The Canadian started the night with 11 forwards and finished with 10, after another poor start to the game sank him.
Casey Cizikas and Anthony Beauvillier scored early in the first period as the New York Islanders cruised to a 2-1 victory against the Montreal club on Saturday night at UBS Arena.
The Habs had a bad habit of getting off to a bad start during their long holiday trip. After an inspired performance Thursday in a 4-3 win over the Nashville Predators, Martin St-Louis’ squad saw their efforts undermined by this false start.
“It’s two goals on shots that we couldn’t block,” said St-Louis. The first deflected and the second is on a rebound. It’s not like they dominated us.
“Yes, it put us in a difficult position, but I liked how we fought from the second half of the first period. »
St-Louis had once again opted for a formation with 11 forwards and seven defensemen. His management of attackers was more complicated in the last 40 minutes of play.
The Habs lost the services of Jake Evans at the very end of the first period, when Brock Nelson fell on the left leg of center after a face-off. Evans needed help to leave the ice and he is not later returned to the game.
“Yes, it’s starting to be thin in the middle, but other players can play in that position,” insisted St-Louis. We put (Kirby) Dach in the middle. Jonathan (Drouin) can play center. We still have four guys who can play center! »
Nick Suzuki finally ended an 11-game drought by hitting the target in the third period, but the Islanders were able to close the door.
Samuel Montembeault made 36 saves in front of the Canadian net (17-23-3).
At the other end of the rink, Ilya Sorokin stopped 22 shots and the Islanders ended a four-game losing streak (0-3-1).
The Canadian will play again on Sunday, when he has an appointment with the Rangers at 5 p.m. at Madison Square Garden.
An expensive start to the game
The Islanders wasted no time in taking control of the game. Nelson was frustrated by Montembeault on a two-on-one attack in the opening minute, but that was just a sign of things to come.
Cizikas moved the ropes at 2:25, deflecting a shot from Noah Dobson. Beauvillier then took advantage of a comeback to beat Montembeault at 6:03.
Dach ran into Sorokin twice seconds later, but it was the Islanders who continued to rack up the scoring chances.
Mathew Barzal hit the post on a power play. Cal Clutterbuck missed the target on a two-on-one attack, while Anders Lee was frustrated by Montembeault on another Islanders overrun.
The Canadian finally started to generate a few more attacks late in the first period. Sorokin stood up again in front of Dach during the last minute of play.
The second period was less exciting. The Canadian wasted two power plays. At the other end of the rink, Montembeault kept the fort, notably stopping two shots from Josh Bailey during a three-on-two attack by the Islanders.
The Islanders had a great game of simply defending their lead in the third period, but the Canadian finally beat Sorokin after 9:56 of play. Suzuki scored on the backhand after a nice exchange with Drouin.
The local players got back to work, bottling the Canadiens in their territory. Even after replacing Montembeault with an additional striker, the Habs were unable to complete the comeback.
Locker Room Echoes
Jonathan Drouin admitted that the Canadian had been caught in the storm early in the game.
“(The Islanders) are good at their building. We had trouble countering them. They had speed and a good forecheck. »
Jordan Harris was happy to see that the Canadian had not given up.
“We have shown resilience. From the moment we found our bearings, we played a good game. But it’s difficult when you’re behind after 10 minutes.”
Harris also praised the work of Samuel Montembeault.
“He has been shining since the start of the season. Sometimes we leave it a little to itself. He kept us going tonight. »