2023-04-07 07:00:00
MONTREAL – The Canadian is still far from the final sprint desired by head coach Martin St-Louis. But after being guilty of two dismal false starts against the Carolina Hurricanes and the Detroit Red Wings which in turn shut him out – 3-0 and 6-0 – the Habs got up on Thursday.
A hat trick from Joel Armia – yes, you read that right – three assists from Mike Matheson and two goals scored as he ran out of minor penalties allowed the Canadian to not only beat (6-2) the Washington Capitals , but also make them look very bad.
“We were crawling instead of sprinting in our last games. Tonight, we started jogging,” head coach Martin St-Louis imagined after his team’s 31st win of the season; the 17th in 40 games played at the Bell Centre.
It will be interesting to see if Thursday’s victory will propel the Canadian at high speed towards the finish line. Or if he will fall back on his knees against the Leafs and the Islanders, which he will visit on Saturday in Toronto and Wednesday in New York, before closing the season at the Bell Center next Thursday against the Boston Bruins.
If it’s up to Mike Matheson, the Canadiens will pick up the pace over their last three games. Visibly frustrated by the recent failures against the “Canes” and the “Wings”, Matheson had promised that he would put all the gum to help his club end the year on a positive note.
He kept his promise: the Quebec defender was an accomplice to three of the Habs’ first four goals. He hit five of the eight shots he took. He also blocked four shots from the “Caps”. All this in 22 attendances totaling 25 min 45 s of usage time. A peak for both teams.
“I know games don’t mean anything for the standings anymore, but they still mean a lot to me. I consider myself lucky to be able to play at home in Montreal. I get a lot of playing time. I have the chance to evolve within the special teams. I have more responsibilities than I have ever had before. It’s fun and I don’t want to take anything for granted,” Matheson said after the game.
His first assist on Nick Suzuki’s goal that tied the game 1-1 on a breakaway early in the middle frame allowed Mike Matheson to tie his career high with 31 points.
He added two more.
“I’m not the type of guy to care about my personal stats. Sometimes you score and collect points when your overall performance is ordinary. Other times, you are cleared of the score sheet, but you know that you had a very good game”, that the defender pleaded.
Is it possible that Matheson scored a brace on Thursday against the “Caps”? That in addition to having collected three assists, that he also played a very solid game as his differential of plus 4 tends to show?
“I think so,” the back acquired from the Penguins last summer in return for Jeff Petry shyly admitted.
Mutual trust and respect
Both Mike Matheson and Martin St-Louis seem to be making the most of the coach-player relationship they’ve been developing since the start of the year.
“Mike is a very good acquisition for us. His work ethic goes above and beyond the normal framework. He is also very good at taking advantage of what is available to him during a game. He’s not the kind of guy who always goes there for a home run. But he knows how to take advantage of openings to regularly hit singles and doubles,” Martin St-Louis explained after the game.
With his phenomenal skating, his brilliant reading of the game and his quick decision-making, Matheson makes pushes like the one that allowed him to mystify the Capitals defense to get to goaltender Darcy Kuemper who had to make a very nice save to deprive him of a goal.
Matheson was also found wanting on four occasions by minor officials who charged him with four turnovers.
“Guys like Mike are going to do bad readings from time to time. But you have to give them leeway. I like a bad read better than no read,” the Habs head coach added in his analysis of the qualities of his defender.
Mike Matheson understood his coach’s message very well:
“I wouldn’t say it’s okay to make mistakes. And I don’t have the green light to push myself on the attack with each presence. But Martin is a head coach who focuses on working individually with his players. As a head coach, it’s easy to focus on the team. And there are a lot of things to think about. But of all the head coaches who have coached me, Martin is the most focused on individuals. About what you can do to improve yourself and incorporate that into the team’s game,” Matheson explained.
A strategy that seems to pay rich dividends in the case of the “West Island” defender.
Ovechkin and the ankylosed Caps
There is no question of minimizing the effort made by the Canadian on Thursday evening. Even less the conviction and cohesion displayed against the Capitals. A conviction and a cohesion that were greatly lacking during the last two shutout losses.
The remarkable return of Rafaël Harvey-Pinard seemed to energize the team. RHP hit a post shortly before the Canadian’s second goal in the second. In the final third, he blocked one of the rare shots fired by Alexander Ovechkin.
Not exactly the best of ideas for a guy who’s been sidelined for the last two games due to the many small and not so small ailments that plagued him.
“I won’t start changing my style of play. Blocking pucks is one of the things I have to do to keep my place with the big club. Plus, I like blocking pucks. I like to see the effect it gives as my teammates get up on the bench to point out those blocked shots. In addition, this time the puck hit a well-padded portion of the equipment. It didn’t hurt,” which RHP commented.
Nick Suzuki also continued to set the tone. It is also important to highlight the explosive contribution in attack from Joel Armia who scored three times – the Finn scored five of his seven goals in two games – not to mention that some solid saves from Samuel Montembeault allowed the Canadian to maintain a lead. comfortable over the last 40 minutes of play.
That said, the Capitals who showed up on the Bell Center ice Thursday looked nothing like the brilliant team that lifted the Stanley Cup five years ago. Visibly stiff from their first playoff exclusion in nine years, the “Caps” seemed paralyzed. They seemed totally disinterested.
“We need a lot more than what the team gave tonight,” head coach Peter Laviolette admitted after the discomfiture of his club, which nevertheless offered the first goal of the game.
Despite being the captain, Alexander Ovechkin stayed as far away from reporters after the game as he had been from the action during the game.
Ovechkin spent more time standing still on the ice watching the game revolve around him than getting involved.
With 42 goals to his name, Ovechkin could however find a source of motivation by aiming for a tenth campaign of 50 goals and more. A feat never before achieved in the NHL.
But Thursday, the only motivation that seemed to animate the great Ovie was to return to Washington as quickly as possible.
Too bad for the supporters of the “Caps” who had to wait until April 6 to attend the first visit of their favorite to the Bell Center this season.
Between the lines
Nick Suzuki and Joel Armia allowed the Canadian to score his 5th and 6th shorthanded goals of the season. Suzuki has two on its record. The first was scored on October 20 at the Bell Center in a 6-2 win over the Arizona Coyotes…
With a goal and an assist on Thursday, Nick Suzuki has 24 goals and 63 points. It was also his 19th two-plus-point game this season…
The 6-2 win over the Caps was only the Canadiens’ fifth this season (5-13-0) in the 18 games that ended with a difference of four or more goals…
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