The Montreal Canadiens once again stormed back into a game they seemed completely out of on Saturday night. Falling down 3-0 in the first period, a late-period goal and a very strong third period allowed them to take the Detroit Red Wings into overtime. unfortunately, they were hardly able to touch the puck in the extra frame, squandering an epic comeback with a lackluster overtime effort.
A big part of the comeback was Joel Armia, who has been playing some inspired hockey this season in both the NHL and AHL.
This shorthanded goal was massive in the comeback effort, particularly since Detroit would score on the remaining power play anyways. This was reminiscent of his early days with the Canadiens, when he’d often be able to steal pucks and head the other way in transition. For a team that has been struggling mightily with its special teams, more of this type of play would be a massive benefit.
It wasn’t just excellent special teams from him in that game, as he led the team with five shots on goal, and earned a promotion in the lineup due to how strong his five-on-five play was. The Canadiens had an expected goals-for of 67.36% when Armia was on the ice, good enough that Martin St-louis put him on the top line with Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki in the third period.
Armia’s problem in recent years, however, has been consistency, or lack thereof. If his play is ever going to result in him generating interest from other teams, even as a waiver wire pickup, he’ll need to show that games like this are more than an anomaly. So far this season, he’s looked too good for the AHL in his time there, and has been better than most would expect in his NHL action. His contract is going to be a very tough one to convince another team to take, but if he can achieve some sort of consistency, there is always a possibility that Kent Hughes can pull off some magic.
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