On a night that Carey Price was honored after being inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, it isn't all that surprising that it would be a goalie duel between the Montreal Canadiens and the Minnesota Wild. However, a late penalty overshadowed a great game between two of the best teams in the NHL as the Wild won 2-1 in overtime.
Through the first two periods, neither team really gained any momentum, and the game was scoreless going into the third period. Then early in the third period, Josh Anderson mishandled the puck at center ice, and Bobby Brink turned it into a breakaway and the first goal of the game.
The Canadiens would keep pushing, and late in the third period, after pulling Jacob Fowler, Nick Suzuki would finally score for Montreal and tie the game with just under 1:40 left in the period.
Unfortunately, a questionable slashing call before the end of the third period would give the Wild a power play going into overtime, and Kirill Kaprizov would score 21 seconds into the extra period. While the Canadiens did get a point, there is undoubtedly some disappointment coming out of this game, and these are a few key takeaways from Tuesday against the Minnesota Wild.
Bad call late cost the Montreal Canadiens the chance to get two points
The Canadiens did a great job getting back into this game with Nick Suzuki's goal late as Jesper Wallstedt was blocking almost everything all night. Wallstedt is one of the best goalies in the NHL, and he is not going to give up anything easy. Montreal was going to have to work for any goals they got.
Unfortunately, the momentum that the Canadiens got from that goal vanished almost instantly when Cole Caufield was called for slashing. However, the highlights afterward made it clear that Caufield didn't hit Quinn Hughes' stick hard enough to be called for slashing, and it looked to have already been compromised before he made contact.
After the game, Martin St. Louis was asked about his thoughts on the play and was very direct: "I thought he sold it, and I thought he created the broken stick."
There is no way to say that the Canadiens would have gotten two points, but they didn't even get the chance to compete for it in overtime. The Wild having the man advantage in overtime was all they needed, and they scored before Montreal had any chance to put together an offensive attack.
Jacob Fowler did his best Carey Price impression
On a night that the Canadiens honored one of the greatest goalies in franchise history, Carey Price, it made sense that the goalies would be on display in this game. Jesper Wallstedt is one of the top goalies in the NHL right now and in the Top 5 in goals against average (1.93) and save percentage (.925), while leading the league in wins (12).
However, Jacob Fowler matched Wallstedt almost every step of the way and played just as well as the Wild goalie. Fowler finished the game stopping 22 of 24 shots, but it is tough to blame him for either goal allowed, as one was on the breakaway and the other was in overtime with Minnesota on the power play.
It is going to be interesting how the Canadiens manage a three-goalie rotation once Samuel Montembeault returns because right now, sending Jacob Fowler back to Laval is not an option.
The Montreal Canadiens will need to quickly move on from this game and turn their focus to Thursday in a pivotal meeting with the Boston Bruins as the two teams atop the Atlantic Division face off.
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