(Ottawa) The Canadiens paid dearly for their indiscipline on Wednesday night at the Canadian Tire Centre, but head coach Martin St-Louis certainly didn’t look like a man happy with the work of the referees after the game.
Drake Batherson and Brady Tkachuk scored on the power play in the second period and each had an assist, Cam Talbot stopped 22 shots and the Ottawa Senators beat Montreal 3-2.
The Canadian was rubbing shoulders with a power play unit operating at full speed. The Senators had scored 10 goals in that situation in their previous six games.
The Habs were unable to avoid the penalty bench. He took five minor penalties in the second period, opening the door for the Senators, who took the opportunity to turn their 1-0 lead into a three-goal cushion.
Kirby Dach was guilty of three of those penalties, the last of which was for unsportsmanlike conduct after speaking his mind to the referees.
“His misconduct penalty, you can’t do that. The other two penalties he got…’Anyway’…” said St-Louis, wishing to move on to the next question.
“You saw the game. You have to control your emotions and it’s hard. It’s hard for everyone, added St-Louis a little later, after having regained his composure himself. You have to try to control that. »
Dach and Christian Dvorak revived the Canadian (14-13-2) by each scoring a goal in the third period, but the damage was done. Samuel Montembeault made 28 saves.
“It’s a shame, the result tonight, insisted St-Louis. At five against five, I loved our match. The punishments hurt us. »
Shane Pinto also hit the target for the Senators (13-14-2), who won a third straight game. Alex DeBrincat had three assists.
Jonathan Drouin was back in action with the Canadiens after missing 13 games with an upper body injury. Rem Pitlick was left out to make room for him in the lineup.
The Senators were without several key players, including forwards Josh Norris and Tim Stützle.
The Canadian will play again Thursday, when the Anaheim Ducks will be at the Bell Center.
A fatal period
The Canadian started the game strong, taking four shots on goal and another that hit the post before the first whistle after 4:07 of play.
The Senators scored their first shot on goal after just 12:26 of play, when Travis Hamonic attempted a long shot that Montembeault easily stopped.
“We should have come out of the first with a good lead,” admitted St-Louis.
The Canadian paid dearly for his lack of opportunism when everything turned upside down in the second period. This time, the Senators fired the first 13 shots on net, including three that found the back of the net.
Pinto got the ball rolling with a two-on-one attack after 1:28 of play.
Batherson and Tkachuk then moved the ropes on the power play at 5:41 and 8:02 respectively.
Johnathan Kovacevic fired the first shot on goal for the Canadiens in the second period after 9:16 of play, when his clearance from center ice had to be stopped by Talbot.
Dach redeemed his indiscipline in the second period by restarting the Canadian after 8: 05 of play in the last third. He took advantage of a backhand drop from Jake Evans to beat Talbot.
Dvorak then made it 3-2 with 6:48 to go, scoring on a pass from Nick Suzuki during a delayed penalty against the Senators.
The Canadian attempted a final charge against Talbot’s net by replacing Montembeault with an additional striker late in the game. There was no magic in the final moments for the crew at Suzuki this time around.
Locker Room Echoes
Kirby Dach accepted some of the blame for the end result.
“I have to accept the consequences of my penalties. The times I got them weren’t very good. »
Christian Dvorak believes that the scenario could have been different if the Canadian had avoided the penalties.
“We knew they had a good power play and we took too many penalties. They took advantage of it. We were the best team at five against five. »
Samuel Montembeault noted a peculiarity of the Senators’ power play.
“They have two players in front of me and like to send the puck to my left to Brady Tkachuk. Then he finds himself with a lot of options, because they have three right-handers in front of him. »