“Marty said it well. We have to see this as the last exam at school before summer. We want to win for Carey, Gerv and Flower. »
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Jordan Harris had shared the outline of Martin St-Louis’ speech for this 82nd and final game of the worst season in team history.
The Canadian wanted to offer a first victory this year to Carey Price, but also for Pierre Gervais and Alain Gagnon who were retiring after long careers with the team.
For a very rare time, the CH passed an examination by triumphing over the Florida Panthers 10 to 2, Friday, at the Bell Center.
Contrary to the strong trend where the team broke several mediocrity records, the Habs closed the 2021-2022 campaign with a high for goals in a single game.
Late in the game, fans chanted “Guy, Guy, Guy” after the tenth goal, scored by Tyler Pitlick. It was a nice nod to the Blond Demon. From high above, number 10 probably had a smile on his face.
“I think it’s crazy that we scored ten goals tonight, summed up Caufield. You can’t make this up. We did it for him. »
The CH had not scored 10 goals in the same game since December 2, 2017, a 10-1 victory against the Detroit Red Wings in Montreal.
Winners of the Presidents’ Trophy with a harvest of 122 points, the Panthers had nothing of a threat for this visit to Montreal. Andrew Brunette had chosen to rest his main guns in Jonathan Huberdeau, Aleksander Barkov, Claude Giroux and Sergeï Bobrovsky.
Three times Caufield
In his tenth NHL game, Harris scored his first goal. The 21-year-old defender set the tone for the game by beating Jonas Johansson early in the first half. Mike Hoffman, Cole Caufield and Brendan Gallagher followed with three more goals before the end of the opening period. At 4-0 after twelve minutes, we could already close the books.
Caufield ended on a high by scoring the first hat trick of his young career. Mathieu Perreault also took part in the celebration by scoring his fourth goal in the blue, white and red uniform. Perreault said he was aware he might play his last NHL game.
No idea
Price also breathed a sigh of relief. Two days after a routine visit to New York with his surgeon, number 31 didn’t need to test his knee too much. Thwarted six times in each of his two previous starts, Price played with confidence without needing to be prodigious. He will therefore leave for the long summer rest with his head a little more at peace.
St-Louis had used an interesting image in the matinee saying that Price was the one driving the bus. It was he who dictated its use if he so desired. But about his future, the head coach did nothing to dispel doubts.
“No idea,” he replied to a question asking if Price had just played his last NHL game.
The 34-year-old goaltender was making his 700th NHL start.
The CH (22-49-11) can boast of being the first team in NHL history to finish a season in 32nd place.
The Seattle Kraken managed to finish ahead of the Coyotes and the Canadiens.
Asked if he will stay behind the team bench next year, St-Louis offered a fairly clear answer.
“That’s my goal,” he replied with a smile.
First period
1-MON: Jordan Harris (1)(Evans) 1:57
2-MON: Mike Hoffman (15)(Savard) 4:18
3-MON: Cole Caufield (21)(Edmundson, Petry) 4:30
4-MON: Brendan Gallagher (7)(Perreault, Wideman) AN-12:23
5-FLO: Ben Chiarot (9)(Luostarinen, Heponiemi) AN-18:23
Penalties: Montour (Flo) 10:29, T Pitlick (Mon) 16:26
Second period
6-MON: Cole Caufield (22)(unassisted) 1:33
7-MON: Mathieu Perreault (4)(Dvorak, Anderson) 3:55
8-MON: Jake Evans (13)(R Pitlick, Gallagher) 6:08
9-MON: Christian Dvorak (11)(Anderson) 13:21
Penalties: Duclair (Flo) 8:00
Third period
10-MON: Cole Caufield (23)(Hoffman, Suzuki) 8:12
11-MON: Tyler Pitlick (1)(Pezzetta) 9:51
12-FLO: Noel Acciari (3)(Chiarot, Lomberg) 14:55
Penalties: none
Shoot to the net
FLORIDA 10 – 16 – 13 – 39 MONTREAL 11 – 16 – 10 – 37
Guardians:
FLO: Jonas Johansson (P, 3-4-1), MON: Carey Price (G, 1-4-0)
Numerical advantages:
FLO: 1 in 1, MON: 1 in 2
Referees:
Pierre Lambert, Brandon Blandina
Linesmen:
Michel Cormier, Jonathan Deschamps
ASSISTANCE:
21 105