Montreal Canadiens: Three Stars From Hard Fought Loss To Winnipeg Jets
Montreal Canadiens fans are quickly becoming sick of seeing the reverse retro jerseys that the team is using this year.
Maybe it’s because they are fairly ugly, maybe it is because the NHL is just fulfilling a marketing ploy they came up with during the pandemic shutdown. But most likely it’s because the team has played some of its worst hockey of the season with the predominantly blue jerseys on.
Now, I’m not here to suggest that the blue jerseys actually affect the way that the Habs play, but did you see how last night’s game started?
The puck dropped and the ice immediately tilted into the Habs zone. The Winnipeg Jets had two excellent chances to take an early lead in the first two minutes and were outshooting the Canadiens 4-0 before the first whistle.
The Canadiens were able to hold the Jets off the board for half of a period, but with 9:21 to go in the opening period a Blake Wheeler centering attempt banked in off of Paul Stastny’s skate to open the scoring.
Five minutes later, a Tyler Toffoli turnover to Mathieu Perreault quickly ended up in the Habs net and it was 2-0 Jets after the opening period.
The Canadiens bounced back in the second period with their suddenly dangerous power play getting them on the board first. It was Corey Perry getting the puck to the front of the net where Tomas Tatar had a whack at it before Brendan Gallagher hammered it home.
Before the end of the period, Tyler Toffoli tied it up when a Jonathan Drouin shot ricocheted off Nick Suzuki and then went in off of Toffoli’s skate to tie the game.
The third period saw an errant pass attempt from Jake Allen to Shea Weber lead to the Jets third goal. Allen moved the puck around the boards and Weber missed it. Then, for some reason, Weber followed Suzuki up the boards as Suzuki tried to chase the loose puck down.
Neither Habs player could catch it but Weber left Stastney wide open down low. When Mark Scheifele picked up the loose puck he quickly fired it to Stastney who then beat Allen over the shoulder with a great wrist shot.
The score remained 3-2 until a Jeff Petry point shot was tipped by Jonathan Drouin in the high slot and then redirected in front by Corey Perry to tie the game with just over a minute left.
An entertaining overtime period saw several chances at both ends of the ice with Allen and Hellebuyck making great saves. A costly error that saw Joel Armia bump into Petry in the defensive zone left Pierre-Luc Dubois wide open in the slot and he fired a pinpoint wrist shot over Allen’s glove to give the Jets the win.
Third Star: Corey Perry
The Canadiens roster appeared set just before training camp, but then they decided to add a couple of veterans in Corey Perry and Michael Frolik. It has provided the team with a little extra depth and with Josh Anderson currently out of the lineup, Perry stepped in to provide a veteran presence.
He does a little more than just add experience to the lineup, as he can still play. Perry provides a net front presence and a little bit of extra grit and battle along the boards thatches in handy.
He used this to create two of the Habs three goals last night.
With the Habs down 2-0 early in the second period, things were heading in the wrong direction. The Canadiens got a power play opportunity and it was Perry who drove to the net with the puck. Though it was knocked away he made a subtle little poke at the loose puck at the top of the crease to get it to Tomas Tatar.
Tatar fired the puck, but it was blocked and then Brendan Gallagher pounced on the loose puck and hammered it past Connor Hellebuyck.
It was Gallagher’s goal, but it was Perry who got the puck to the front of the net and also made a nice little pass to Tatar to create the chance for Gallagher.
Then, in the dying minutes, the Canadiens pulled their goalie as they trailed 3-2. Perry was on the ice and went straight to the front of the net where he is so dangerous. Jeff Petry made a nice little move at the blue line with the puck to open up space and then drifted a wrist shot towards the net. Jonathan Drouin made a nice tip high in the slot but Perry also got a piece of it, redirecting the puck into the net to tie the game with 1:24 to go.
Second Star: Jake Allen
Jake Allen allowed four goals on just 25 shots which gives him a save percentage of .840 for the night. That is not good if you just look at the numbers. However, a closer look at the game showed that Allen was one of the Canadiens best players.
First of all, this team is pretty fragile right now. Even though they did win their last game, it was on the heels of a five game losing streak, and it was a tight contest against the Ottawa Senators who are sitting near the bottom of the league standings.
The Winnipeg Jets are a different beast altogether, and they came out of the gate flying. Just two minutes into the game, the Jets were outshooting the Habs 4-0 and had a couple of high quality scoring chances. The game could have been 1-0 in the first 30 seconds, but Allen’s first save of the night was a brilliant one.
He also came up huge in overtime, making several exceptional saves to give the Habs a chance to secure the second point in the standings.
He stopped sniper Kyle Connor on a clear cut breakaway from the other side of centre ice.
He also made a couple big saves on one-timers that looked like sure goals. At the end of the night, four goals against on 25 shots doesn’t sound great, but of those 21 saves Allen made, several were high quality and helped the Habs earn one point, and nearly got them another.
First Star: Jonathan Drouin
Jonathan Drouin has been reaching another level lately. He has always had speed and skill, but he never really seemed to put it all together in a Habs sweater so far. He would show bursts of quality play here and there but then look like he is just drifting around the perimeter for a stretch as well.
This season, especially lately, he has looked terrific. Last night was no exception. He has been playing on the team’s top line with Nick Suzuki and Josh Anderson most of the season, but with Anderson injured, Tyler Toffoli has stepped up to play on the most dangerous scoring line on the team.
Drouin twice made great plays that led to the Habs tying the game last night.
With the Canadiens trailing 2-1 in the second period, Drouin got the puck to Alexander Romanov at the point. He then came up high to support Romanov and got the puck back, turned and fired a wrist shot at the net. It was tipped by Nick Suzuki and then went off Tyler Toffoli’s skate, but it found the back of the net. It wasn’t Drouin’s most creative play of the year, but the awareness to follow his pass up high in the zone to give Romanov an outlet opened things up just before he fired the puck at the net.
On the team’s third goal, with the goalie out, Drouin was in the high slot and made a great tip on a Jeff Petry wrist shot from the blue line. The puck would ricochet off Perry in front and tie the game with just over a minute left.
Drouin was behind the net, but when the puck went to Petry at the point, he allowed Perry to stay close to the goaltender, and moved to the high slot. The plan worked perfectly and the goal was originally given to Drouin, but later changed to Perry with Drouin getting credit for his second assist of the night.