Who will stop the Montreal Canadiens? Nick Suzuki scored two goals, including one on a penalty shot, and the Canadiens shut out the Buffalo Sabers 4-0, Wednesday night at the Bell Centre.
Suzuki also collected an assist, while Cole Caufield and Jake Evans completed the scoring for the Canadian (12-33-7). The Montreal team also signed a fourth victory in a row, a first in the regular season since January 2019.
It was also the Canadiens’ first shutout since a 1-0 win in Game 2 of the playoff series against the Winnipeg Jets on June 4.
“There are a lot of winners in this team, guys who take care of the team, and you win a lot of games with guys like that. It’s 4-0 and you’re blocking shots, there’s a minute left in the game… It’s ‘fun’ to see how quickly the culture (of the team) is progressing,” said the head coach. acting Canadian Martin St-Louis by videoconference.
Samuel Montembeault was back in net for the Habs after posting a 5-2 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday night. The 25-year-old Quebecer finished his night at work with 32 saves, and signed his first NHL career shutout.
“It’s ‘fun’ for Sam. I think he’s getting better day by day, and game by game. He was in his “game” tonight; everything was hitting him, and he was swallowing all the pucks. It keeps the team very calm, which allows us to play our game in front of him,” explained St-Louis.
At the other end of the ice, 40-year-old veteran Craig Anderson stopped 25 shots in front of the Sabers net (16-28-8), who suffered a fourth straight loss.
The Canadiens are now 1-3 against the Sabers this season, after losing 5-1 on October 14, 4-1 on November 26 and 5-3 on February 13.
The trio of Caufield, Suzuki and Josh Anderson are wreaking havoc these days. And it was this unit again that opened the scoring for the Habs.
Suzuki took advantage of the defensive confusion on the Sabers side to recover a loose puck in the slot and beat Anderson with a snappy wrist shot at 6:52 of the first period.
Suzuki then doubled their lead on a penalty shot at 5:57 of the second period. The 22-year-old Ontarian had his third career two-goal game, and his first this season.
Caufield, all fired up since the arrival of St. Louis, widened the gap to 3-0 after only 1:18 of play in the third period. It was his sixth goal in his last seven games.
Evans completed the scoring with 1:33 left.
St. Louis opted for the same formation as in the last game, against the Leafs. He lost the services of forwards Paul Byron and Josh Anderson along the way, however.
The CH said after the game that Byron and Anderson each suffered an upper body injury, and they went to the hospital before returning to the Bell Centre. We do not know the nature of their respective injuries, as well as their severity.
The Habs will embark on a five-game road trip starting Saturday against the Ottawa Senators.
Locker Room Echoes
Defenseman Brett Kulak believes the concepts taught by interim head coach Martin St-Louis are starting to trickle down to him and his teammates.
“Yes, we stopped thinking; we no longer think about what we should do on the ice. All players express their talent in their own way, depending on the circumstances on the ice. It clicks, things are going well. We play with speed, and all the players seem to be better players at the moment. It’s been a real snowball effect for about ten days. »
Forward Nick Suzuki has admitted his style of play has changed since the arrival of Martin St-Louis.
“I’m playing with more confidence, not just individually, but collectively on the ice. The guys are in better shape in attack, and personally I try to play my games as well as possible. »
Goaltender Samuel Montembeault was very happy to have signed his first shutout, in his 50th career start in the NHL.
“I feel really good. It’s so much fun getting my first shutout here at the Bell Centre. I think I will talk to the timekeeper because I was looking at the scoreboard in the third period and I thought the time was not going down very quickly. I am really happy ; the guys did an amazing job and we came away with a great win. »