Losers of two straight, the Montreal Canadiens returned home from a three-game road trip on Tuesday night to take on the New York Islanders. Overcoming a very rough second period thanks to some solid goaltending from Samuel Montembeault, the Habs managed to get the game to overtime, where their captain would end the losing streak by following up on his own rebound.
But the story of the night was that of Patrik Laine, who scored, and received a hero’s welcome in his first game at the Bell Centre.
The power play was one of the areas that most fans and pundits had predicted he’d be a huge help this season. The opposition has mostly been able to focus their energy on defending Cole Caufield’s shot, and while he’s managed to get his licks in anyways, the addition of another weapon should only open things up. As evidenced by Laine’s snipe on Tuesday, his shot is still very much the threat that everyone had hoped it would be.
He was named the first star of the night after the game, and received yet another ovation when he had his on-ice interview with RDS. After the game, he was flabbergasted by the reaction that he received from the Bell Centre crowd.
He needed this, and I think the team and its fans did as well. When he went down with that pre-season injury, it felt like a significant portion of the energy and excitement around this season just evaporated in an instant. Playoffs were always a pipe dream at best, but with Laine the expectation was that we’d see a more competitive team – one capable of offering up exciting, close games, win or lose. That hasn’t really been the case in a lot of games through the first quarter.
After about a calendar year on the shelf, nobody can expect Laine to magically make this team good. But if that hero’s welcome should tell us anything, it’s that this fan base is looking for any reason to get excited.
If the team can come together and keep playing exciting hockey from here out, that should be enough.
Click the play button below to listen to your full Bottom Six Minutes, also available wherever you get your podcasts. We’ll be back when the Habs’ home stand continues on Thursday night against the Nashville Predators.
