The day had started badly for Martin St-Louis and his troops. The announcement of Cole Caufield’s package for the rest of the season was greeted with difficulty by his teammates. How was that going to translate, in the evening with the visit of the Maple Leafs?
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Obviously, in the absence of his best sniper, we did not give a lot of the Canadian’s skin. When Samuel Montembeault, who got his seventh straight start, gave in on the first shot of the game, we were expecting a long evening. Finally, the 21,105 spectators present at the Bell Center were treated to quite a show. Both those of the Canadian and those who came to encourage the Torontonians.
But in the end, it was those dressed in red who had the most fun. Rem Pitlick, with his third of the season, gave the Canadiens a 3-2 win by beating Ilya Samsonov in the top corner in overtime.
“Having the crowd like that on a Saturday night against the Maple Leafs is really cool,” said the game-winning goal scorer. It was quite a pass from Hoff (Mike Hoffman). He saw me coming at full speed. »
This goal crowned a great comeback from the locals. Down 2 to 0 after 20 one-sided minutes, the Montrealers showed up in the game.
“Usually Martin is always positive and he sees the bright side of things. But tonight at the first intermission he told us it was a bad time and if we wanted to win the game it had to be the worst,” revealed Pitlick.
Before number 32, Josh Anderson and Rafael Harvey-Pinard had given the reply for the Canadian. It was Arvida’s first pride goal in Montreal. Last year, he moved the ropes in Tampa.
Not of the same caliber
Speaking of Harvey-Pinard, the trio he often formed with Michael Pezzetta and Alex Belzile did quite a job. Even when confronted with that of Auston Matthews.
“The key is not giving them time or space anywhere on the ice. As soon as they have too much space, they become dangerous. We did a good job everyone together,” Belzile said.
In light of these remarks, one can argue that hard work and emotion were the ingredients of this victory. Especially considering that the Leafs are apparently a Stanley Cup contender, while the Habs, who were betting on several replacements, are more in the Connor Bedard lottery.
“I had a lot more emotions during the match than during the day. It’s part of the game, said St-Louis. You have to stay calm as a leader. You have to keep moving forward. We want to build a train. There are guys who will go out and come in. Those in the train must take care of the train. »
Team work
With 36 saves, Montembeault recorded his 10th victory of the season, a third in his last four outings. After giving in to Mark Giordano on the first shot he received, he was virtually invincible.
There could be nothing about that of Calle Jarnkrok, hidden behind the Bécancour goalkeeper’s five teammates.
“We didn’t have the best start to the game. The more the meeting progressed, the better I felt. In the third period, while shorthanded, the guys blocked some big shots. It’s teamwork. »
Montembeault’s teammates blocked 23 shots. Six were by David Savard.
What we noticed
Premier match pour Alex Belzile
Recalled to make up for the absence of Cole Caufield. Alex Belzile was playing his first NHL game of the season. The Rocket captain saw 10 mins 35s of playing time. He picked up an assist on Rafael Harvey-Pinard’s goal. It was the second point of his career in 14 NHL games. He is still looking for his first goal.
Suzuki in Caufield space
Due to the injury to his scoring ace, Martin St-Louis had no choice but to rework the first wave of his massive attack. It was Nick Suzuki who occupied the space in the face-off circle located to the right of the opposing goalkeeper. Evgenii Dadonov and Mike Hoffman had obtained a promotion within this unit.
Busy evening
Speaking of Suzuki. He spent more than 25 minutes (25 mins 39s) on the playing surface. A busy evening for a striker. He added a point to his record, but experienced his share of trouble in the face-off circle (6 in 19, 32%). David Kampf particularly gave him a hard time by having the best six out of nine times.
One more point for Marner
By being an accomplice to the goal of Calle Jarnkrok, Mitch Marner collected at least one point in an 18th game (out of 23) on opposing rinks. Since the start of the season, he has only been cleared from the score sheet in six games (only one at home).
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Sam Montembeault
Without his prowess during the first twenty, the Canadian would have quickly been taken out of the game. In the first 20 minutes of play, he faced 15 shots. The third was also quite busy with a barrage of 14 pitches.
The Leafs
A lot of talent, very little fighting spirit. That describes the Maple Leafs well. Yes, the visitors directed 38 shots on net but few forwards showed up in the sore spots. They sat on their two-goal lead and had a trick played on them.