Rating The Tank: Samuel says Non-tembeault Edition

After getting mercilessly pummelled by the Colorado Avalanche on Monday night, the Montreal Canadiens ended their seven-game losing skid on Tuesday against the Pittsburgh Penguins. It was a fun game, one the Habs had no business in winning, but that is sometimes how the cookie crumbles.

The Good

SIX GOALS!

There were six different goal-scorers on the night, including some unexpected faces like Joel Edmundson and Anthony Richard. It was a dynamic, opportunistic showing from the Canadiens’ offence that took advantage of a terrible Tristan Jarry start to flex its muscle.

Denis Gurianov is looking impressive as he settles in, while Jesse Ylönen scored for a second straight game with a long-range wrister. It was also an incredible offensive showing from Justin Barron who had a pair of assists on highlight-reel goals.

Also Samuel Montembeault was incredible. Despite four goals against, he made 39 total saves and was the difference between a win and a loss.

The Bad

Two points in regulation coupled with a Philadelphia Flyers loss in Las Vegas moves the Habs out of the bottom five, which is less than ideal. An overtime win for the Arizona Coyotes at least limited the rise to just one position.

Also bad was starting terribly after starting abysmally the previous night against the Avalanche on home ice. Yes, this was a back-to-back situation for the Habs, but the effort wasn’t there in the early going. While they came back and did win the game, counting on .429 goaltending to make it happen isn’t a wise strategy.

Lottery Movement

It was a night to forget for the Habs’ odds at Connor Bedard unfortunately as a win moves them back to sixth place in the race for the best chance at first overall.

Tankathon

Tank Score

4/10

It’s a huge feelgood win for the Canadiens, but in terms of helping them earn the first overall pick, and how the team played for most of the game, it’s fairly disastrous. It is a funny win to sweep a clearly much better Penguins team on the season, but it’s also a very clearly stolen two points.

Up next for the Habs is a game with the Florida Panthers and then two against the Tampa Bay Lightning, so the team may be back to losing ways in short order.