NHL: Ottawa Senators at Montreal Canadiens
Credit: David Kirouac-Imagn Images

The Montreal Canadiens faced the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night, a classic All-Canadian game between two very similarly-matched teams when evaluating the Eastern Conference standings.

In the end, Montreal was victorious, winning 2-1 via a strong effort by some of their best players, not to mention a great shootout goal by the newest member of the team, Alexandre Texier.

Let’s dive into the highlights!

Hockey Prohibition

The first period was far from the most exciting frame of the season, as both teams took so few shots that you could have been mistaken for thinking the game took place in the United States, between January 17, 1920, and December 5, 1933.

Poorly-framed alcohol jokes aside, at the very least, netminder Jakub Dobes looked comfortable, which isn’t always a guarantee. Dobes turned away all three high-danger shots sent his way at 5v5 in the first period. You can usually tell very early whether it will be a chaotic Dobes start, or one with a little more structure.

Power In The Play

The Canadiens finally broke the goose egg midway through the second period, a continuation of their very solid play with the man-advantage of the last stretch.

Cole Caufield‘s 15th goal of the year came via an excellent assist by Ivan Demidov, who refuses to execute any play that does not involve a fully-charged pass. Personally, I love seeing him push the pace and fire off some of the hardest passes this team has seen in years, but they’re not always easy to corral.

Fortunately for the Canadiens, Caufield did a great job stopping the puck before slamming it home.

Phantom Calls

Saturday night’s game was far from a disaster when evaluating the officiating, at least through the first 40 minutes of play, but the referees did manage to make two pretty bad calls in succession, which is often the case.

It started with a tripping call on Dobson that wasn’t remotely close to an actual penalty.

To even things out, the referees quickly sent John Tavares to the box after he delivered a cross-check on Mike Matheson that was far from violent.

It was clearly a make-up call, which wouldn’t be necessary if they avoided making a bad decision beforehand.

You can even see Tavares gesture to the corner where the phantom call on Dobson took place, presumably to ask the referees if his penalty was a result of the first bad call.

Yes, John, it absolutely was.

Late Surge

With the Canadiens nursing their one-goal lead on the powerplay, things were going quite well. That is until rookie Oliver Kapanen gave the puck away, which led to a shorthanded breakaway for Scott Laughton.

I know that I write for a Canadiens-related website, but I have to say I am a big fan of taking slapshots on a breakaway.

I also love double-pad stacks, and big hip checks.

Yes, I started watching hockey in the 80s. And yes, strangely, I do miss Mike Liut. And Consumer’s Distributing (RIP).

Anyhow, the Laughton goal tied the score midway through the third period, setting up an exciting end to the game.

Overtime Excellence

Overtime solved nothing, which led to yet another shootout, where Caufield and Alexander Texier scored for the Habs, with the latter scoring one of the nicest shootout goals you’ll see.

A one-handed effort sealed the deal for the Canadiens, who emerged with a 2-1 win.

The Montreal Canadiens are back in action on Sunday, facing the St. Louis Blues. The puck drop is scheduled for 7 pm ET.

All Montreal Canadiens statistics are 5v5 unless otherwise noted, via Natural Stat Trick.

avatar
By Marc Dumont
Marc has been covering the Habs for over a decade. He previously worked for Journal Metro, The Athletic, The ... More about Marc Dumont

Tap Here To Add Sportsnaut As A Trusted Source on GoogleTap Here To Add Sportsnaut As A Trusted Source on Google