A strange jump, a goalkeeper who gets injured, young people who make good and less good plays; In short, there was a little bit of everything Monday evening in the Canadian’s first preparatory game.
Jack Hughes, however, put on a show, collecting a goal and two assists and helping the New Jersey Devils defeat the Montreal hockey club 4-2.
Josh Anderson was the star of the game in the Canadian camp. In addition to scoring a goal, he generated numerous scoring chances thanks to his speed and combativeness.
Alongside him, Alex Newhook also demonstrated the extent of his talent, while their linemate Juraj Slafkovsky sometimes seemed to have difficulty keeping up with their pace.
On defense, the Canadian counted on six players aged 23 and under, including rookies David Reinbacher and Logan Mailloux. The others were Jordan Harris, Kaiden Guhle, Arber Xhekaj and Justin Barron.
They all demonstrated their qualities at certain times, perhaps giving fans a taste of what the Habs brigade could become in the near future.
Joshua Roy also scored for the Canadian. Samuel Montembeault allowed two goals on 18 shots in 31:40 of play. Jakub Dobes took over and stopped 11 shots.
Dawson Mercer, Simon Nemec and Joseph Gambardella were the other Devils scorers.
In front of the visitors’ net, Akira Schmid gave up twice against 15 shots in the first two periods. Keith Kinkaid played 12:38 of play in the final period before returning to the locker room due to an injury. Schmid therefore had to take charge until the end of the meeting.
The Canadian will play their second preseason game on Wednesday, when they host the Ottawa Senators at the Bell Centre.
A star at its peak
Roy quickly gave the Canadian the lead, after 4:01 of play, on the power play. He surprised Schmid between the pads after a cross ball from Xavier Simoneau.
Montembeault stood out for the first time a few moments later, stopping shots from Graeme Clarke and Chris Tierney in quick succession.
The Devils took advantage of a scrum in front of Montembeault to tie the game 1-1 at 9:55 of the first period. Gambardella beat the Habs goalkeeper, who was lying on his back.
Mercer surprised Montembeault a little later in the first period, but the disc stopped behind the Canadian goalie before crossing the goal line. Montembeault played lucky by sweeping the puck out of danger with his pad while pivoting.
Montembeault looked bad when the Devils took a 2-1 lead at 3:32 of the second period, on the power play. Nemec’s throwback in the back of the zone made an unusual leap against the ramp, then slipped between Montembeault’s right skate and the post.
Anderson tried to respond when the Canadian found himself on the power play. He crossed the ice almost from one end to the other and found himself alone in front of Schmid, who nevertheless made the save.
Coming out of the penalty box, Kyle Criscuolo was able to escape following a blunder by Mailloux at the Devils blue line. Montembeault saved his defender by making the save.
Dobes took over from Montembeault as the Canadian prepared to try to overcome another numerical inferiority. Hughes taunted Anderson at the top of the slot, then slipped the puck to his right to Mercer, who finished with a shot into an open net at 12:42.
Anderson redeemed himself by closing the gap with 5:52 remaining in the second period. He pushed a loose puck past Schmid into the back of the net. Schmid had just escaped a shot from Reinbacher.
Hughes restored the Devils’ two-goal lead 5:10 into the third period on the power play. The Canadian was completely disorganized and surprised Dobes after inheriting a loose puck at the mouth of the net.
Sean Farrell came closest to scoring late in the game, when Dobes was replaced by an extra attacker.