One of the common threads for the Montreal Canadiens this season has been their goaltenders absolutely stealing games. Samuel Montembeault, Cayden Primeau, and Jake Allen have all had wins that could be considered as outright robberies. Coming up against an Avalanche squad sitting near the top of the Western Conference, Monday night felt like it might have to be one of those nights.
Jake Allen played a perfectly cromulent game in nets, but the Habs actually stole a win this time as a team.
Though the Habs were out-attempted 84-47 in all situations, the shot clock read a very respectable 35-34 in the Avalanche’s favour by the end of the game. Montreal spent a lot of time in their own zone in that game, but played much better defensively than we’re accustomed to seeing.
They blocked a total of 25 shots in the game, and without their ability to get into shooting lanes, Jake Allen may have had to face 50 shots instead of 35. Kaiden Guhle and David Savard had 10 blocks just between the two of them, and Rafaël Harvey-Pinard even executed one with a, let’s say, less than ideal part of his body.
They were willing to pay a price for that win. None of this should be considered a slight against Allen, as he played a solid game. He did enough to give his team a chance to win, and they did enough in front of him to make sure he didn’t have to stand on his head all the time. It was nice to see them support their goaltender well for once, instead of praying that he can do enough on his own.
With key offensive performances from Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, and Juraj Slafkovsky, as well as some depth scoring from Harvey-Pinard and Joel Armia, they had enough at the other end. Allowing over 80 shot attempts and being out-possessed is certainly not ideal, but it is easier to forgive when they played solid defensive hockey, and still managed to find time to produce offensively.
It may not be a game script they’ll want to repeat regularly, but it was good to see them steal a game as a team, instead of over-relying on their goaltender.
Click the play button below to listen to your full Bottom Six Minutes, also available wherever you get your podcasts. We’ll be back after this Wednesday’s meeting with the New Jersey Devils.
