Head coach Martin St-Louis had showmanship as he sent Kirby Dach onto the ice in the third round of the shootout.
Dach silenced the boos and threw a cold shower on the spectators at the United Center by hitting the target, giving the Montreal Canadiens a 3-2 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday afternoon.
Dach, who played his first three NHL seasons with the Blackhawks before being traded to the Habs this summer, moved the ropes with a good shot from the side of the mitt.
“He spent time here and played a good game,” St-Louis said of his decision to send Dach to the shootout. I would have liked him to be rewarded during the 60 minutes. He helped us in the shootout. »
Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield had scored before Dach in the shootout, while the Canadian shooters were 3-for-3 against Arvid Soderblom.
Samuel Montembeault, who was making his second straight start even though Jake Allen is healthy, was beaten by Jonathan Toews and Andreas Athanasiou in a shootout. Patrick Kane, however, missed his attempt against him.
“He deserved to play a second game in a row and he did well,” said St-Louis about Montembeault.
Joel Edmundson and Suzuki have also scored in regulation time for the Canadian (11-9-1), who have won three of their last four games. Sean Monahan had two assists and Montembeault stopped 30 shots.
Caleb Jones and Taylor Raddysh replied for the Blackhawks (6-10-4), who suffered their sixth straight loss. Soderblom made 21 saves.
Canadian forward Juraj Slafkovsky was shaken in the third period when he took a hard shoulder from Jason Dickinson. He returned to the bench for the start of extra time.
The Canadian will resume the collar only next Tuesday, when he will host the San Jose Sharks at the Bell Center.
The last word at CH
Edmundson started the hostilities by scoring on the first shot on goal of the game. He deflected a pass from Monahan into the goal at 3:21.
Soderblom signaled himself with his mitt twice during the first period. He stole a definite goal from Josh Anderson on a Habs overrun attack, then pulled the mitt past Joel Armia a few minutes later.
Montembeault also shone in the first period. A shot from Connor Murphy missed the target on one side, then the puck came back in front on the other side. Max Domi was there, but Montembeault reacted in time to frustrate the former Canadian striker with his left pad.
The Blackhawks tied the game 5:53 into the second period. Jones hit the mark after a long streak in visitors’ territory, punctuated by two missed area exits by Brendan Gallagher.
Suzuki restarted the Canadian 1:29 later, on the power play. The captain of the Habs moved the ropes with a lively wrist throw from the side of the mitt.
Montembeault preserved the Canadian’s lead thanks to good saves, especially against Kane during a Blackhawks power play.
Gallagher got a great opportunity to widen the gap before the second intermission. He missed the target, however, when he shot from the backhand on a breakaway. For their part, Armia and Monahan reached the post.
The Canadian squandered a few opportunities to widen the gap in the third period. Christian Dvorak hit the post, then Suzuki lost control of the disc at the last moment on a breakaway.
The Blackhawks finally made the Canadian pay dearly for his lack of opportunism. Raddysh tied the game with 3:54 left in the third period, taking advantage of a comeback to score on the power play.
The Canadian was unable to take advantage of a power play in overtime. Dach finally played the heroes in shootout.
Locker Room Echoes
Kirby Dach tucked his glove to his ear as he watched the spectators who booed him after he scored his winning goal.
“It was exciting to come back here. I wanted to put on a good show. We can say that it went well! »
Samuel Montembeault did not want to sow controversy even if he was happy to be able to play a second game in a row.
“Of course I would like to be able to play every game, but we have two good goalkeepers. Jake and I give the team a chance to win and that’s what’s most important. »
After a 7-2 loss to the Buffalo Sabers on Tuesday, the Canadiens redeemed themselves against the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Chicago Blackhawks. Brendan Gallagher appreciated the team’s effort.
“There are things we can always improve on, but I think we bounced back well against the Blue Jackets. Then we continued that momentum today. We didn’t give the opponent a lot of time and space with the puck. »