Canadian 2 – Golden Knights 3 (TB) | See you next time

(Las Vegas) Did the Canadian play his best match since the hiring of Martin St-Louis?

In formulating this hypothesis himself, the coach perhaps got a little carried away by enthusiasm, despite his men’s 3-2 shootout defeat against the Vegas Golden Knights. His team, however, certainly played their best match since the start of the season, which is already not bad, it seems to us.

After a so-so first period, the Habs have indeed shifted into second gear. During the last two engagements – excluding overtime – the Montrealers had the upper hand by 34 to 13 in terms of shot attempts at 5 on 5, and by 54 to 19 including special teams. Almost triple, yes.

Pour tout dire, les Chevaliers semblaient se demander ce qui leur arrivait, en troisième période. Ils ont toutefois repris vie en prolongation, mais se sont butés à un intraitable Samuel Montembeault – on y reviendra.

Après la sirène finale, St-Louis a donné « 30 secondes » à ses joueurs « pour se sentir mal de la défaite ». Car à ses yeux, l’heure n’était pas à l’apitoiement, au contraire.

« Je suis tellement fier… », a-t-il lancé aux journalistes après la rencontre, dans un rare accès d’émotivité, en public, à tout le moins.

« On essaie de ne pas regarder le résultat, de rester dans le processus, et c’est ce qu’on fait », a-t-il ajouté, avec néanmoins une pointe de déception dans la voix. « Je suis fier du groupe », a-t-il répété.

« En zone offensive, on était les premiers sur la rondelle et sur les retours, a analysé Samuel Montembeault. Tu vois qu’ils ont une bonne équipe, de l’autre côté, ils savent comment gagner des matchs. On a bien joué, il faut partir la tête haute. »

« Tout le monde a joué son rôle, a abondé Sean Monahan. On aurait aimé aller chercher le point supplémentaire, mais amorcer un voyage en forçant une période de prolongation, c’est un bon départ. »

« On a montré qu’on pouvait se battre contre n’importe qui », a ajouté Nick Suzuki.

Perdre en ayant livré une si belle performance, « c’est la vie, ça ; il n’y a rien de garanti », a conclu St-Louis. « Mais quand tu mets cet effort-là, tu te donnes tout le temps une bonne chance. »

Avec autant de bonheur dans l’air, gardons les points négatifs pour une autre journée.

Duel

Ce qui n’était pas un duel de gardiens en est devenu un quelque part en troisième période.

Adin Hill, qui avait donné un but en cadeau au CH au deuxième vingt (voir la capsule à ce sujet à la fin), a été mitraillé au dernier engagement. L’arrêt le plus spectaculaire revient toutefois à Montembeault qui, au détour d’un tir hors cible, a étendu la mitaine pour priver Jack Eichel d’un but, après que le joueur de centre se fut emparé du disque à l’embouchure du filet.

Le Québécois, toutefois, ne faisait que se réchauffer. Car une fois la prolongation amorcée, les locaux ont montré pourquoi ils trônent au premier rang du classement général de la LNH.

Le Canadien a certes eu quelques bonnes chances, notamment par le truchement de Kaiden Guhle à la suite d’une irrésistible accélération, mais ces cinq minutes-là ont surtout appartenu aux Knights.

Montembeault s’est particulièrement signalé en stoppant un lancer de punition d’Eichel. Ce dernier a par ailleurs été, et de loin, le meilleur attaquant des siens.

Il a ensuite privé Alex Pietrangelo d’un but quasi certain en plongeant à sa droite à la suite d’un deux contre un. Et il a encore frustré Eichel en tirs de barrage, cette fois en lisant bien la feinte de son opposant. Il aura fallu une feinte magistrale de Shea Theodore pour mettre fin à la joute.

« C’était un gros moment, a avoué le gardien à propos de son arrêt sur le lancer de punition. On a joué un bon match : évidemment que je ne voulais pas le laisser marquer ! […] I knew that[Eichel] has a quick throw, so I expected him to throw. ” Well seen.

Moreover, Montembeault especially tried to keep his concentration at a time when he did not see much action. As he himself pointed out, he received almost as many shots in overtime (6) as in the second and third periods combined (7).

“I think there were four minutes left in the second period when I got my first shot,” he noted. It’s sure it’s difficult, but I refocused between the second and third. I wanted to continue playing well to help the team get a victory. »

That will, unfortunately, be for next time. But with a collective performance like this, this next time could certainly be the one.

Rising

Nick Suzuki

The captain played a strong match, the 300^e of her career. His efforts were rewarded in the third period with the goal which tied the score at 2-2.

Falling

Mike Matheson

Clumsy in all situations, the defender did not seem to be in his right mood. One wonders if he has indeed recovered from the injury which caused him to miss the end of the previous match.

The number of the match

5

William Carrier’s goal, in the second period, when a CH penalty was announced, was already the fifth that the team had allowed this season in a 6 against 5 situation, that is to say with the opposing goalkeeper on the bench.

In details

Christmas in October

Did Adin Hill know it snowed in Montreal? Did he confuse Halloween and Christmas? We’ll never know. What we do know, however, is that he offered an invaluable gift to Sean Monahan and the Canadian. At the turn of a routine clearance while the Golden Knights were on the power play, the goaltender limply handed the puck to Monahan who was coming towards him – and again, the CH forward was not exactly rushing like a train. Realizing his blunder, Hill bet that his opponent would shoot immediately and threw himself onto the ice. Number 91, who saw others, simply watched the goalkeeper pass in front of him before shooting into an abandoned cage. We haven’t had time to review the previous 222 goals in Monahan’s career, but it’s certainly safe to assume that the 223^e was one of his easiest.

A connection that is sought

Far be it from us to look for lice, but if there is one element that continued to be lacking on Monday night, it was the connection between Cole Caufield and his teammates on the power play. Since the start of the season, we have tried without success to give the puck to number 22 in his favorite position, to the right of the goalie, so that he can shoot a quick shot, on reception or not. On several occasions against the Knights, Mike Matheson attempted this play, each time without success. Since the start of the campaign, Caufield has only scored once on the power play, and it was in the first game against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Since then, even taking a shot has been tedious: in nine games, he has so far drawn 21 times, but only 8 pucks have reached the goalkeeper.

No dungeon, but a dragon

Since arriving in the NHL in 2017, the Knights organization has never spared any expense in its pre-game celebrations. For six years, we have been following the adventures of a golden knight (obviously), placed in all sorts of more or less medieval, but always incredible, situations. For season 7, following a conquest of the Stanley Cup, we had to go further. Logically, our knight, played by a local actor, now faces a dragon projected onto the ice. The beast roared, and so did the crowd. It’s bright, it’s loud, it’s way too intense, so perfect. The best party of the league, and by far.