The Montreal Canadiens were looking to get back on track after consecutive home losses and trying to get their first win since the first game of the season against the Toronto Maple Leafs. It took an extra period and a shootout but the Canadiens were finally able to secure a 1-0 shootout win.
Entering this game, the Canadiens had plenty of questions as they were without Florian Xhekaj and Oliver Kapanen but Kaiden Guhle was making his season debut after offseason surgery. This sort of forced the coaching staff to go with an 11-forward and seven-defensemen lineup, which was a first for this season.
It certainly seemed to pay off because the Canadiens had one of their better games of the season and controlled much of the game, finishing with a CF% of almost 65% according to Natural Stat Trick.
These were three takeaways for the Montreal Canadiens from the game on Saturday night.
Montreal Canadiens have three goals waived off
While the game went to overtime with no goals on the scoreboard, the Montreal Canadiens came painfully close on two separate occasions. The first was early in the game, in the first period, when Cole Caufield would get the puck in the corner and seemingly had no angle, but that didn't stop him from shooting. The puck would hit off Daniil Tarasov and go into the net.
However, the goal would be reviewed and it was ruled that the entire puck crossed the line and would be ruled no goal.
Then in the second period, it was Zachary Bolduc who thought he had the first goal of the game, but that would also be waived off, this time for goalie interference. It would have been Bolduc's fourth goal of the season if it had stood.
In overtime, the Canadiens thought they had the game-winning goal as Alexandre Texier beat Tarasov. However, that goal would also be waived off due to the play being called offside.
Jacob Fowler with a stellar performance in his second-straight start
The expectation was that Jakub Dobes would get the start after Jacob Fowler got the start on Thursday against the Nashville Predators. However, the coaching staff elected to go with the rookie and based on the performance, it was exactly the right call.
Fowler had to be perfect for the Montreal Canadiens and that is exactly what he did. He would stop all 30 shots he faced in regulation and overtime, including 10 power play shots, but also stop every shot he faced in the shootout.
When considering how Jakub Dobes has struggled a bit early in the season, and after this performance, it would make sense for the coaching staff to stick with Fowler for the game Tuesday against the Buffalo Sabres.
Kaiden Guhle already making an impact for the Canadiens
The Montreal Canadiens traded Jayden Struble on Friday and seemingly cleared a path for the return of Kaiden Guhle. The Canadiens would have him on Saturday and wasted no time making his presence known on this blueline.
Guhle finished the game with 15:35 of ice time with four hits, which tied Josh Anderson for the team lead.
With seven defensemen, the coaching staff seemed to switch the defensive pairs up pretty frequently, and Guhle had two minutes or more of ice time with four different defensemen, but he looked his best next to Alexandre Carrier.
These two together had the best xGF% of 78.68%, according to Natural Stat Trick, and are probably a pair the Canadiens might want to stick with moving forward to see if they can continue that success.
The Canadiens will have a few days off before the Buffalo Sabres come to town on Tuesday night.
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