The Montreal Canadiens were once again manhandled on Saturday at the Bell Center, he who went under the steamroller represented by the Edmonton Oilers. The Alberta squad easily won 7-2.
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The visitors began the ordeal of the home team by shaking the ropes three times in less than two minutes in the first period.
A member of the Oilers since Thursday, forward Evander Kane hasn’t taken long to make friends on his new team. Placed in front of Samuel Montembeault’s net, he redirected a shot from Evan Bouchard to score for the first time with his new formation and for the first time this season.
Just 87 seconds later, Zach Hyman added to the lead, while Leon Draisaitl returned 20 seconds after Hyman’s success.
The Oilers also hit the target three times in the second period. Hyman and Draisaitl each flashed the red light a second time, while Nugent-Hopkins provided the other net.
Montembeault was the main victim of the Oilers, he who gave up six times on 16 shots in just 40 minutes of play. He was replaced by Cayden Primeau in the third period, he who allowed a goal, scored by Derek Ryan, on eight shots.
MARTIN ALARIE / MONTREAL JOURNAL
Another disastrous streak
A regular in unsuccessful streaks this season, the Canadian is going through another rather dark passage of his difficult season. Dominique Ducharme’s men suffered a fifth loss in a row.
Against the Oilers, their only moments of celebration came in the second period. Josh Anderson had given hope to his people by reducing the gap to 3 to 1 at the start of the period. Tyler Toffoli, on the power play, also beat goaltender Stuart Skinner, more than 11 minutes after Anderson, but the Oilers had hit the target twice in the meantime.
Skinner ultimately made 21 parries in the victory.
The last team in the National League standings will have to quickly put aside this setback and focus on its next opponents, the Columbus Blue Jackets, who will be visiting the Quebec metropolis on Sunday.