(Winnipeg) If you missed this succulent Canadian-Jets on Monday, be sure to watch colleague Rachid Issoulaimani’s montage on our screens. The CH goals would have been perfect for the deceased Sporty fricassee VAT, perhaps less for the games of the week. No one in this locker room will complain about that, mind you.
Justin Barron scored in overtime and the Canadian triumphed 3-2 over the Jets on Monday night.
CH’s victory was very imperfect. These are not our words, but also those of Jake Allen. “It wasn’t pretty tonight, but it won’t always be perfect,” mused the winning goalkeeper. “We really didn’t play our best game, but we didn’t give up,” added Christian Dvorak.
This victory, however, was enough to satisfy CH head coach Martin St-Louis, for at least one reason. The message he conveyed at every opportunity, that of “playing within”, seems understood and put into practice. And it is done by one of the attackers best equipped to do it. At 6 ft 3 and 224 lbs, Josh Anderson indeed has the size to allow himself to pass near the blue paint without being bothered by his rivals.
So that’s what he did on his goal, heading towards the net passing between the faceoff circles, before gloriously scoring with his skate. That said, if he had stayed on the periphery, the puck that hits his blade would have simply ended up on the boards.
Then, on the visitors’ second goal, Anderson cut toward the net, this time with the puck in his hands like a handball player, before handing it to his former London teammate Christian Dvorak. No doubt: he benefited from the leniency of the officials, or from the lack of a clear recovery, but the fact remains that he ventured where it generally pays off, and well, it paid off. Here he is, casually, with seven points in his last eight games.
PHOTO TERRENCE LEE, USA TODAY SPORTS VIA REUTERS CON
Christian Dvorak (28) is congratulated by his teammates.
“We have been talking for the last week about having as many people as possible in the enclave. This is where teams generate chances. I go there often, looking for feedback, anything to grab,” Anderson described.
At the other end of the ice, the Habs survived a few games where they were disorganized, but generally defended well. We were talking about the games of the week: we probably won’t find Allen there either, for the simple reason that he was not forced to perform miracles. At 5-on-5, Montreal limited high-quality chances, and only gave the Jets two power plays.
All of this put together greatly excited St-Louis. “I feel that as a group we are at the point at the moment,” said the pilot. I have never felt so organized since I took this job. It’s something that takes a long time to build. We evolve as a team.
“Offensively, defensively, with or without the puck… When you have five guys on the same [longueur d’onde]it’s much harder for the other team.
Now it will be up to the players to make sure their head coach doesn’t look bad. After the very worthy shootout defeat in Vegas on October 30, St-Louis declared that the team had just played “its best game” since its arrival and that it had “raised its standard”. The Habs continued with three defeats in a row, and seven losses in the next nine games.
Little coincidences
Without being a spectacular goal, Justin Barron’s winning net was still more elegant than the other two. He was also scored 4-on-3.
This goal, however, put an exclamation point on a nice family day for number 52. Barron’s parents came from Nova Scotia for this duel which pitted Justin against his big brother, Morgan.
With both brothers still relatively inexperienced, their chances of playing an important role in overtime were slim. But now, Dave Lowry was chased away, which forced Rick Bowness to employ Morgan Barron shorthanded. On the same sequence, Mike Matheson was punished for the CH. Justin Barron therefore had to drive the numerical advantage.
After a timeout spent preparing for the play that led to the goal, the CH quartet got to work, Cole Caufield joined Justin Barron, who scored with a precise shot.
“It was pretty cool,” Barron admitted. I wasn’t necessarily expecting to go on the ice, but I came in, and so did he. It was special. »
Rising: Jayden Struble
PHOTO TERRENCE LEE, USA TODAY SPORTS VIA REUTERS CON
Alex Iafallo (9) and Jayden Struble (47)
Despite the -1 on his record, he made a large number of defensive plays to stop opposing attackers, including one against the always dangerous Nikolaj Ehlers. After 13 games in the NHL, he is playing with confidence.
Down: Juraj Slafkovsky
PHOTO FRED GREENSLADE, THE CANADIAN PRESS
Juraj Slafkovsky (20) and Neal Poink (4)
After a series of strong games, it was more difficult for the 2022 first pick, who made some poor decisions with the puck.
The number of the match: 5
The Canadian now has five overtime wins this season, an NHL high.
In details
A nasty streak broken
When Justin Barron gave the Canadian the victory, a pack of white sweaters surrounded the young defender. Christian Dvorak rather went in the other direction. It was nothing against Barron, mind you. It’s simply that he also had a thought for his goalkeeper, Jake Allen. “Jake was very strong, especially in the third period, when we didn’t generate much. We defended a good part of the period and he was our best player on the ice,” commented Dvorak. It should be added that Allen had just suffered defeat in his last seven outings and therefore signed his first victory since October 28, against the same Jets. Poor Allen, that said, had not obtained the greatest offensive support during his drought, the Habs offering him 14 goals in 7 games. It wasn’t much better on Monday, but it was enough, since the New Brunswicker was in great form, making good saves against Morgan Barron and Dave Lowry, among others.
Long wait
After a first period played at a brisk pace, the pace of the match slowed down significantly in the middle period. The three goals and three penalties are certainly not unrelated, but it is above all this endless consultation of the restarts after Christian Dvorak’s goal which broke the rhythm of the match. You should know that initially, the officials did their own review of the play to find out if Josh Anderson had indeed made a pass with the hand. After an initial confirmation of the goal, Jets head coach Rick Bowness used his request for review, leading to a nearly five-minute consultation. The wait was such that at one point, players from both teams who were waiting at the bench actually jumped onto the ice to untie their legs. The poor Canadiens players who do not play on the numerical advantage were also deprived of play for a stretch, since Dvorak’s goal was scored at 5 against 4, and Bowness’s failed consultation gave Montrealers a numerical superiority again. .
It continues for Vilardi
Clearly, the Jets are getting their money’s worth with Gabriel Vilardi. The forward acquired from the Los Angeles Kings for Pierre-Luc Dubois has hit the target again, which now gives him five goals and three assists in his last five games. Injured in the third game of the season, the 6’3″ colossus is making up for lost time, to the point that with 10 points in 12 games since the start of the season, he only has two fewer than Dubois. Where it gets even more exciting for the Jets is that they also acquired Alex Iafallo, 15 points in 30 games. So they exchanged an attacker from top 6 against two forwards who occupy seats in the first two lines, all at a combined salary of $7.4 million. Not bad.