First period
- It’s great to hear Harnarayan Singh calling a Canadiens game on Sportsnet.
- And look at that, Patrik Laine is in the lineup after all.
- The got got all amped up for a Lane Hutson rush and he dumped it into the corner. you could feel their disappointment.
- A little bit sloppy to start tonight. Samuel Montembeault has already had to make a couple of saves.
- Josh Anderson sends Thomas Harley horizontal along the board with a loud hit.
- The Lane & Laine fivesome spends a full shift in the offensive zone with a couple of looks.
- That has the Canadiens playing better now.
- It looks like we’re in for a high-event game tonight. Both teams are playing with pace.
- A couple of periods in a row now that Juraj Slafkovský has put his team under duress by trying to rag the puck back into his zone instead of just chipping it out at the end of defensive-zone shift.
- Josh Anderson makes very light contact on Dumba after the whistle on an icing, and Dumba comes up swinging. Anderson answers back, and somehow ends up with a double-minor for roughing. I don’t understand that call at all.
- Montreal did very well at killing off the penalty, the extra two served by Cole Caufield.
- The ice doesn’t look very good at the Bell Centre tonight. There must have been a recent event there that melted it.
- Dallas is up to 12 shots through 11 minutes already. That has been a two-period total against the Canadiens recently. Just a different type of game they have to play tonight.
- Hutson makes three dekes in about half a second to get out of his zone with possession. That’s what the crowd came here to see.
- Mavrik Bourque attempts to wrap the puck around the back of the net and in. Montembeault’s legs are too quick for that.
- Shots end uo 17-7 for Dallas. Montreal will need to make some adjustments in the second period.
- Credit to the Stars for coming to play in this game. I thought they might take the Habs lightly and leave an opening at the start. It’s also a testament to Montreal’s recent play that opposing clubs know they need their be at their best now.
Second period
- The top line has a good shift to start, even if the passes were just a bit off.
- A much better style of play from Montreal in the first four minutes.
- A quick counter leads a close-range shot from former Canadien Evgenii Dadonov, and another big save from Montembeault, his first of the period at the five-minute mark.
- The top line is looking very good now.
- Laine caps off a shift on which he held possession for about 20 seconds by loading up his shoulder and stapling Oskar Back to the side glass.
- Brendan Gallagher gets cross-checked down by Dumba along the boards, and the Canadiens will get their first power play of the game. And that means it’s Laine time.
- The power play only lasts for 30 seconds … until Dallas trips up Cole Caufield to make it five-on-three.
- All it took was one shot for Laine to get back on the scoresheet.
- It has to be slightly embarrassing for him how easy those goals are coming.
- Ilya Lyubushkin tries to fire the puck down the ice on the centre-ice faceoff, right of the leg of the linesman. He’s forced to leave the game.
- A rare bad pinch by Alexandre Carrier results in a three-on-two against. Jamie Benn keeps the puck and scores.
- Montembeault makes one more big save. The game is tied after two periods, while shots are a lot more even as well.
Third period
- I am a big fan of how the Canadiens now approach developing rushes for the opponent by just attacking the puck-carrier. Don’t let a three-on-two develop if you can snuff it out before it begins.
- Montembeault kicks a soft dump-in right to an onrushing Stars forward. The puck ends up going just wide of the net.
- A very strong shift from Joel Armia sees him fighting off a couple of forecheckers as he carries the puck up the ice. It eventually leads to a slashing call on Dallas.
- The top line doesn’t generate much, but Kirby Dach drives down the wall for a chance at the top of the crease that Oettinger has to be sharp on.
- A brief flurry from the Stars needs three difficult saves from Montembeault.
- The crowd chants “Monty!” as he makes a few more good saves. Montreal is holding the possession, but Dallas keeps getting quick shots in transition.
- Fatigue is likely becoming a factor in the final quarter of this game.
- It’s definitely a factor now with eight minutes to play. Montreal is barely moving. and not just because they’re literally skating in slush.
- The team could use the energy of a “Go Habs Go!” chant right about now.
- The top line gets Montreal’s first real pressure of the last 10 minutes.
- Montreal has somehow found a second win in the final four minutes, keeping the puck in Dallas’s zone.
- There’s the “Go Habs Go!” chant. I think the crowd now feels there’s a chance for a late winner.
- That’s a very hard-fought point, ensuring at least three from this set.
- Can they get one last burst of energy to turn it into two?
Overtime
- Dvorak comes out to lose the centre-ice faceoff, and I’m not a fan of that move.
- Caufield fires the puck off the far post. That close.
- Laine gets hooked trying to go on an end-of-shift breakaway. He sold that one a bit, and the ref wasn’t buying.
- Lots of end-to-end chances for both teams. This is what three-on-three is supposed to look like.
- Suzuki and Caufield can’t find a lane to get a pass through, and time expires on the OT.
Shootout
- Laine gets shut down by Oettinger on the first shot.
- Jason Robertson sends an easy wrister to the top corner to give his team the advantage.
- Caufield hits the inside of Oettinger’s knee trying to go five-hole and the puck stays out.
- Wyatt Johnston hits the post, so the Habs still have a chance.
- Suzuki can’t beat Oettinger, and the Habs will fall in this one.
- The crowd doesn’t need to be as silent as it is after that effort and their recent sequence. Quite disappointing actually.
- The good news is the Canadiens are now halfway through their season complement of back-to-back sets….
EOTP 3 Stars
3) Another level of analysis
2) His feet can even defend!
1) They keep them in a glass cage for a reason
