The Montreal Canadiens’ had another successful night of hockey, winning 4-1 over the Detroit Red Wings and extending their win streak.
It was a scoreless 1st period but certainly was not uneventful. The Habs kickstarted the period on the PP but despite not grabbing any goals, they were able to create some great scoring chances for the team. Looking for the open man in the slot was a very big change from seeing them set up the predictable one-timer.
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The Red Wings got their chance to grab the 1st goal after Alexander Semin picked up a slashing penalty, but the Habs were able to easily kill it off. A minute after, Tomas Tatar created a great chance to put the rubber in the net as he closed in on Carey Price, but Price showed leather and made the save.
The Habs picked up a 2nd PP, creating 4 shot attempts but were left scoreless, but still showed improvement in zone entries as well as keeping pressure on the forecheck. Of course, the Red Wings were making it as difficult as possible for the Habs to pick up any points and Price was coming to the rescue by not letting the boys give up the lead.
While falling back in defense mode, the Habs gave Detroit the chance to easily score a couple of goals, including Gustav Nyquist‘s breakaway that was (once again) stopped by Price, but the Habs weren’t giving up any goals and they ended the period leading 12-8 in SOG.
The Rat Trick
Dylan Larkin opened up the 2nd period by giving the Red Wings a 1-0 lead 4 minutes and 47 seconds in, killing the Habs 1st goal streak after 5 games.
A roughing penalty from Justin Abdelkader put the Habs on their 3rd PP a few moments later, where Brendan Gallagher slid into Petr Mrazek and slid into the net where he brought the puck with him. Despite the refs taking a long, long look at the play, the puck entered the net in a legal fashion and the goal was counted.
The Habs became fired up, taking 12 shot attempts in a row before the Red Wings picked up their 1st shot attempt in over 5 minutes. With Tomas Fleischmann being sent off for tripping with 7 minutes and 3 seconds left in the 2nd period, the Red Wings had the chance to break the tie but were once again shot down by the Habs’ excellent PK.
Mandatory Credit: Jean-Yves Ahern-USA TODAY Sports
Torrey Mitchell also picked up a penalty with over 2 minutes left in the period but the Habs were successful with the PK, without a single shot on net for Detroit. The Habs grabbed a 4th PP into the 3rd from Jonathan Ericsson‘s tripping penalty, where Jeff Petry went 5-hole on Mrazek and gave Montreal a 2 point lead.
Detroit gave themselves another penalty with a little over 7 minutes left of the period, which gave the Habs a chance to pick up another point but the Red Wings’ PK ended any hope for a PP goal. The Red Wings were picking up the pace in order to stop the moving train that is Montreal, but struggle to keep the puck in the Montreal zone.
The Habs, however, had no issue keeping strong pressure on Detroit and with the few minutes they had left, Montreal showed that they were slowly becoming the offensive team they’ve needed to be for a while. With 2 minutes left, Gallagher’s turnover gave Tomas Plekanec the perfect chance to one-time the puck into the net and gave the Habs a 3-1 lead.
The icing on the cake was Brian Flynn hitting the empty net on a backhander with 1 second left, giving the Habs a 4-1 win over the Red Wings.
Overall, this game showed a different group of guys than what we’ve seen for the past 5 games. The PK was on point, the PP showed promise, and Price had less saving to do. I don’t know about you, but I’m certainly one happy fan.
What are your thoughts on Saturday night’s game? Let us know in the comments below!
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