Post Game 50: One line team

It’s official.

The Montreal Canadiens are a one line team.

But that line exceled Tuesday night in Washington, beating the Capitals by a score of 5-2.

The team seemed to come together in the first game without Sean Monahan who was traded to the Winnipeg Jets during the bye week. They took advantage of a disheveled looking Capitals team in the first period, jumping out to a 3-0 lead.

Although Washing pushed back in the second and third periods, the deficit was too great to overcome especially with Sam Montembeault once again showing flashes of a potential star goaltender of the future.

Pluses:

• Cole Caufield continues getting points. Everyone thinks of the goal scoring prowess when it comes to Caufield, but his passing continues to be underrated. The pass to Nick Suzuki on the opening goal of the game was pure filth.
• Nick Suzuki didn’t looked burnt out from having to attend the all-star game. Two goals for Montreal’s captain who will be leaned on even more heavily (if possible) with the subtraction of Monahan.
• Juraj Slafkovsky… Nicest two goals of his career. Also, first two goal game for the number one pick of the 2022 NHL entry draft. Games like this will influence people to believe Montreal made the right pick.
• Michael Pezzetta goes post and in leading to Charlie Lindgren getting the hook. This game was not on Lindgren, the Capitals were a disaster in front of him.
• Sam Montembeautl… Feels like we can just copy and paste his name in the plus category after a win. His back-to-back saves on Dylan Strome and Rasmus Sandin… Pure larceny
• Brandon Gignac… Welcome to the NHL, here’s 15-minutes of ice time on the second line. Didn’t look out of place, but many areas to clean up.
• David Savard …. BOOM! Most blocked shots again with four, and one of the blocks took a sure goal away from Max Pacioretty.

Minuses:

• An absolute fire drill in their own zone at times, especially in the second period.
• Tough game for Tanner Pearson who took two penalties and looked sluggish.
• On paper, this team is thin. Alex Newhook’s return and Brendan Gallagher’s suspension coming to an end in three games will help, but the Canadiens will go as far as the top line will take them. At some point, it’s going to be too much for them to handle and the losses will pile up. But at least for one night, they took advantage of a team that looks like they are in complete disarray.

Next up for the Canadiens is a home date at the Bell Centre against the Dallas Stars on Saturday afternoon at 1pm.