Montreal Canadiens: 24 Thoughts On Habs Shootout Win Over Jets
Second Period Thoughts
With a tie heading into the second frame, it should be expected that both teams would battle to steal the momentum early on. The Canadiens started the Alex Newhook, Juraj Slafkovsky and Josh Anderson line, with Newhook winning the faceoff. Unfortunately, they lost control of the puck and it ended up in the back of their net, on a tally by Lowry.
15 seconds into the second period and the Habs are down a goal, in a game where they have been heavily outshot. The Jets attacked again, and Slafkovsky turned the puck over to Mason Appleton who fed a pass to Nino Niederreiter. He made no mistake slipping a shot past Allen.
Caufield put two shots towards the net and looked to have a little more jump in his stride. He was flying and made a couple of rushes where it looked like the defender wasn’t even there. Although Caufield was unable to capitalize, his shift gave the lineup some energy and they seemed faster than they were in the first period.
With five minutes gone in the second, the Canadiens increased their shot output to 11. While the number isn’t significant, especially when compared with Winnipeg’s 22 shots, the majority of the shots were of the high-danger variety. Slafkovsky, Anderson and Newhook’s speed was noticeable, and the Jets definitely had all they could handle with that line on the ice.
The crowd had nearly reached their boiling point, down 3-1, and a couple of missed calls later, they were awarded with a Habs powerplay. Lowry went to the box for tripping, and the Canadiens had a great chance to pull within one goal. Sean Monahan made Brossoit guess, and he guessed wrong, sliding one way, and he just tucked it in with a nice backhand. Assists went to captain Nick Suzuki, and his assistant captain Mike Matheson.
Allen handled the onslaught by the Jets quite well, and while he wasn’t involved in the powerplay tally, he has held the Jets at three goals. With 10 minutes to go, and down by one goal, the Canadiens put on their work boots and supported one another, on the back of Allen’s inspiring play. The Habs’ fifth powerplay goal of the season has shown a lot of the team’s fighter’s mentality and drive to keep improving.
Approaching five minutes to play, the Habs had 17 shots, but couldn’t get anything past Brossoit. They weren’t playing poorly, but the bounces just weren’t in their favour. Caufield almost had a clear one-timer shot on a tee from Brendan Gallagher, but it got blocked.
The final two minutes came, and the teams both kept pushing hard. Anderson had a couple of rush opportunities showing off his speed, but his shots didn’t translate to any rebound. Allen let out a rebound, and it eventually came back to Barron who fired it over the glass trying to dump it out of the zone. With seven seconds left, Montreal went to the box, fortunately, Harvey-Pinard was able to clear the puck down the ice and hold the Jets to just a single-goal lead.
Third Period Thoughts
Montreal starts the final period, with the majority of their penalty kill remaining, which could really sway the momentum in favour of one team. The outcome of the Jets powerplay won’t determine the final score, but it will definitely be a confidence boost. Mike Matheson came out for the third but returned to the locker room.
Winnipeg pressed for their fourth goal of the game, but Harvey-Pinard’s shorthanded breakaway seemed to spark the Habs. Guhle continued his strong play, making a nice play in his own end, to move the puck up the ice. He then made a great pass to Armia, who sniped a wrister past Brossoit, assisted by Guhle.
Tanner Pearson got his name in on the PA announcer’s call of the penalty. He was a surprising combatant, but he went at it with Jets defenseman Brendan Dillon. Pearson didn’t really do well, but it fired up the Habs faithful.
There could be a strong argument that Guhle was the best defenseman, and played one of his best games that I have seen. He looked fast and very physical, which is expected from Guhle, but he looked a step faster like he taped rockets to his skates. The Alberta native was missed, but seeing him play really puts into perspective how important he is to the team.
Jonathan Kovacevic and Jordan Harris continued their strong play, while Newhook struggled in the faceoff dot. It was noticeably an issue, and I think serves as the answer to where he will play for the Canadiens, with Dvorak back soon, Newhook should move to the wing. Young centers often struggle in the faceoff circle, so it’s not an unexpected scenario.
Although Armia had a strong outing and looked to have a fire under his behind after his demotion to Laval, I would prefer Jesse Ylonen to eat up those minutes. Armia’s size was noticeable on the fourth line alongside Evans and Michael Pezzetta. But Ylonen’s speed and smart puck plays were missed in the bottom six.
Arber Xhekaj didn’t score any goals or punch anybody in the head, but he was physical the whole night, oftentimes battling Lowry who is a load at 6’5″ and 209 lbs. He also skated well, and he and his defence partner Barron played strong games. The pair are big, quick and have a bit of offensive punch, the future of the Canadiens blueline looks very promising.
The five-minute mark of the third came and went, and Caufield was yet to bring the crowd to their feet, it was approaching his sweet spot. Arber Xhekaj got called for a slash on Nikolaj Ehlers with 1:42 left in the third period, and the Jets loaded up to tie the game, but the Habs held them off to earn one point.
Overtime
Montreal started off the overtime period with 20 seconds remaining in the penalty to Xhekaj, and the Habs managed to kill it off. The Jets stabilized Suzuki and Caufield during their first shift, and the duo looked upset. A minute remained in the period, and both sides were pushing hard, Caufield had a nice one-timer chance, but Brossoit robbed him.
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