(Montreal) Head coach Martin St-Louis could have used Carey Price’s famous phrase “chill out” to remind everyone that it’s still only the preparatory schedule. Instead, he acknowledged that he hopes his team will develop better cohesion on the power play by the start of the season.
Matthew Knies scored in a second straight game, Martin Jones stopped 33 shots and the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Montreal Canadiens 3-1 on Saturday night at the Bell Centre.
The Habs were 0-for-5 on the power play, even though the first unit was made up of four players who should play in that situation this season. He had been 0-for-6 the day before and the fans had even let their discontent be known by booing their favorites.
“We had a few chances in the first, but then we forced plays and we didn’t generate enough chances,” St-Louis said. The camp also serves to work on this. »
The numerical advantage is a black mark on the Canadian’s record with a performance of 2-for-20. This probably wouldn’t have been as worrying if the Habs hadn’t finished in 29the ranked in the NHL in this regard last year.
On a more positive side, newcomer Alex Newhook looked good at five-on-five in his first outing alongside Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki. The unit was the most threatening of the Habs thanks to high-speed execution.
“They were particularly exciting to watch in the first period,” noted St-Louis.
Kirby Dach had a second good match surrounded by Juraj Slafkovsky and Rafaël Harvey-Pinard.
PHOTO DAVID KIROUAC, USA TODAY SPORTS VIA REUTERS CON
Kirby Dach (77) and Morgan Rielly (44)
On defense, Kaiden Guhle played with the poise that made him a reliable defender in his first NHL campaign last winter. He also scored shorthanded in the third period.
Alongside Guhle, David Reinbacher also had a good game. He even applied a solid shoulder toss to Josiah Slavin.
Unfortunately for Reinbacher, his father, Harald, returned to Europe on Saturday afternoon, after spending a few days with him in Montreal.
“It was really good that he came to see me. I’m glad he was able to see how things are here and what I’m going through,” said the 18-year-old Austrian.
“He still can’t believe what’s happening to me. I saw tears in his eyes after games (earlier this week). He is very proud of me and I hope to continue to make him proud. »
In front of the net, Samuel Montembeault allowed three goals on 15 shots during the first two periods of play. Jakub Dobes took over in the third period and stopped seven shots.
Fraser Minten and Nicholas Robertson scored the other goals for the Maple Leafs, who had left all their offensive stars in Toronto. Veteran defensemen Morgan Rielly and TJ Brodie were nevertheless in uniform.
The Canadian will take charge again on Monday, when he visits the Maple Leafs in Toronto.
A better show
The meeting was much livelier than that of the day before between the two teams.
From the first moments, the Maple Leafs bottled up the Habs in their territory, but Montembeault frustrated Robertson.
The Canadian’s first trio increased their attacks towards the opposing net in the first period. Jones had to be alert at the expense of Newhook after a blind throw from Suzuki in the slot. Suzuki also came up against the Leafs goalie a little later.
Meanwhile, the Maple Leafs opened the scoring at 6:30. Knies surprised Montembeault by going around the net from behind.
The Suzuki trio was once again stunning at the start of the second period, but they were unable to move the strings.
PHOTO DAVID KIROUAC, USA TODAY SPORTS VIA REUTERS CON
Nick Suzuki (14)
Jones stood out again by stretching his left leg to frustrate Slafkovsky, who had escaped following a nice pass from Dach.
“He’s more and more confident,” Harvey-Pinard said of Dach. He makes plays that some players wouldn’t see. He chooses the right moment to make a play, a pass or a shot. »
The Leafs doubled their lead at 10:33 of the second period, on the power play. Suzuki was the victim of a turnover leaving the area and the visitors counter-attacked with two against the goalkeeper. Minten hit the target on a pass from Alex Steeves.
After doing better in the first period, the Canadian continued to have problems on the power play during the second period. It was also by leaving the penalty box that Robertson was able to escape and he beat Montembeault with 12.4 seconds remaining, using a beautiful feint.
Guhle brought life back to the Bell Center by shaking things up with 8:28 left in the third period, shorthanded. He took advantage of a pass from Johnathan Kovacevic after a faceoff won by Newhook in offensive territory.
The Canadian threatened late in the match after replacing Dobes with an extra attacker, but Jones managed to close the door.