The Canadian made too many mistakes and ended up getting burned against the reigning Stanley Cup champions.
Jack Eichel broke the tie late in the third period on the power play in addition to collecting two assists and the Vegas Golden Knights defeated the Montreal club 6-5 on Thursday evening at the Bell Centre.
He scored while Brendan Gallagher was in the penalty box.
“I’ll have to review the sequence, but it was a big factor in the outcome of the game,” head coach Martin St-Louis said of the high-sticking penalty against Gallagher.
“This is something that cannot happen,” he insisted a little later.
The Habs scored at least four goals in regulation time for only the second time this season. He previously accomplished the feat in his opening game, when he lost 6-5 in a shootout to the Toronto Maple Leafs.
However, he squandered leads of 2-0, 3-1 and 4-3 against the Golden Knights, who never gave up.
“Against Calgary (Tuesday), we were losing on the board, but they weren’t beating us on the ice. Today, we were winning on the board, but they were beating us on the ice, St-Louis pointed out. You have to be honest. We played with fire and got burned. »
Jesse Ylönen scored twice, Alex Newhook collected a goal and an assist, while Johnathan Kovacevic and Justin Barron also scored for the Canadian (7-8-2), who suffered a third loss in a row. Nick Suzuki and Mike Matheson each had two assists and Cayden Primeau made 36 saves.
“I read the game well and I’m in the right place, which is the most important thing,” Primeau said. I feel like my feet are in the right place the majority of the time. »
Shea Theodore had a goal and three assists and Mark Stone, a goal and two assists for the Golden Knights (13-3-1), who also benefited from the successes of Brayden McNabb, Brett Howden and Jonathan Marchessault. Adin Hill stopped 23 shots.
The Canadian lost the services of defender Arber Xhekaj in the second period. He headed to the locker room shortly after receiving a hard hit from Ivan Barbashev. The team said he suffered an upper-body injury and his condition will be re-evaluated Friday.
Forward Michael Pezzetta was included in the Canadian’s lineup for this meeting. He took the place of Rafaël Harvey-Pinard, who was dealing with a lower body injury. Harvey-Pinard’s state of health will be reassessed daily.
The Canadian will play his next game on Saturday, when he visits the Bruins in Boston.
The fathers of the Canadian players were invited to the Bell Center on Thursday and those present will accompany the team this weekend in Boston.
Offensive festival
After a beautiful tribute to Karl Tremblay, singer of the Cowboys Fringants who died on Wednesday, the Canadian scored two goals in the first period for the first time this season.
Newhook hit the target on the Canadian’s first shot, at 6:43, while the visitors already had eight on the clock. He surprised Hill on the shield side.
Kovacevic in turn beat Hill by aiming at the same spot at 10:03, after a Newhook shot hit Golden Knights forward Michael Amadio near the slot.
Newhook ended a 13-game drought, while Kovacevic scored his first goal of the season in his 17th outing.
At the other end of the ice, Primeau made multiple stops. He bearded William Karlsson five times during the period, including at least four times on quality chances.
“They are some of the best players in the world and they are a dangerous offense that moves the puck well on the power play. I was just trying to follow the game,” Primeau said.
The official scorer was busy in the second period, when both teams scored a total of six goals.
Howden put the Golden Knights on the board with a short-handed goal at 2:33.
Ylönen scored his first goal of the game at 8:28, following a breakaway after intercepting a puck at the visitors’ blue line.
McNabb responded 18 seconds later for the Golden Knights. He was hit by a throw from Theodore as he passed through the slot, then surprised Primeau, who was looking for the puck.
Marchessault tied the game 3-3 at 11:20 on a two-on-one run, but the Canadian regained the lead 33 seconds later. Ylönen took advantage of a pass from Michael Pezzetta from behind the net to beat Hill with a one-timer.
Theodore, however, returned to the charge at 16:07, allowing the Golden Knights to tie the game 4-4 before the end of the second period. He beat Primeau with a long shot during a power play.
Gallagher took a double minor penalty for high sticking with 2:51 left in regulation, opening the door for the Golden Knights.
Eichel took the opportunity to beat Primeau in the upper part of the glove side 55 seconds later.
After an insurance goal from Stone, Barron gave the fans hope by reducing the gap to 6-5 with 53.2 seconds left on the clock. Hill, however, resisted the Habs’ latest assault.