an otherwise dour few minutes when Celebrini laid out Suzuki along the Sharks bench boards well after the puck was out of the vicinity. Slafkovsky entered the fray, and with Guhle on the ice as well, tensions arose. Montreal then attacked and forced Nedeljkovic to make two more quality saves on Dobson and Danault glanced his rush shot off the crossbar.

– A full breakout by the Canadiens led to another Caufield tuck as the entire line had at least one puck touch. Hutson was the only one in the Canadiens zone as he held the puck before outletting to Carrier at centre ice. Carrier passed to Caufield as the unit entered the zone, who then dropped to the trailing Hutson after backing off the Sharks’ defenders. Hutson then stretched the zone, crossing the length of it with his pass to Danault at the far wall hashes. Danault fired and his shot was slowed towards the net, Suzuki retrieved and then curled behind Nedeljkovic. Seeing Caufield lost in the coverage, the captain fed his linemate and the 51-goal scorer added another to his year and put Montreal ahead by two.

– Alexandre Texier committed the high-sticking call that put Montreal down late in the second period. Deep in the Sharks zone, Texier lost body position to Ivar Stenberg and answered the rookie’s effort with a shaft to his nose and visor from behind. Montreal’s penalty killers were stalwart against the Sharks’ premier talent; Danault, Anderson, and Dobson were standouts holding the blueline and erasing momentum below the goal line. Montreal fought off the power play and went to the dressing room up two goals and much more in momentum.

– Dobes made his first stop of the third period early on, swallowing a wrister from a falling Celebrini as the visiting top line forechecked. Misa labelled the post clean a minute later, but Dobes’ slide out of the crease was fortuitous in giving him the room to swat the puck out of danger a moment later. The Sharks got themselves within one when Hutson was stripped of the puck at the blueline and Misa finished a two-on-one from Kiefer Sherwood. With only one goal now separating Montreal from losing their lead, it was incumbent on Dobes to close the door.

– Dobes was able to stop a dramatic power move to the net by Will Smith shortly thereafter, holding his ground and staying with the puck across the length of his crease and giving Smith nothing to shoot at. The teams traded rush chances, and Xhekaj put the Canadiens shorthanded by dropping his gloves with an unwilling combatant in Michael Kesselring during a scrum. The killers closed off passing lanes, tipped pucks out of the zone, and Anderson missed the net on a breakaway before Tyler Toffoli completed the comeback and added San Jose’s third goal. Celebrini laid a beautiful slap-pass to Toffoli in the slot and gave Dobes no chance.

– Montreal’s skaters traded possession with the Sharks in the dying minutes of regulation, but the home team held the puck for the lion’s share of the time. Danault opened the overtime with another faceoff win, but Dobes was called for “interference” against Graf as the skater crossed through the crease. Dobes reached, and Montreal went to the penalty kill in overtime. Macklin Celebrini scored the third unanswered goal to steal a second point in Montreal.

HabsWorld Habs 3 Stars

1st Star – Juraj Slafkovsky

The pride of Košice showed off incredible skills on Tuesday night, both with his hands carrying the puck but also his line-driving ability and vision. In a game he could have scored three in, Juraj made the most insensible of errors but the most elevated of skill plays. He makes adjustments on the ice in his play to what he is experiencing and embraces moments with the grandeur they are due.

Stats: 1 goal; 1 assist; + 2 rating; 1 shot; 1 hit; 17:16 T.O.I

2nd Star – Nick Suzuki

Only the artfulness of Slafkovsky’s goal separated his play from that of his linemates, and Suzuki was just as pivotal to earning the Habs their point. He was all over the ice again and did not give the impression any love was lost between himself and Celebrini, former Team Canada teammate.

Stats: 1 goal; 1 assist; + 3 rating; 4 shots; 1 block; 21:03 T.O.I

3rd Star – Cole Caufield

Cole shoots pucks. Cole scores goals. Cole now also retrieves pucks and attempts to hit other players. Every team in the league needs a Cole Caufield. Apparently, he scores on Nedeljkovic as often as Celebrini hits the twine behind Dobes, that is, a LOT.

Stats: 1 goal; 1 assist; + 3 rating; 3 shots; 19:36 T.O.I