At the heart of a sequence where good performances were rarely rewarded, the Canadian players finally took advantage of a lucky leap to win.
Nick Suzuki broke the tie 17 seconds into overtime and the Montreal club defeated the Nashville Predators 4-3 on Tuesday night at Bridgestone Arena.
The Canadian captain scored his 25e goal of the season when the teams played four against four. He put the needle on with a precise one-timer following a pass from Cole Caufield. It was also his 100e career goal.
The Habs also took advantage of a goal from David Savard when the puck made a strange jump against the bay window before ending up in the goal.
“It’s always disappointing when you play well and you don’t have any results,” Savard said. To have a lucky goal, to have worked hard and to have been rewarded, it does good for the team, which needed it for its morale. »
The Habs had to overcome leads of 2-0 and 3-2. He finally improved his record to 1-0-2 since the start of his trip. He collected at least one point in a fourth consecutive game (2-0-2).
“We’re starting to get used to it. There were no passengers and it showed in the way we fought on the ice,” said head coach Martin St-Louis.
“We were facing a team that had won its previous eight games, that had beaten big teams, and not by small scores,” St-Louis also recalled. It was a big challenge tonight, but I was confident because of the way we’ve been performing recently. I’m proud of the guys. »
Brendan Gallagher and Joshua Roy also scored for the Canadian (24-28-10). Cole Caufield was credited with two assists and Jake Allen, who could change addresses by Friday’s trade deadline, made 25 saves.
Ryan O’Reilly had a goal and two assists, while Gustav Nyquist and Filip Forsberg each had a goal and an assist for the Predators (35-25-3). Juuse Saros stopped 26 shots.
Defender Jayden Struble (lower body) and forward Rafaël Harvey-Pinard (lower body) returned to play for the Canadian after respective absences of four and 10 games. Johnathan Kovacevic and Colin White were left out.
The Habs specified that White was dealing with an upper body injury. His name was placed on the injured list.
The Canadian will conclude his four-game trip by visiting the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday.
Efforts rewarded
Allen stood out at the start of the meeting. He made a good save against Luke Evangelista, who had broken through the Canadian’s defense during a Predators power play.
The Canadian goalie was also vigilant at the expense of Michael McCarron, then O’Reilly, forgotten in the slot.
The Predators’ efforts were finally rewarded with 4:36 remaining in the first period. Forsberg scored on the backhand after Juraj Slafkovsky was barely able to break up a play in front of the net.
The Predators came back 5:11 into the second period. This time, Nyquist completed a nice sequence where he quickly exchanged the puck with Forsberg and O’Reilly before surprising Allen. This time, Slafkovsky arrived a little late to cover Nyquist in front of the net.
The young Slovak redeemed himself a little later. Slafkovsky managed a nice retreat to make Yakov Trenin, who had escaped during a Canadian power play, lose control of the puck.
The Canadian finally fooled Saros with 3:21 left in the second period. Jake Evans collected the puck along the ramp and joined Gallagher at the top of the slot. The veteran forward scored with a precise one-timer from the side of the shield.
Savard tied the game just six seconds later. Suzuki won the faceoff at center ice with help from Caufield. Savard then threw the puck back into Predators territory. She made a strange leap against the corner of the bay window, then headed towards a cage abandoned by Saros, who expected to stop her behind his net.
The NHL record is two goals in two seconds, scored in quick succession by Max Domi and Joel Armia in a 6-4 victory for the Habs against the Washington Capitals on November 1, 2018.
The Canadian was threatening at the start of the third period, but Saros made some good saves, notably against Caufield and Gallagher.
O’Reilly gave the Predators the lead again with 7:41 left in the third period. He received a pass from Nyquist behind the net, then came back in front. He then surprised Allen with a high shot from the far side.
Roy, however, gave him the answer 2:36 later. He stole the puck from Roman Josi in the neutral zone before beating Saros on the glove side.
“It feels good,” said Roy, who scored his second goal of the campaign. It had been several matches that I had chances. Our trio generated several chances in this match and it was only a matter of time before it went in. »
Michael McCarron briefly restored the lead to the Predators with 3:02 remaining, but St-Louis won the contest as the forward touched the puck higher than the allowed height before pushing it into the opening .
The Predators were punished for having too many players on the ice late in the third period. Suzuki ultimately decided in a tiebreaker.