ELMONT | Stéphane Desmeules wanted to see a match as productive as the one won 9 to 3 on Tuesday against the Flyers. We could understand him being demanding. How can you not be when you get up at 4 a.m. to take a 10-hour bus ride from the Old Capital?
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Mr. Desmeules and his 199 fellow citizens had to be satisfied with five goals.
At least the beer was probably cheaper than at the Bell Centre. And it was the club of Patrick Roy, the guy from Quebec, who won. An overtime victory by a score of 3 to 2, courtesy of Kyle Palmieri.
Enough to satisfy all those who would have liked to see him behind the Canadian bench… and those who have never digested the departure of the Nordiques.
No, the Habs were not as lit as Tuesday. It must be said that the opponent was far from being so permissive. The Islanders are on a mission to maintain their hold on third place in the Metropolitan Division and it shows.
This sixth consecutive victory allows them to move within four points of possible exclusion from the series.
It goes tight
Contrary to what seems to be happening in the City of Brotherly Love, the current passes between Roy and his players. The implemented system took a few weeks to be fully assimilated. But everyone accepted it, even if it consisted first and foremost of tightening up the defensive game.
“He modified our system in the three zones,” argued Jean-Gabriel Pageau in the morning. He did it gradually. He didn’t come here screaming. He brought it all in a positive way. He always had confidence in us. »
This explains why the Canadian struggled to get close to Semyon Varlamov and was limited to 15 shots. It was the opposite for Samuel Montembeault, called upon to shine on several occasions out of the 34 he received.
Moreover, the Natural Stat Trick site compiled 21 high-quality scoring opportunities for the Islanders, compared to four for the Canadian.
Cole Caufield’s goal was the result of a rare breach in the home enclave.
Earlier, Jordan Harris had to draw a shot from the blue line. It is appropriate to highlight the work of Juraj Slafkosvky who, once again, had posted his big pussy in the field of vision of the Islanders goalie.
On the sequence, Nick Suzuki collected his 76th point of the season. This is the second most productive season for a Canadiens player in the last 26 years. Alex Kovalev, with 84 points in 2007-2008, still holds the prize.
The code for Gallagher
NHL players have long memories. Even though two and a half months had passed since the incident, each team had played around thirty games and Brendan Gallagher was suspended for five games, the Islanders had not forgotten the nudge that the forward of the Canadian had hit Adam Pelech in the face on January 25.
Pageau was given the mandate to right Gallagher’s wrongs. A featherweight fight without much spark.
As for Pelech, he will have to consider including a clause that removes him from any clash against the Habs. In the final moments of the second period, he took a hit from Michael Pezzetta right in the numbers.
This time the Islanders defender escaped with more fear than harm.