First period
- Two quick shots by Montreal. They’re regularly putting good starts together now.
- A rough shift for Mike Matheson starts with him handing the puck to Alex DeBrincat, then snapping his stick on a slash on the next entry.
- The penalty is killed, but Joe Veleno scores seconds later. David Savard left his man at the post to try to block the shot, and his man was the one who scored.
- Jeff Petry tries to slow Patrik Laine down after a dump-in, and Laine decides he can turn that into a power play with a little pirouette.
- Laine blasts Moritz Seider’s stick in half once again, but this puck goes into the wrong netting.
- Now Laine breaks his own stick and moves the fastest we’ve seen in his time in Montreal to get back to the bench for a new one.
- Back on the ice, he sends a great pass the full width of the zone to Cole Caufield for a chance. He can do more than just shoot.
- A bit of back-and-forth play, then suddenly a goal for the top line. Nick Suzuki picks the puck off, Cole Caufield gets the entry, spins to give the puck to Lane Hutson, Hutson finds Suzuki, and Juraj Slafkovský tips the captain’s shot.
Juraj Slafkovsky tips home a Nick Suzuki shot Habs on the board against Detroit!
— Scott Matla (@scottmatla.bsky.social) December 21, 2024 at 8:43 PM
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- Not even a point for Caufield even though he touched the puck two seconds before it went in the net.
- Jake Evans joins in on the party. He moves around his man then beats Alex Lyon clean from the slot.
Jake Evans strikes again and makes it 2-1 Habs!
— Scott Matla (@scottmatla.bsky.social) December 21, 2024 at 8:47 PM
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- Alexandre Carrier gets a secondary assist on the goal.
- Dylan Larkin got greedy trying to turn what was already a two-on-one into a three-on-one, and ends up in the box for interference instead. Garry Galley is very upset.
- Laine tries to pass the puck to Slafkovský at the side of the net and it deflects in.
Patrik Laine cannot stop scoring power play goals! 3-1 Habs
— Scott Matla (@scottmatla.bsky.social) December 21, 2024 at 8:54 PM
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- He scores power-play goals even when he’s not trying to. Galley is irate.
- Armia hits the post. Montreal gets another shot. They horn sounds, and that might be all that prevented a fourth.
- A sour Galley puts all the credit for that offensive display on Montreal’s special teams.
Second period
- A smart play by Carrier to fill the outlet lane along the boards leads to a quick counter-attack for Montreal. He’s looked quite good in his four periods and a shift.
- Laine tried to drag the puck around and into the slot for a chance, but it was just reached by Erik Gustafsson to break up a point-blank shot.
- Emil Heineman kind of fans on his shot from the slot but it had enough pace and accuracy to slide just inside the post.
Emil Heineman rips it low post and in on Alex Lyon Habs up 4-1
— Scott Matla (@scottmatla.bsky.social) December 21, 2024 at 9:19 PM
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- I don’t know why Montreal gets another power play, but they do. I guess even these refs like Laine goals. Galley was sure that was going to Hutson.
- I think Vladimir Tarasenko actually tripped on the back of the net and went down, and Guhle had nothing to do with, but we won’t complain after that last call for the Habs. Plus we might get an Evans short-handed goal anyway.
- Kirby Dach can’t even dump the puck in now without it going over the glass. Maybe he needs a less-aggressive curve on his blade?
- Montreal’s top line just kept Red Wings heads spinning for about 80 seconds with passes to all corner of the offensive zone.
- Josh Anderson makes an excellent drop-pass to Brendan Gallagher following a zone entry, and Gallagher scores from the top of the circle. That might be the farthest from which he’s ever scored a goal.
Brendan Gallagher with a drop-pass slapshot snipe is quite a sentence Habs up 5-1
— Scott Matla (@scottmatla.bsky.social) December 21, 2024 at 9:37 PM
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- Tarasenko missed a drop-pass to his teammate. He’s no Josh Anderson.
- Detroit gets its 13th shot on target with three minutes to play. At this rate, Montembeault could play for the Canucks in the late game.
- Heineman goes to the box for holding, so there might be a few more shots here.
- Montreal is playing keepaway and the Red Wings don’t seem to care.
- The players get a nice ovation from the crowd at the end of that period. They get 20 more minutes to put on a show for the Montreal fans before hitting the road.
Third period
- Montembeault gets a little too casual while playing the puck and almost sets up a chance for Detroit. That should instantly refocus him for the final 17 minutes.
- Evans tries to put the game on ice by driving the puck right into the net, but he crashes into the post. Fortunately, enough things moved between the post and his hand to avoid an injury it looks like. He did get hooked, so that means another (probably Laine-less) power play.
- Laine is on the ice. Martin St-Louis clearly isn’t fully convinced this four-goal lead is enough.
- Not many shots, but I think they connected 50 consecutive passes. Perfectly fine to kill off two minutes there. Laine didn’t really want to shoot the puck anyway.
- Detroit is actually trying to defend a bit now, but still can’t gain possession of the puck. Montreal is playing very well with the lead.
- Laine blocks a shot and the bench erupts.
- The fans don’t really know how to react to a zero-stress final period. They’re just awaiting the final whistle it seems. It’s weird not to have a stressful finish.
- Dach hooks his man in the offensive zone. I don’t know why.
- Evans draws a call while killing a penalty. He’s a short-handed superstar.
- Another two minutes of keepaway upcoming?
- It’s the second unit, so no. Even with all the power-play goals Laine has, he’s been purposely denied a few chances in the past few games.
- Montreal will win this one 5-1 It’s a three-game winning streak as they leave another division rival in their wave.
EOTP 3 Stars
3) Maybe he’s Detroit’s answer to salvage its season
2) Impressive stats
1) Context is important.
