The Montreal Canadiens were back on the ice Friday night for their second in a three-game West Coast road trip. After a 7-5 loss on Tuesday against the San Jose Sharks, they were looking to get on track against the Anaheim Ducks.
Unfortunately, the Canadiens once again suffered the loss but the difference here against the Ducks was they would lose in a shootout instead of regulation like they did against the Sharks. However, this is a game where it felt like they let a point slip away as the Ducks tied the game up with less than a minute left in the third period to send it into overtime and eventually a shootout.
These are some of the top takeaways from that game on Friday night as they look ahead to the next game against the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday.
Sam Montembeault struggles once again for Montreal
The Montreal Canadiens seemingly gave a vote of confidence to Sam Montembeault and Jakub Dobes on Friday after not making any moves before the NHL Trade Deadline. However, the players have not been able to reward that confidence after Dobes allowed six goals against the Sharks and Montembeault allowed five against the Ducks.
The night got off to a bad start almost immediately as he would allow a goal on the first shot he faced. The good news was that the goal would be waved off after the Canadiens challenged and won the challenge for offside.
Unfortunately, the Canadiens found themselves down shortly after as the Ducks would score on their very next shot with Cutter Gauthier giving Anaheim the lead.
Montembeault finished the game, stopping 28 of 33 shots he faced, and at times looked great. He would make big saves up close, saving seven of nine high-danger shots. However, the problem was that he didn't stop shots he should have, and the Ducks scored two long-distance goals on 13 shots, according to Natural Stat Trick.
Jakub Dobes will get the start against the Los Angeles Kings, and depending on how that game goes, the Montreal Canadiens could have a serious discussion about calling up Jacob Fowler on their long flight back from this road trip.
Juraj Slafkovsky makes an immediate impact on the top line
The Montreal Canadiens shuffled some of their forward lines ahead of this game, and the most notable change was Juraj Slafkovsky on the top line with Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki. It was almost an immediate impact as Slafkovsky had an assist on each of the first two goals by Montreal that helped get the lead in the first period.
For most of the season, the Canadiens have leaned on their kid line with Slafkovsky playing with Oliver Kapanen and Ivan Demidov. However, with the right wing spot being a glaring hole on that top line it makes sense now for the Canadiens to try and put their best three forwards together to see if they can make an impact.
They did just that as they combined for seven points in this game, with Cole Caufield scoring two goals and registering an assist, Nick Suzuki adding a goal and an assist, and Slafkovsky with the two assists.
Montreal Canadiens fight back once again but can't afford to keep digging themselves into these holes
For the second straight game, the Montreal Canadiens were down at least two goals in the third period and would find a way to at least tie it back up. In the game against the Sharks, Will Smith scored early in the third period to make it 5-2 San Jose before Montreal would score three straight.
On Friday night, Leo Carlsson scored within the first minute of the third period to take a 4-2 lead over Montreal. However, the Canadiens would once again score three straight but this time take the lead. They couldn't hold onto the lead, though, as Chris Kreider scored in the final minute after Anaheim pulled their goalie.
The struggles late in that final period, the past two games, could be tied to the fact that Montreal uses so much energy to fit back from the deficit they find themselves in that they don't have enough to close these games out. It is going to be important against the Kings to not only get the lead but build on it so they don't find themselves in this position once again.