Defenseman Jordan Harris collected two points and was the main architect of a 4-2 victory for the Montreal Canadiens against the Arizona Coyotes on Tuesday evening at the Bell Centre.
Harris first scored his second goal of the season in the second period. He added an assist on Tanner Pearson’s eventual winning goal, scored in the third period.
Joel Armia, with his 10e of the campaign, also deceived the vigilance of goalkeeper Connor Ingram, kept little busy as evidenced by the 17 saves he had to make.
Nick Suzuki added the insurance net in an empty net with 2.2 seconds on the clock.
Armia added an assist and Jake Evans had two assists.
If the Habs were able to end a streak of five defeats and extend that of the Coyotes (0-11-2) to 13 games, it is also a little thanks to goalkeeper Samuel Montembeault.
Without necessarily making spectacular saves, Montembeault accomplished the job expected of him by blocking 36 pucks behind a club that certainly did not play its best game of the season.
Alex Kerfoot, in the second period, and Nick Bjugstad, late in the third period, managed to thwart him.
Tuesday’s meeting was the team’s last at the Bell Center in February.
The Montreal team will begin a four-game stretch in the southeastern United States on Thursday with a stop at the home of the Florida Panthers.
Games against the Tampa Bay Lightning, Nashville Predators and Carolina Hurricanes will follow.
Forty unconvincing minutes
During his meeting with the media on Monday noon, Martin St-Louis explained that when his players experience their best moments, it is because they are aware of the scale of the challenge that awaits them and that they direct their way to play accordingly.
One wonders if the Canadian was planning an easy match against the Coyotes, because he didn’t offer anything very transcendent during the first 20 minutes of play.
At best, he delivered an average effort, which did not prevent him from returning to the locker room with a priority of 1-0, despite only five shots compared to 11 for the visitors.
Armia gave the Canadian the lead with a precise shot into the upper right part of the net, after a two-on-one breakaway with Alex Newhook.
Joshua Roy started the push by jumping on a loose puck in his zone before sliding it towards Newhook.
The Canadian doubled his lead early in the second period, again on a play that developed from his defensive territory.
This time, Harris blocked a Michael Carcone shot immediately after a faceoff in the Montreal zone, and headed into Coyotes territory with Josh Anderson to his left. Harris opted for a shot and it was the right call, the puck sneaking over Ingram’s stick at 4:52.
However, the Coyotes came back into the game less than three minutes later.
Kerfoot grabbed the disc behind the red line of the Habs goal and was quick enough to lodge the disc in the net before Montembeault could complete his lateral movement to his left.
If the Canadian’s effort in the first period deserved the qualification of average, it was rather mediocre during the middle period, which the Coyotes dominated 16-9 in terms of shots on goal. But Pearson would restore a two-goal lead to the Habs at 5:14 of the third period.
After receiving Harris’ pass, he easily got around Liam O’Brien at the Coyotes blue line before beating Ingram with a shot from the stick side.
Bjugstad brought the Coyotes within a goal when his weak backhand shot deflected off Kaiden Guhle’s stick and surprised Montembeault with just over five minutes remaining.
But Suzuki would relieve his teammates and the spectators by placing the disc in an empty net at the very end of regulation time.