Former Montreal Canadiens Forward Max Domi Becomes Game 7 Hero

Montreal Canadiens former general manager Marc Bergevin made a few controversial trades in his tenure with the Habs. Most of them turned out pretty good in the end, like the one that brought Max Domi to Montreal.

The forward had been playing with the Arizona Coyotes when he was dealt straight up for Alex Galchenyuk in a surprising offseason trade. It was just days before the draft, but that seemed to be Bergevin’s time to hunt as it was basically the same time on the calendar that he traded P.K. Subban fro Shea Weber.

The Domi trade sure looked good in year one when he broke out for career highs in goals with 28 and points with 72. But just one more season later and Domi was dealt to the Columbus Blue Jackets for Josh Anderson.

Anderson has established himself as a top six forward for the Canadiens, but Domi was dealt again this season. Minutes before the trade deadline, Domi was on the move in a quiet trade to the Carolina Hurricanes for Tyler Inamoto, a depth prospect.

But the Domi deal looked good yesterday. The Hurricanes were taking on the Boston Bruins in Game 7 if the opening round of the playoffs and the former Habs forward entered the game with no goals and two assists in the first six games.

But he exploded to become the story of Game 7 and the reason the Hurricanes were able to advance to the second round.

Teuvo Teravainen opened the scoring late in the first period, but it was Domi who had the primary assist off a beautiful passing play. Domi got the puck down low by the net but made an immediate one-touch pass to Teravainen who sent it home.

After that, it was Domi’s turn to put the puck in the net. He crashed the crease and banged in a loose puck early in the second period that gave the Hurricanes a 2-0 lead. It was a bit of a lucky bounce that came to him, but it took some deft stick handling to get the puck in front of the goal line and then he tucked it in.

The Bruins pulled within one in the second, but Domi responded with his second of the period. He cut to the slot and one-timed a pass from Teravainen who returned the favour with a perfect pass to Domi.

When Domi was acquired by the Canadiens, he was touted as an intense and “playoff type” player. He didn’t really get the chance to showcase that with the Habs, scoring just three points in ten playoff games in that awkward bubble situation in 2020 when he wasn’t sure he could play due to a global pandemic just hitting and him dealing with health issues.

Before that, Domi quickly became a fan favourite with his skill and rough and tumble style. Watching him lead the way as the Hurricanes knocked off the Bruins isn’t going to have him lose any favour in Montreal.

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Jesperi Kotkaniemi, of the new eight-year $38.56 million contract was held scoreless in all seven games of the series.