The Montreal Canadiens were obliterated by the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday night and they landed in Winnipeg hoping for redemption, hoping to prove to their coach that their horrific performance in the last game was a bump in the road. As for their hosts, the Winnipeg Jets also wanted to bounce back from a loss to the Vegas Golden Knights.
Related: Penguins Crush Canadiens
It started well for Martin St-Louis’ men as they took control early, pushing to be first on the puck and applying plenty of pressure on the forecheck. Then, after a little under eight minutes, a long-awaited even took place. Rookie blueliner Lane Hutson finally scored his first career goal, his 20th point of the season.
For once, the goal came straight after an offensive zone faceoff as Nick Suzuki won the draw cleanly, sent the puck to Cole Caufield who passed it in turn to defenseman Mike Matheson who walked the blueline before passing it to Hutson who had been moving nearer the net and sent a quick shot passed one of the best goaltender in today’s game, Connor Hellebuyck.
It was quite funny to see Caufield and Matheson both rush towards the Winnipeg net to grab the rookie’s first goal puck, proof of how happy the team was to see him finally score.
Some seven minutes later, with Kirby Dach sat in the box for high sticking, the Jets tied up the score and showcased why they have the 2nd best power play in the league with some smooth passing. Kyle Connor sent a laser of a pass through the blue paint, finding Gabe Vilardi on the doorstep, on the other side. An easy tap in for his 13th on the season.
Then, a little over two minutes later, Nino Neiderreiter pretended to take the puck around the net but sent a perfect back pass to captain Dave Lowry who only had to tap it in as Montembeault was deported to the other side and looking there having bought the Swiss’ act. Hutson was right there by Lowry, but just couldn’t outpower him.
At the end of the first frame, Winnipeg led both in goals and shots (11-9), but it was a hotly contested battle and the Canadiens were definitely in the game.
Montreal did its best in the second frame, getting 10 shots on net to the Jets’ nine, but near simultaneous penalties not even five minutes in to Caufield and then Christian Dvorak certainly didn’t help. Still, there were only two seconds left to the two-man advantage when Connor managed to beat Montembeault, seconds after he frustrated him on the exact same play with a spectacular save.
Just like the Canadiens, the Jets also took three penalties in the middle frame, but they were able to kill them all with some proactive skating and sticks. Newhook’s insertion on the second line worked well tonight, the infusion of speed sure came in handy and after 40 minutes, Patrik Laine had five shots on net, one of which very nearly led to a goal. At the end of the game, he had taken seven. The line was even more effective when Hutson was on the ice with them, adding yet another dose of speed and unpredictability to their play.
Down by two after 40 minutes, the Canadiens needed to find a way to penetrate to Jets’ defense and the great wall they had in net. Montreal pressed on in the final frame, putting nine shots on net and while Josh Anderson was able to get them back within one, it was as close as they were ever going to be. They managed to killed the two penalties they were assessed in the last 20 minutes, which is no small feat against such a lethal man-advantage.
The Habs desperately tried to tie things up late, pulling Samuel Montembeault, but the strategy backfired and Vladislav Namestnikov put the final nail in the Canadiens’ coffin with an empty net goal.
Overall, the Canadiens handled themselves well in this game and gave the kind of performance they needed to give. Samuel Montembeault had a good game and kept them in the game, even though an active stick on his part wouldn’t hurt.
Lane Hutson had another fine game, not only because he finally found the back of the net, but also because of how calm he is out there. On the power play, he showed just how great he was at holding the line, even though he was sent a few low quality passes which made him lose his balance, he still kept the puck in. The same can also be said about a battle along the blueline with a guy that looked twice his size, he kept him engaged physically and was able to kick the puck with his skate which he kept battling.
After missing the last game, David Savard was his usual self on the backend, blocking four shots and landing three hits. There’s no denying his presence is reassuring to his young teammates.
While ultimately the team cannot be happy with the result, the way it played tonight is reassuring. Just like they did against Washington a week ago, the Canadiens played up to the opposition and we saw the team’s good side.
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