The Montreal Canadiens are the most unpredictable team in the NHL.
Or maybe they aren’t…
They always seem to save their best performances for the best teams. And with the Colorado Avalanche in town (second in goals per game), this game was no exception.
Montreal was impressive and went toe-to-toe with the Avalanche winning by a score of 4-3 Tuesday night at the Bell Centre.
The recipe for the Habs isn’t complicated… Get good goaltending, get contributions on special teams and have the first line involved. They checked all three boxes and were rewarded.
“All those guys, I feel are going through a process to becoming elite and they’re doing it the right way with a team-first approach,” said head coach Martin St Louis about his top line.
Pluses:
- The top line had a great game. Both Cole Caufield and Juraj Slafkovsky scored powerplay goals while Nick Suzuki had a pair of assists. The Canadiens aren’t a deep team and need their top players going if they want any chance to win.
- Jake Allen held the fort. Sometimes it isn’t about how many saves you make but when you make them. Montreal’s goaltender of the night came up with a pair of huge stops on Nathan Mackinnon with just four minutes remaining. Game changing.
- Joel Armia with another goal putting him at seven on the season. He’s having a solid year and although the consistency of his effort level is questionable at best, he battle hard for a loose puck in traffic to score the winning goal. “What we want from Army is just that consistency and we’re getting that right now and I hope he keeps going,” said Martin St Louis.
- Pairing Kaiden Guhle with Mike Matheson for the last two games was a great adjustment. David Savard appears to be lumbering right now and with two great skating teams in town, it was smart to have Guhle log big minutes. And he didn’t disappoint keeping Colorado’s top line in check at 5-on-5.
- The powerplay has looked good with goals in back-to-back games. Caufield is starting to heat up and find his touch and the movement has been fluid once they settle down and set up.
- It took 16-games but Rafael Harvey-Pinard finally scored his first goal of the season.
- Montreal fans showed their great class. When Jonathan Drouin was put on the big screen with the welcome back message, the fans stood up and applauded him. Drouin spent six seasons with the Canadiens and it was a roller coaster ride, he was never ever to live up to the big expectations management placed on his shoulders when they traded a blue chip prospect to bolster their offense. But even after the hard times, the fans showed their appreciation for his time with the team. Of course, when the game got back underway, they booed him every time he touched the puck. Perfect.
Minuses:
- The Canadiens allowed the first goal of the game… To add salt to the wound, Drouin picked up an assist on the Ross Colton goal.
- Jake Evans took an embellishment penalty that led to 4-on-4 hockey. Colorado is a dangerous team with extra space and this led to the game tying goal by Devon Toews. It is Emmy season after all.
- Jesse Ylonen left to concussion protocol, hopefully nothing serious.
- The bench was cut down in the third period and Joshua Roy played under 10-minutes in his second NHL game. It was an understandable decision based on where the game was at, but disappointing nonetheless.
The Montreal Canadiens will play their next three games on the road starting with a clash against the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday night.
thehabsblog.com 
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