The Montreal Canadiens saw Jonathan Drouin play arguably his best game in a Canadiens uniform last night as he and the Canadiens take down the Leafs in a shootout.
The Montreal Canadiens end their second game of the season with an extremely dramatic win against the Toronto Maple Leafs. A very rough start from the Canadiens’ rookies soon turned into one of the biggest character wins we’ve seen in a long time for the Canadiens. Jonathan Drouin, Max Domi and Carey Price proved their worth to their team tonight as they all played one of the best games of their careers.
The Canadiens started the game off on a positive note as Max Domi got on the board after a gorgeous feed from Lehkonen. I really liked Lehkonen’s patience in this play as he fed the puck to Domi at the perfect time to allow Domi to lift it above Hutchinson’s pad and into the net. Domi had a tough first game, so it feels good to see him get on the board for the first time this season. Unfortunately for the Habs, the Leafs were just getting started.
Tying the game after a poor play by Cale Fleury was Auston Matthews, as he was left alone high slot to beat Price with a dangerous wrist shot. Although Fleury had a decent first period altogether, this mistake was very costly and will be reviewed by the coaches for sure. Fleury wasn’t the only one to make a mistake as Nick Suzuki wasn’t strong enough in his own end to clear the puck, resulting in a very bad turnover which also led to a goal by Kerfoot. The Leafs took the lead in the game, arguably due to the two rookies’ mistakes. Mistakes are bound to happen as they are part of the game, and are the only way these rookies will learn. It is unfortunate that they made these mistakes at very costly times, but this, by no means, defines their play style and potential.
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Besides the goals, I really enjoyed the pressure put on from Jonathan Drouin, Max Domi and Brendan Gallagher as they were very threatening in the offensive zone and each had glorious chances to get goals all period long. Defensively, Jeff Petry also had a menacing presence as he played his role perfectly defensively, and perfectly joined the offensive plays, as he had scoring chances himself. Overall, the first period was lost by the Canadiens as the rookies made mistakes, but this is part of their learning and will only make them better.
The 2nd period could easily have been summarized by one word: depressing. Absolutely no heart, emotion or effort was shown by every single player on the Habs besides Drouin. Again being physical, Drouin has given his heart since day 1, which in itself is very good news and is great to see coming from him. As the Leafs doubled their advantage to 2 goals, partly due to a bad pinch from Jeff Petry, they purely dominated the Canadiens in every sense of the word, all period long.
They would not allow any offense to be generated in their defensive end, and they spent almost the entire period on the offensive zone dancing around the Habs. One player who has stepped up his game compared to his first was Shea Weber, as he was playing more physical, but nowhere near to where he should be. We’re very used to seeing big shots from Weber, and he has been very shy of shooting the puck so far this season. Although the Habs had a very bad evening to this point, performances from Drouin and Domi are making fans happy and hopeful for the rest of the team to eventually/hopefully feed off of their efforts and get the engine started for the Habs.
Not only was no passion present on the ice, but the Habs were taking extremely poor penalties which clearly didn’t benefit them as the Leafs seemed as though they were playing with their eyes closed. Coaches and leaders needed to wake the team up before it is too late into the season. As we’ve seen last game against the Hurricanes, the Habs can turn things around, and fast, but they would need to come out of the gate very hard and fast for the 3rd period, and play unified.
Where to begin for the 3rd? Do I delete everything I already wrote and start over? The 3rd period the Habs played tonight may have been the best period they’ve played in the past two seasons. After letting in a goal, Jonathan Drouin got the Canadiens back on the board after a tremendous effort and amazing shift. The character we have seen from Drouin this season is so promising. It’s hard to believe how a player who had 0 points in the last 20 games last season is playing with as much heart and effort as he is now. If he keeps this up, he will undoubtedly be the most appreciated player on the team this season.
It did not end there for the Habs. Brendan Gallagher, Jeff Petry (honorable mention to Kasperi Kapanen) and Phil Danault each got goals very fast as the Habs quickly took the lead in the 3rd. They were in literal flames. Surprising everyone watching, the Habs had gone from showing absolutely 0 emotion, 0 heart and 0 passion to suddenly coming back from a 3 goal deficit in the 3rd period. As hard as it is to believe, after having watched the first 40 minutes, the Habs finished the game in tremendous fashion with integrity and love for the logo on the front. Seeing the team happy and celebrating a much deserved win (only because of the 3rd period, obviously) feels extremely good.
The game then eventually went to overtime which was very fast and intense from both sides. Domi, yet again, had amazing chances to bring the victory home, but came short off the post. For 2 games now we’ve seen the potential and extreme threat of Domi in overtime as he uses his speed and strength to beat his opponents. After both teams failed to bring home the win in overtime, Carey Price stopped every shootout attempt from the 3 Leafs’ superstars as Paul Byron was the sole scorer in the shootout, bringing the win home to the much deserving Habs.
In conclusion, tonight felt as though we were watching 2 separate games. From extreme rough starts from Suzuki and Fleury, giving the Leafs an early lead which eventually turned into what seemed to be a wipeout, the Habs used character and heart to overcome the Leafs’ superstars and win the game in overtime.
Quickly going from one of the most frustrating games I’ve personally ever seen to one of the wins I’ll probably enjoy the most this season, I’m extremely appreciative of the efforts we saw from Jonathan Drouin and Max Domi. In terms of defence, Jeff Petry was yet again our best defenceman. Price portraying in the 3rd period and overtime why he is arguably the best goaltender in the world. Today was a prime example of what having offensive depth in a lineup can do to your team, and habs fans will enjoy this win for a long, long time.