EDMONTON | Although Martin St-Louis wants his troops to focus on the future, some of them had fresh memories of the last game against the Oilers.
• Read also: “Proud of the guys” –St-Louis
• Read also: “It’s nice to be rewarded” –Brendan Gallagher
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No doubt motivated by this bad memory and by the assault that Zack Kassian had reserved for Samuel Montembeault, the Canadian got revenge.
Led by a night of three points (one goal, two assists) from Nick Suzuki and powered by Brendan Gallagher’s first goal in 19 games, the Habs left Rogers Place with a 5-2 victory.
“I would have liked Kassian to be in training tonight so that we could beat him too,” Montembeault said after his 29-stop performance.
This Canadian win would have been even more convincing if Suzuki and Laurent Dauphin had not been denied a goal each after a challenge from the Oilers coach.
“Since the beginning of the season, we have gone through almost all the tests possible. For those who are still there, we are tough mentally,” said Brendan Gallagher, smirking.
A transformed team
Besides, for Gallagher, it’s a whole weight less on his shoulders. He had not hit the target since November 20. Breaking this lethargy in him had something to add to the magic of the moment.
“It felt good, he obviously agreed. I have always been someone who puts more emphasis on the process than on the result. But it was getting hard mentally. »
Casually, the Montrealers have won seven of their last eight games. Quite a turnaround for this team that was going nowhere not so long ago.
♦ Cole Caufield, Artturi Lehkonen and Mike Hoffman were the other scorers for the Canadiens.
What we noticed…
MISSION SUCCESSFUL FOR DAUPHIN
Confronted much of the evening with the trio of Connor McDavid, the unit of Laurent Dauphin, Mike Hoffman and Brendan Gallagher managed very well. The Oilers’ big No. 97 was limited to two shots. On the power play, McDavid put his vision of the game to work, but the highly efficient work of the Canadian’s workforce killed several pass attempts in the bud.
A RARE PAIR
The massive attack remained, until very recently, one of the mysteries to be solved for Martin St-Louis. However, now the Canadian has extended his series of games to three with at least one goal on the power play. Yesterday, he even allowed himself to score two. And this, for only the second time this season.
PITLICK IN THE CENTER
In the absence of Jake Evans, Martin St-Louis transferred Rem Pitlick to the center of his third unit, between Artturi Lehkonen and Joel Armia. In addition to getting playing time on the power play, he sees himself increasingly shorthanded. He has become the handyman of St-Louis. Ryan Poehling therefore remained at the center of the fourth unit.
RARE MATCH FOR TURRIS
Kyle Turris was playing his first game since January 22. He missed the team’s last 18 games due, in part, to an injury, the nature of which was never disclosed. It has also been left out on a few occasions. With only 4 min 41 s of play, we can say that he only put on a jersey.
+
Sam Montembeault
He had a painful exit when the Oilers visited He recovered in brilliant fashion by frustrating the home forwards on several occasions
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Michael Pezzetta
Martin St-Louis kept him on the bench almost all evening He only saw the playing surface for 6 min 13 s
First period
1-MON: Cole Caufield (8) (unassisted)10:58
2-EDM: Evander Kane (8) (Draisaitl)11:20
3-MON: Brendan Gallagher (5) (Suzuki, Wideman)AN-19:21
Penalties: Kane (Edm) 17:39
Second period
4-EDM: Ryan McLeod (6) (Hyman, Bouchard)5:37
5-MON: Nick Suzuki (13) (Wideman, Caufield)10:17
Penalties: Bench penalty (Mon) (served by Caufield) 5:37, Foegele (Edm) 8:25, Hoffman (Mon) 11:22, Chiarot (Mon) 19:48
Third period
6-MON: Artturi Lehkonen (11) (Kulak, Suzuki)DN-10:15
7-MON: Mike Hoffman (11) (Gallagher, Chiarot)FD-16:11
Penalties: McLeod (Edm) 6:17, Smith (Edm) 8:12, Gallagher (Mon) 9:06
Shoot to the net
MONTREAL 9 – 10 – 10 – 29 EDMONTON 10 – 12 – 8 – 30
Guardians:
MON: Samuel Montembault (G, 6-11-4) EDM: Mike Smith (P, 5-8-1)
Numerical advantages:
MON: 1 in 4, EDM: 0 in 4
Referees:
Dan ORourke, Francois St-Laurent
Linesmen:
Travis Toomey, Bevan Mills
ASSISTANCE:
18,258