(Sunrise) Samuel Montembeault is not the type to make a Carey Price of himself, but that’s exactly what he did Thursday night when he left the ice.
The comparison mentioned here with ex-number 31 does not refer to a stopping of the mitt or the pads, but rather to a small surge of milk like Price could do on occasion.
This time, it was Montembeault who was in beautiful green joual. Because of the defeat, of course, but above all because of the manner. Because this is not the first time that his club has suffered this kind of defeat.
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Fortunately, the Quebec goalkeeper regained his usual calm in the locker room afterwards.
PHOTO SAM NAVARRO, USA TODAY SPORTS
Samuel Montembeault and Aleksander Barkov
It’s frustrating because we had the lead in the third period. We played really well, against a good team… but that’s a bit of a summary of our season: we didn’t get the favorable leaps.
Samuel Montembeault
This time, it was a goal from Sam Reinhart, also shorthanded, which began to sink the Canadian. At 3-3, we felt that the train of luck was leaving the station, and a little later, in a shootout, the Panthers were able to confirm this 4-3 victory with a goal from Anton Lundell .
Montembeault insisted on seeing the glass half full. “We are capable of playing against good teams,” he said. But it’s the kind of defeat that happens too often to clubs like this. If there were an advanced statistic on bad puck bounces, the Canadian would undoubtedly be at the top of that ranking.
PHOTO SAM NAVARRO, USA TODAY SPORTS
Brandon Montour (62) and Cole Caufield (22)
“We can say that that sums up our year pretty well,” reacted Nick Suzuki. We are in control of the match, we have a 3-2 lead, we get a numerical advantage, we miss a play, they find themselves in our zone, they score and they make it 3-3… But we are going to learn from that. We have young players here with us, and these are big matches for them, matches which will give them experience. »
Earlier in the day, while the Florida sun made us forget Quebec, the weather cocktails and the big hole on Notre-Dame Street, Martin St-Louis had explained, in essence, that the time had come to take notes for the not-so-distant future.
What he saw Thursday night at Sunrise is likely to give rise to optimism, in his opinion.
We played an excellent match. There’s not much you can’t like about it, other than the result. We are getting closer and closer to this team. Last year, they gave us volleys. This year, it’s been three times that we’ve reached the third period tied with them. We got a little closer…
Martin St-Louis, head coach of the Canadiens
This is what we will have to remember from this Thursday evening in Florida, from this Saturday evening which is coming a little further away, in Tampa, and from the other evenings too: there is hope. The Canadian is not yet close to the biggest trophy, but he is slowly moving in that direction. Will he ever get there? That’s another question for another time.
Furthermore, we should not forget this absolute truth, mentioned many times by the greatest philosophers of the puck: it can go one way or the other.
“In the previous match, we played poorly and we still got two points,” explained Cole Caufield. There, we play very well, but we lose the match in a shootout… That’s how hockey works sometimes. »
On the rise: Nick Suzuki
PHOTO SAM NAVARRO, USA TODAY SPORTS
Anthony Stolarz frustrates Nick Suzuki during the shootout.
With apologies to Mike Matheson, who was excellent, it’s hard to ignore another big night from the captain.
Down: Josh Anderson
PHOTO SAM NAVARRO, USA TODAY SPORTS
Matthew Tkachuk (19) and Josh Anderson (17)
In a game like this, a striker paid to produce must at least create chances, and he finished the game without a single shot on goal.
The number of the match
PHOTO SAM NAVARRO, USA TODAY SPORTS
Carter Verhaeghe (23) and Sam Reinhart (13)
3
Three players finished the game with three points: Nick Suzuki, Sam Reinhart and Aleksander Barkov.
In details
Big month of February for Suzuki
The Canadian played his 11th at Sunrise on Thursday eveninge and last match of the month, and we can say that Nick Suzuki had a big month of February. The center scored his team’s first goal and assisted on Juraj Slafkovsky’s goal late in the second period, then another on Alex Newhook’s goal later in the third. That gives him a total of 11 goals and 6 assists for 17 points in February. “I think I felt good the whole month,” explained the captain. I felt confident… but I must also say that I play with two good teammates. »
A 40e goal for Reinhart, then a 41e
It’s unclear whether Panthers management has set aside a mountain of greenbacks for Sam Reinhart, but it might be time to start saving. Because the 28-year-old striker is going to be expensive in his next visit to the increase table, and he took it upon himself to remind him once again on Thursday evening by achieving his 40e goal of the season, then his 41e, a very big shorthanded goal during the third period which allowed the Panthers to tie the game 3-3. Reinhart was in great shape Thursday night, and he ended the evening with an assist to go with his two goals.
Less blue-white-red in the stands
During the Christmas period, it’s often something like at least 50% of the arena at Sunrise that lines up behind the visitors from Montreal, but on this very hot Thursday evening here, the Quebec fans were much fewer in number. It’s nothing scientific, of course, but at a glance, the number of Quebecers was probably half of what it usually is during the holiday season. The club’s recent performances undoubtedly have something to do with it? All the same, we could hear “Go Habs Go!” » at a very high volume after the club’s third goal, that of Alex Newhook, at the start of the third period. The match was presented in front of a crowd of 18,918 spectators.