Overcoming four separate one-goal deficits in a single night, the Montreal Canadiens scratched and clawed their way to overtime against the New York Rangers. Once there, some clutch play from Kaiden Guhle and Patrik Laine ended it, giving the Habs a much needed win on the heels of their disappointment versus the Leafs on Saturday. With the win, they once again find themselves a mere point out of a playoff spot as of this writing.
They probably don’t get to that overtime period without their top line, who were the best trio on the ice for that game.
Lane Hutson with a great activation in transition, gets it to Cole Caufield, and Juraj Slafkovsky just muscles his way to the rebound. #Habs tie it up at four. pic.twitter.com/2BVnoFk6he
— Matt Drake (@DrakeMT) January 20, 2025
This goal was massive, because Jonathan Quick had been frustrating the Habs all night, and particularly so since the Rangers went up 4-3. Juraj Slafkovsky has been a more imposing physical figure of late, and he used his frame here to win and keep position while chasing a rebound. They needed a goal exactly like this with how Quick was playing, and the top line delivered it.
Nick Suzuki also contributed on a solo effort that tied the game at three in the second period. All of their scoring was done at even strength, and if not for the aforementioned Quick, they probably would have had a few on the power play as well.
The ice was tilted in Montreal’s favour when they were out there. At even strength, shots were 10-3, scoring chances were 13-3, and high-danger chances were 5-0. Most of the other forward lines played pretty evenly to their counterparts, but the top line for the Habs was stellar. This is precisely what you want from your big guns when you need a win, and you have the advantage of last change. You want them to impose themselves, and that is exactly what they did against the Rangers.
Now, this isn’t to say the supporting cast was unimportant – Brendan Gallagher was named first star of the night at the Bell Centre for a reason. It took a very resilient team effort to keep coming back in that game, but it was nice to see the Habs’ top line be the best trio on the ice for either team by a fair margin.
The Habs are no longer a one-line team, which is beyond wonderful to see. Still, you want that one line to be able to go out and dominate from time to time, so it’s nice to know that they’re quite capable of it.
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