Canadiens @ Blackhawks Top Six Minutes: A night of firsts

For our new readers and members, the Top Six Minutes is a continuation of the discussion in the game thread. We try to keep it light and entertaining. Full recaps are up the morning after every game.

Pre-Game

• What? We’re not even halfway through this season? Haven’t we suffered enough already?
• Welcome to the Canadiens, Rem Pitlick!
• Could we hope for a lethal brother combo in a few years?/

First Period

• Some of the boys are back: Privjet Romanov! Skol Scheuneman! Wagwan Jake Evans?
• Speaking of Jakes’, Allen is out again with an injury.
• Can’t blame him. If I was a Canadiens player, I’d want to be out and about too.
• Annnnd Dominik Kubalik scored. Should Montembeault have held on to that? Mmmaybe it’s Maybelline.
• Monty’s had a fine period otherwise.
• We are fifteen minutes in and the Habs are still to register a shot on goal. Oh wait, I saw one!
• Cole Caufield almost doubled his scoring tally for the season. Managed to draw a penalty in the process though!/

Second Period

• Nice to see more energy to start the second period for our Habs.
• The power play remains a lame duck though.
• OH MY GOD! DID I PICK A GOOD GAME TO TSM?
• JEFF PETRY HAS FINALLY SCORED AGAIN!
• The Canadiens have tied it and Petry scores his first goal in what seems like a decade but is actually just about eight months.
• Could there actually be a point to be had tonight?
• It would be the first point of 2022.
• Romanov hitting people is the only highlight we need in 2022. Utter perfection./

Alexander Romanov just SMOKED Sam Lafferty pic.twitter.com/VDzpgkkcM8

— Scott Matla (@scottmatla) January 14, 2022

• And he got an instigator penalty on the Carpenter in the opposing team.
• A power play goal. Oh for Pete’s sake!
• Mike Hoffman from Cole Caufield. See, you can do it boys. You’re not as inept as the current standings show.
• Could I actually be awarded with a win for staying up between 2.30 and 5.30 AM on a Thursday night?/

Third Period

• Yeah well. You can’t have a clean power play and a clean penalty kill in the same game now, can you?
• Patrick Kane ties it up about five seconds into a Chicago man advantage. Right through Monty’s five-hole.
• That should NOT be a goal in the National Hockey League.
• But hey, it’s still anyone’s game with 16 minutes left!
• Montembeault has a tendency to save difficult shots but then let in the easy ones. This time he stopped Caufield’s older brother Alex DeBrincat from getting a potential game-winner.
• Montreal survives a late penalty kill to secure the point./

Overtime

• Suzuki just drew past the entire population of Chicago, but Fleury denied him.
• Chicago end the game in the most ludicrous way possible.
• Hoffman crashes into his own netminder, fiercely trying to help Monty deny a Chicago goal.  The net, the goalie and the attacker all join Hoffman in a pile on the ice.
• A pile on the ice. Isn’t that just a fitting end to a Montreal game this season?
• Welp, was there an offside prior to the “goal”?
• The referees say “bah mais non”.
• Bonne nuit, Montréal./

EOTP 3 Stars

3) This is step number one to becoming a hockey coach

2) No hassel on that Hoff shot

1) And he never played defence again