Montreal Canadiens Fall To Canucks In Yet Another Overtime Loss

Montreal Canadiens overtime games have become very predictable lately. In short, they lose.

The Canadiens took on the Vancouver Canucks last night at the Bell Centre in their eighth meeting of the year. Though the Canadiens have been up and down this season, they have been very successful against the Canucks.

In their first set of meetings, the Habs offence dominated the three game set, scoring 17 times in three games and going 2-0-1 in a trio of games on the west coast. In total, the Canadiens were 5-0-2 versus the Canucks heading into last night’s game.

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The contest, like all game this season, was huge in the standings. Every game is against a division opponent and things are tightening up in the North Division. The Canucks entered last night’s contest just two points back of the Habs, who occupy the final playoff spot. The Canadiens have played four less games than the Canucks, but you can’t take anything for granted in this division.

The game started with the Habs playing a little tentative and not getting a lot going in the first period. There were not many chances early on in the game but Allen did come up with a huge save on Brandon Sutter.

The Canadiens were gifted a power play late in the first period when Nick Suzuki stumbled but drew a phantom tripping penalty on the play. They took advantage of the opportunity as Jeff Petry fired a puck off the crossbar and Corey Perry knocked in the rebound.

The Canadiens went into the second period with the lead but quickly fell behind. Early in the middle frame, Shea Weber would jump up into the neutral zone to try and break up a play but the puck got behind him and Adam Gaudette was first to the net. He redirected a pass to tie the game.

Just four minutes later, the Canucks would pull ahead. The Habs were stuck in their own end for an extended period of time and Nils Hoglander would tip a point shot that beat Jake Allen.

The Canadiens would pressure the Canucks for much of the rest of the game looking for the tying goal. Petry hit the post with a blast from the point off a face-off. Perry set up Suzuki for a chance with a perfect blind pass from behind the net into the slot. Suzuki had an opportunity to tie the game with a minute and a half to play but his stick shattered.

Then, Tyler Motte of the Canucks put the puck over the glass with just over a minute to play. The Habs pulled their goalie for an extra attacker and had a 6 on 4 opportunity.

Nick Suzuki took the face-off in the Canucks zone and won it back to Petry. The puck quickly came back to Suzuki and he took a step toward Canucks goaltender Thatcher Demko before wiring a wrist shot into the goal to tie the game.

It was the Habs second power play of the game and it secured a point in the standings. The third period ended with the two teams tied at 2.

I would go on, but we all know how overtime goes for this team, right? Danault takes the opening face-off, creates nothing offensively and then the other team scores. Well, that’s exactly what happened when JT Miller beat Tomas Tatar wide and cut to the net before beating Allen to win the game.

It makes the Canadiens an unbelievable 0 for 9 in extra time this season. They are still in a playoff spot, but if they were 5-4 in overtime this season they’d be tied for first in the division. If they were even 3-6 in overtime, which doesn’t sound like much to ask, they’d be two points back of first in the division with a game in hand of the division leading Toronto Maple Leafs.

Alas, they lost, Like they always do in extra time. The two teams meet again tonight.