Canadian 3-Devils 2 | Good veterans

(Newark) Here we are in New York Tuesday evening, on the eve of a duel between the Canadian and the Devils. David Savard, Samuel Montembeault and Rafaël Harvey-Pinard leave for dinner, dragging the new kid, Joshua Roy, with them. They end up in a chic steak and seafood restaurant.

For a first trip to the NHL, Roy could have found a worse city.

“We were sleeping close to New York, so we brought him into town, on the other side,” Montembeault said. We had a very good dinner. […] He’s a little embarrassed, he doesn’t know everyone. But yesterday, we really had a lot of fun, the four Quebecers together, and we really had a great evening. »

It was the first of two great evenings, in fact, since Roy followed up on Wednesday by delivering the best of his three performances so far, a performance punctuated by his first goal in the NHL, in a 3-2 victory for the Canadian. And it makes you wonder if this nice performance of five shots and at least two other scoring chances started the day before around the table.

“Savard picked up the bill, he said that he was the one paying, that I wasn’t going to pay anything during the trip,” Roy said with a big smile, in the visitors’ locker room, after the match.

If Savard took good care of the rookie off the ice, Sean Monahan did it in a very concrete way on the ice. Starting two on one with Roy, Monahan slammed on the brakes to flout defender Simon Nemec and pass the puck to Roy, who broke the ice in this way. Monahan immediately collected the puck to give it to Roy as a souvenir, before coming to shout “fu***n’right, Royzy!” » and hugging the young man.

Cole Caufield watched from the bench. “I wondered what he was doing, but you should never doubt Mony,” said Caufield. He’s so smart, he reads the game well. He played a whole game and he’s been doing it for a while. »

The game allowed Martin St-Louis to release one of his favorite images. “If he throws, it’s a play. There isn’t a coach who will say that it’s not a good play,” said St-Louis. But is there a better game? He let the game evolve to find the best play. He knew Roy was coming. Good players in the league do that. »

Monahan also assisted on Cole Caufield’s game-winning goal to bring his season tally to 27 in 44 games, a pace of 50 points in 82 games. With the exception of a dip in November, he is having a very good season and at a salary of 1.985 million, GMs lacking depth for the playoffs – hello, Chris MacFarland – will definitely make a call to Kent Hughes. And if he did indeed agree with Monahan last summer to trade him to a team that will make the playoffs, Hughes will listen to offers.

But the events of the last 24 hours have reminded us of the benefits that veterans, those of the “good” type, can have on the next generation in full training with the Canadian. Obviously, life will continue even if they leave, young people will still be able to go out for dinner. But with these veterans will leave many intangible elements that allowed Roy to experience great moments.

“They are truly great examples to follow, for me and for other young people,” recalled Roy. All the guys can take an example from them. They had great careers. When they speak, you listen to them. »

Good from Caufield

Caufield, it was said, also scored on a pass from Monahan. Unlike the spectacular pass he served to Juraj Slafkovsky, his goal will not make it into this week’s games. He simply pushed a loose puck into the net.

But it’s much more about this goal that St-Louis wanted to talk about, because number 22 did exactly what the coach has been preaching since the start of the season, in his mission to make Caufield a more competitive player. complete.

” It’s a game mature. What I like about Cole is that he does what game asks him to do. It’s sure that it’s fun to have space and to have touches, but the game don’t always give yourself that. On the last goal, he finishes his route, he comes into contact with the guy, he gets lost on the other side. It doesn’t stand out, it fits inside. You can’t just play on the periphery. And he’s going to get a big goal because of that. »

On the rise: Rafael Harvey-Pinard

The possession indicators poorly reflect his evening of work. He excelled in his battles for the puck. Another match where he looked like the Harvey-Pinard of a year ago.

Down: Nick Suzuki

He didn’t play a bad game overall. But his penalty opened the door to the Devils’ comeback and he struggled on faceoffs (5 in 14, 36%).

In details

Joel Armia, ladies and gentlemen

It continues for Joel Armia. Author of two inspired performances against the Oilers and the Avalanche, he did it again on Wednesday against another former team of Jim Dowd. At even strength, things continued to click with Joshua Roy and Sean Monahan. It was he who made the long pass to Roy in the neutral zone in order to take advantage of the Devils’ bad change, a play which led to Roy’s goal. It was, incredibly, his first assist of the season, he who already had seven goals, and he would have deserved a second for his play on Cole Caufield’s goal. Armia also remained very adept at killing penalties, even if he was on the ice for Luke Hughes’ goal. This sequence in the second period was particularly impressive. Poor Alexander Holtz must still be wondering what happened.

The great resurrection of Lazar

He excelled with Junior Team Canada and was a 17^e overall pick, but Curtis Lazar ultimately did not have the career the Senators envisioned when they drafted him in 2013. Discreetly, however, the fiery center is on track to have the best offensive season of his career. Blanked on Wednesday, he nevertheless has 14 points in 37 games; Unless he collapses in the second half of the season, he will shatter his personal high of 20 points in a season. Lazar never lost his infectious energy, however. It was he who distributed two of the most impactful hits of this match, including one against Kaiden Guhle which made the young CH defender suffer a little before the second intermission. Violence by a former Edmonton Oil Kings against another former Oil King.

Montembeault again

It continues for Samuel Montembeault. After his breathtaking 39-save performance Saturday against the Oilers, the goaltender once again held down the fort for his teammates. He received an admittedly normal workload, but he shined when it counted. In the minute before Slafkovsky’s goal, for example, he frustrated Timo Meier and Michael McLeod in quick succession. So rather than it being 1-0 Devils, it was 1-0 Montreal. It was finally during the four-minute power play that he gave in, twice rather than once. “It would have been fun to take fewer penalties,” lamented Martin St-Louis, regarding his team’s three penalties for high sticking. Montembeault had a difficult outing on December 31 in Tampa, and said he wanted to bounce back. He is 3-1-1 since that loss.