The Canadian’s depth will be put to the test again, and earlier in the season than team management had hoped.
The Habs announced Tuesday that they will be without defender David Savard for a period of six to eight weeks due to a broken left hand. In the absence of one of its pillars on the blue line, the Montreal club lost 5-2 against the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday evening at the Bell Centre.
Savard was injured Monday against the Buffalo Sabres.
“It’s not easy to replace a player like that,” said Canadiens head coach Martin St-Louis. You can’t buy his experience. It will be done by committee. »
Savard’s absence was felt. The Devils officially scored two power play goals, but a third goal was scored a second after the end of another Habs penalty.
The Habs also often lacked cohesion in their territory, but St-Louis preferred to retain the positive aspects of the meeting.
“We played a good first half. The second was more difficult. We also took punishments. But we managed the match well, he analyzed. The game was going away in the third, but we kept fighting. »
Goaltender Cayden Primeau got his first start this season. Although he made several good saves, including one or two particularly spectacular ones, he ultimately faltered a little too often in the face of the visitors’ continuous attacks to keep his team in the game until the end.
“He gave us a chance when we faced an often whirlwind offense in front of him,” St-Louis said.
Justin Barron and Mike Matheson hit the target for the Canadian (3-2-1). Primeau made 29 saves.
Tyler Toffoli scored a hat trick, while Jack Hughes had four assists for the Devils (3-1-1). Alexander Holtz and Nico Hischier were the other scorers for the visitors. Vitek Vanecek stopped 27 shots.
Recalled from the Laval Rocket, Gustav Lindström played his first game with the Habs, after being acquired from the Detroit Red Wings during the off-season.
The Canadian’s next game will be presented on Thursday, when they host the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Highs and lows
Primeau stood out early in the game, frustrating Hischier, who had just stolen the puck from Cole Caufield at the Canadian’s blue line.
The Habs opened the scoring a few moments later, after 5:49 of play. Vanecek redirected a shot from Michael Pezzetta directly towards Barron, who took advantage of the return to throw the puck into the opening.
The Devils responded less than two minutes later, but Hischier’s goal was ultimately canceled after a challenge from coach Martin St-Louis. Replays confirmed that the Devils captain had obstructed Primeau before the puck crossed the goal line.
Primeau made the save after 9:11 of play. He stole a sure goal from Ondrej Palat by diving to his right to make the save with his shield.
“It’s not easy to stay at the top of your game when you’re just training and not playing for almost a month,” said Primeau, whose last outing was on September 29, during the preparatory calendar. All I wanted to do was fight and not focus on the goals.
“On this save, I compromised a little early and he (Jesper Bratt) made the pass (to Palat). When you manage to fight on every play, you will be able to make a save like that,” he added.
The Devils finally tied the game at 13:24 of the first period, a second after the end of a penalty against Johnathan Kovacevic. Holtz took advantage of a comeback after a powerful one-timer from Dougie Hamilton.
The second period was a little less lively and the Devils threatened in the second half with a few long presences in Habs territory.
Primeau made another good save at the expense of Hischier while the Canadian was playing with a man less. He stretched his right pad to make the save on a point-blank deflection.
At the other end of the ice, Sean Monahan missed a great opportunity to score following a cross-ice feed from Lindström. Monahan wanted to lob the puck over Vanecek, who was lying on the ice. However, she fell on top of the net.
The Devils finally took a 2-1 lead with 1:38 left in the second period. Timo Meier made Kovacevic lose the disc along the ramp in Montreal territory. Hughes then joined Toffoli in the slot and the former Canadian surprised Primeau on the glove side.
Hischier then dealt a hard blow to the Canadian by finally beating Primeau 34 seconds into the third period, during a Devils power play. He scored following a pass from Hughes from behind the net.
Toffoli came back at 7:17, again on the power play, and again after receiving a pass from Hughes.
Matheson restarted the Canadian with 9:25 remaining, during a power play and while Primeau had already been replaced by an additional attacker. The Montreal defender beat Vanecek after breaking through the opposing defense with a nice run from one end of the ice to the other.
Matheson’s goal gave the Canadian energy, but he came up against Vanecek. Toffoli completed his hat trick by scoring into an empty net with 25.5 seconds left on the clock.