The Montreal Canadiens were tasked with wrapping up their long road trip against one the Western Conference’s top teams the Dallas Stars and found a way to escape with a 4-3 victory.
They finished their extended road trip 3-3-1 and with the way this road trip has gone in years past, they should be ecstatic with the result.
“We’ve been playing some really good hockey over this road trip and it’s nice to get a win going back home,” said captain Nick Suzuki after the game.
The Canadiens weren’t rewarded after a solid effort against the Tampa Bay Lightning, were severely outplayed in the later parts of their game against the Florida Panthers and let a suspect Carolina Hurricanes team playing with an American Hockey League level goaltender off the hook during the first three games out of the holiday break.
“Today, I think we got rewarded even though the end was pretty hectic,” said Juraj Slafkovsky. “That’s hockey and at the end of the day, it matters that we got two points, it doesn’t matter the score or anything.”
Don’t look now… But the Canadiens are only five points out of a playoffs spot nearing the midway point of the season.
Pluses:
- Dominance from Montreal’s top line. They threatened to score on almost every shift and it’s during games like this one where you have to wonder where the Canadiens would be if Kirby Dach and Alex Newhook were healthy to help give the top line a bit of support.
- Juraj Slafkovsky looked great. Only had one assist on the scoresheet but made great plays like the first period back check and the play at the blue line leading the Cole Caufield goal. Most consistent stretch of games for him dating back to when he was put on the top line.
- Happy Birthday Cole Caufield! Goals in three straight games.
- Nick Suzuki… Maybe the best player on the ice?
- Montreal’s defense leads the league with 30-goals after Kaiden Guhle and Jordan Harris found the back of the net
- Rock steady game for Harris who’s trying to show he’s comfortable playing on the right side. The goal aside, it was his best game since returning from injury.
- It was a game Montreal won, so clearly the goaltender was good. While I don’t really understand the decision behind who got which games, they don’t win this one without Sam Montembeault.
Minuses:
- Huge gaffe to start the game. A miscue between Montembeault and Mike Matheson led to a goal by Jamie Benn just 11 seconds into the game.
- The end wasn’t convincing either… They made everyone chew off their finger nails letting a 4-1 lead dwindle down to 4-3 in the dying moments. But they escaped with the two points.
- Josh Anderson took a beating. High stick to the face, blocked shot that had him limping and it concluded with needing to be helped off the ice after getting tangled up with Thomas Harley. He couldn’t put any weight down on his leg and didn’t return to the game. Another injury up front is not what the doctor ordered right now.
Next up for the Canadiens is a matchup against the Buffalo Sabres when they return to the Bell Centre on Thursday night.
thehabsblog.com 
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