Martin St-Louis remains happy with the overall game of the Canadian, even if his troop had to try another comeback, Tuesday at the Bell Center.
The Arizona Coyotes scored four goals on seven shots in the first period and beat Montreal 6-3.
The Habs had managed to come from behind in their last two outings, snatching a point from the Seattle Kraken and beating the Philadelphia Flyers in overtime.
“I think we played well in the last three games, insisted St-Louis. We deserved better tonight. I think we deserved what we deserved in Philadelphia, but we had to go for the win. And against Seattle, if we win the shootout, nobody talks about it. »
“So I’m happy with the way my team is playing. Like I say, you don’t know if you’re always going to score goals or have key saves. But overall, I’m very happy with the way we’re playing. »
On Tuesday, the Canadian’s attempt to come back was stopped in time by goalkeeper Karel Vejmelka, author of 36 saves. The Coyotes thus had the best in a duel between two teams in the bottom of the general classification of the NHL.
“We were losing after the first period, but I think they didn’t have a shot for 10 or 12 minutes. We had very good times, recalled St-Louis. But it’s difficult to start from the back like that. »
” We fought. We won the second period. And even in the third period, we got a lot of chances, but the puck didn’t go our way today. »
Cole Caufield scored twice for the Canadian (16-36-8), while Laurent Dauphin was also credited with a goal. Joel Armia and Jeff Petry each had two assists.
Samuel Montembeault, who was making his fifth straight start, allowed the Coyotes all four goals in the first period. Cayden Primeau took over after the break and stopped 10 of 11 shots he faced.
Lawson Crouse and Clayton Keller each had a goal and an assist, while Nick Schmaltz, Nick Ritchie, Barrett Hayton and Anton Stralman also scored for the Coyotes (20-36-4). André Tourigny’s men have won six of their last seven games.
Forwards Josh Anderson (lower body) and Ryan Poehling (upper body), as well as defender Ben Chiarot (preventive measure) had been removed from the Canadiens’ lineup. Artturi Lehkonen, Mathieu Perreault and Joel Edmundson replaced them.
The Canadiens will play their next game on Thursday, when the Dallas Stars will be visitors at the Bell Centre.
The damage is done
The game got off to a bad start for the Canadian, as the Coyotes scored two goals in the first 3:52 of play.
Hayton first opened the scoring after 1:57 of play, beating Montembeault between the pads after Petry gave him all the space along the left wing.
Stralman returned to the charge 1:55 later, taking advantage of a snap from Riley Nash to the front of the net and ineffective coverage from Petry.
Between the two Coyotes goals, Perreault found himself on the breakaway, but he came up against Vejmelka.
The Canadian quietly took control of the game and played luck at 13:38, when a bouncing puck after a Dauphin shot was accidentally pushed into the Coyotes’ net by Matias Maccelli.
The Coyotes cut off the Canadiens’ momentum by scoring two more goals before the end of the first period. Ritchie deflected a pass from Alex Galchenyuk into the back of the net just after the power play ended at 18:34. Then, Crouse scored on the breakaway with 10.4 seconds left in the period.
Artturi Lehkonen came close to scoring early in the second period for the Canadian, but his shot hit the post.
The two teams traded chances on a four-on-four stretch, then Keller made it 5-1 for the Coyotes with 2:11 left on the power play.
Caufield rekindled the hopes of Canadiens fans by scoring two goals in an interval of eight seconds before the end of the second period. He first beat Vejmelka on the shield side on the power play with 1:13 left in the period. Caufield then beat Vejmelka to the mitt side in a one-on-one streak.
The Canadian applied pressure in the third period, but he came up against Vejmelka. The latter also played luck with about 1:30 to go, when Perreault hit the post on a return.
Schmaltz calmed the ardor of the Habs by scoring in an empty net with 4:18 to go on the clock.
Locker Room Echoes
Brendan Gallagher noted that a few errors sank the Canadian early in the game.
“We certainly made mistakes, but I think the result is mainly because their goalkeeper was very good. We weren’t able to work harder than him. But overall, I don’t have the impression that we are experiencing a slowdown. I believe we continue to play good hockey. »
Cole Caufield has now scored 10 goals and nine assists in 15 games since the arrival of Martin St-Louis behind the bench, after a very difficult start to the season.
“It’s part of hockey, you’re going to go through ups and downs, but you have to do everything to get through it. Fortunately, there are veterans you can turn to for help. When the puck comes in, you definitely feel better, but you shouldn’t get your head blown over it. »
Paul Byron believes it’s important for players to ignore the distractions surrounding the approaching trade deadline next Monday.
“Every year there are sellers and buyers. For the guys who could be traded, it can be difficult, but for the others, they have to focus on the games and try to play the best they can. »