Another day, another thaw. The Montreal Canadiens were never up to par against the Edmonton Oilers’ powerful attack on Saturday night at the Bell Centre, en route to a stinging 7-2 loss.
Samuel Montembeault, who made his first start since Jan. 20, gave up six times on 16 shots. Cayden Primeau came on as a relief for the Habs early in the third period, and he did well with seven extra saves.
It was the eighth time this season that the Canadiens had used more than one goalie in a game – a season high in the NHL. All this under the gaze of Carey Price, who attended the meeting at the Bell Center after skating for about ten minutes earlier in the day at the Bell Sports Complex in Brossard. It is still unknown if he will be able to return to the game this season.
Josh Anderson and Tyler Toffoli, on the power play, rocked the ropes for the Canadian (8-28-7), who suffered a fifth straight loss.
Zach Hyman and Leon Draisaitl, twice apiece, Evander Kane, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Derek Ryan blackened the scoresheet for the Oilers (22-16-2), who notched a fourth straight win after struggling setbacks in recent weeks.
Stuart Skinner scored the win after stopping 20 shots. The 23-year-old goaltender was playing his 12th game this season, and his 13th career in the NHL.
The game slowly got under way, and it took almost five minutes for one of the teams – in this case the Canadiens – to get their first shot on net.
Everything suddenly came together in the second half of the first period, when the Oilers scored three unanswered goals in the space of 1:47.
Kane, in his first game in the NHL this season, Hyman then Draisaitl took turns taking advantage of the Montrealers’ defensive shortcomings to allow the Oilers to retire to the locker room in the first intermission with a 3-0 lead.
Anderson finally put the home side on the scoreboard by jumping on a return throw from Ben Chiarot before pushing the disc behind Skinner, 3:58 into the middle period. Nugent-Hopkins, forgotten in the slot, however, fought back two minutes later to restore the Oilers’ three-goal cushion, then Hyman, again him, widened the gap to 5-1 with 5:30 left in the game. ‘commitment.
Meanwhile, Montembeault was left to his own devices.
The height came when Oilers forward Zach Kassian was penalized by bullying the CH goalie behind his net without any of his teammates coming to his rescue. Small consolation: it took only three seconds for Toffoli on the power play to beat Skinner and narrow the gap to 5-2.
However, hopes of a comeback quickly vanished. Draisaitl scored his 31st of the season 24 seconds later to restore the Oilers’ four-goal lead, and Ryan completed the scoring with 34 seconds left.
Michael Pezzetta retaliated for the gesture at Montembeault’s expense with a furious fight against Kassian in the third period, and the Oilers forward was left with a deep laceration above his right eye.
The Canadian will play a second game – behind closed doors – in 24 hours on Sunday night at home against the Columbus Blue Jackets. It will then be his last duel before the All-Star game break, and the third of an eight-week home stint.
It should be noted that the Habs could count on the return to play of veterans Brendan Gallagher and Paul Byron for the occasion.