The simple return to the Bell Center was not enough to allow the Canadiens to find the path of victory, but the head coach, Martin St-Louis, believes that his troops have at least taken a step in the right direction.
Chris Kreider scored shorthanded in the second period, Jaroslav Halak stopped 17 shots and the New York Rangers beat Montreal 4-1 on Thursday night.
The Habs were playing their first home game since December 17. He compiled a 1-5-1 record during his time away from the holiday season.
“Our defensive game has been much better. We didn’t give the Rangers many chances in the first period and throughout the game,” St-Louis said. Compared to the last games, it was a big improvement. »
The Canadian did not give up in the third period on Thursday, despite a three-goal deficit. Joel Armia even scored a first goal since April 11, ending a 29-game drought.
“It starts from the game in our area. The guys knew that we had found each other a little, mentioned St-Louis. We didn’t win, but we found ourselves as a team after getting lost during the trip. It’s a good sign for what’s to come. »
Braden Schneider and Filip Chytil, twice, also scored for Rangers (22-12-6), who won a third game in a row.
Jake Allen stopped 28 shots in front of the net for the Canadian (15-21-3), who lost his last seven games (0-6-1).
Forward Brendan Gallagher missed the game with the same lower-body injury that plagued him for most of December. Mike Hoffman and Justin Barron were also left out. Armia, Evgenii Dadonov and Johnathan Kovacevic have been inserted into the line-up.
The Canadiens will host the St. Louis Blues on Saturday night at the Bell Centre.
A few minutes are enough
Both teams played it safe early in the game and scoring opportunities were rare.
Dadonov fired the first shot on goal for the Canadian after 16:52 of play.
The game came alive in the second half. Kreider opened the scoring shorthanded 7:43 into the game on a breakaway.
Jonathan Drouin came close to scoring his first goal in more than a year in a two-on-one attack, but he hit the post. Seconds later, Schneider made it 2-0, surprising Allen from the top of the slot at 12:28.
Rangers came back 59 seconds later. This time, Allen couldn’t help it as Chytil’s shot deflected off Nick Suzuki before surprising him.
Jake Evans missed a great opportunity to revive the Canadian before the end of the second period. He was, however, unable to push the puck into a gaping cage after a shot from David Savard changed direction.
The Canadian had given the impression of giving up in the third period during the four defeats after the Christmas break. This was not the case on Thursday.
The local players multiplied the attacks in the third period. After a few unsuccessful bouts, Armia deprived Halak of a shutout by beating him with 5:41 remaining on the clock.
The 29-year-old Finn then reached the post with just under three minutes to go, coming close to making the end of the game a bit more interesting.
Chytil restored Rangers’ three-goal cushion by scoring into an empty-netter with 70 seconds left.
Locker Room Echoes
Jake Allen believes that the Canadian can take positives from the meeting, despite the loss.
“It’s been a long journey and a lot could be said about it. We strayed from our game plan and the teams pushed us around. We had a good meeting this morning. Yes, a defeat is a defeat. But we played better. Passing was better. It was a step in the right direction. »
Nick Suzuki believes the Canadian had a good start to the game, despite the few shots.
“It was possibly our best start in quite a while. We spent time in the opposition zone and created chances. They blocked a few shots and we were imprecise a few times. The number of shots doesn’t tell the whole story. Yes, we want more pucks at the net, but we also wanted a good start and that’s what we achieved. »
Jake Evans insisted that the atmosphere is much better within the team than a year ago, even if the Canadian goes through a series of similar defeats.
“I don’t think the atmosphere in the locker room or in training is comparable. Maybe the results are similar, but everyone is working in hopes of sorting things out. We have proven that we can be a good team. We hope to be back on the path to victory soon. »