Happy who, like the Canadian, had a wonderful trip

The last four Stanley Cup winners since 2021 have been the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Colorado Avalanche, the Vegas Golden Knights and the Florida Panthers.

These are the four teams that the Canadian has just defeated during a breathtaking trip that he concluded on Saturday with a 2-1 shootout victory against the Avalanche.

It’s ironic that his only loss came against the worst team in the National Hockey League, the Blackhawks of Chicago, even if the Habs largely dominated this meeting during which they came up against a goalkeeper in great shape.

Saturday night, it was the Avalanche’s turn to be frustrated by a goaltender in full possession of his means. He got to know Jakub Dobes who, after signing a shutout in Florida in his first career start in the NHLwas even more convincing against the Avalanche.

The tall Czech goalkeeper hides his nervousness very well and exudes a lot of confidence and composure in front of his net. He got himself into the match in the second minute of the match by stopping the dangerous Mikko Rantanen’s one-timer from the top of the right circle.

The tone was set.

Even if the same Rantanen then scored the only goal for his team, Dobes stood out on numerous occasions against the Avalanche’s first line, which camped in the offensive zone in each of his appearances in the first two periods.

Then there was this save against Joel Kiviranta at 4 on 4 in the third period, this left pad that Dobes stretched enough to prevent Rantanen from scoring with less than two minutes to go and these shootout saves against Jonathan Drouin and Rantanen – him again! – who helped the Canadian achieve a rather improbable victory.

Unlikely because there is perhaps no place where it is more difficult to play a second game in two days than in Colorado, when a team is forced to forgo its morning practice and show up to play without having adjusted to the altitude.

Improbable also because the Avalanche, which led 1-0 after 40 minutes, had never lost this season when it held the lead after two periods.

But hockey is sometimes a pretty game of mirrors, because just a few days ago, in Vegas, it was the Canadian who managed to win his first game of the season after trailing after 40 minutes.

And 24 hours after allowing the Blackhawks to put an end to a long drought (five losses in a row), the CH interrupted the Avalanche’s streak of success, which had won its previous six games.

Guhle sacrificed himself

We often see in hockey the scenario of a team that dominates, but is unable to widen the gap. His opponent hangs on, remains patient and ends up deflating the club which will then regret not having taken advantage of its chances. That’s a bit of what happened to the Avalanche on Saturday. His puck possession perhaps didn’t translate into enough dangerous offensive plays and, when it did, Dobes made the necessary saves.

It’s a happy surprise to see a young goalkeeper arrive in the NHL and allowing just one goal on the first 57 shots he faced. The Canadian wants to win games and Dobes gives him the chance when he takes the net.

That said, it would be simplistic to explain this successful end of the trip solely by the brilliance of Dobes.

If the Avalanche only put 23 shots on target, it is partly because Kaiden Guhle blocked nine of them alone, which is a career high for him.

For the second time in 24 hours, the first two pairs of defenders were used excessively and did an excellent job. Paired with Guhle, Mike Matheson played an equally inspired game against the best elements of the Avalanche.

The entire defensive game has stabilized in recent weeks, with the Canadian having allowed two goals or less in six of their last nine games.

Cole Caufield is regularly the Canadian’s most dangerous attacker, not only because he has the compass in his eye, but also because he is dynamic without the puck and his defensive interventions often help to restart the game. attack.

By tying the score on a 2-on-1 descent with Nick Suzuki, Caufield also scored his 15^e goal of the season on foreign rinks, which constitutes a peak across the NHL.

In his first four seasons in the NHLCaufield had scored 46 goals in 102 games at the Bell Center and 35 goals in 103 games on the road. However, this year, 15 of his 21 goals so far have been scored abroad.

Slafkovsky, le seul flat

The only downside: we felt a gap between the superb team effort to resist an Avalanche which had just won 10 of its last 12 games and the performance of Juraj Slafkovsky compared to his teammates.

The latter happens to have good encounters here and there, but his speed of execution is often lacking this year, which was not the case in the second half of last season. His hesitation with the puck sometimes leads to possession losses, and while he did have some good plays against the Avalanche, it certainly wasn’t at the same volume as the other two members of his line.

Slafkovsky spent the final 12 minutes of the third period and overtime on the bench.

Jake Evans replaced him on a few catches alongside Suzuki and Caufield in the final third, and Evans’ retreat to the defensive blue line allowed Lane Hutson to orchestrate a quick recovery that led to Caufield’s goal . Given his confidence on offense and his level of defensive responsibility, the choice of Evans paid off.

Meanwhile, Martin St-Louis continues to give chances to Kirby Dach, even if the latter can still get in trouble. But Dach gets involved, he tries, and he is overall much more visible than Slafkovsky.

When the time came to confirm the shootout victory on Saturday, it was Dach who went to sign the document.

This trip beyond all expectations saw the Canadian change time zones four times in the space of seven days and play matches at odd times against several of the best teams on the circuit. Seeing him triumph like this is astonishing.

It’s a journey that can bring a lot of confidence to a young team that believes a lot in itself. This is a trip that is important for our group and I think we are up to the task.

What energy will the Canadian have left when it comes time to return to action, Monday night in Montreal, against the Vancouver Canucks?

It’s hard to be optimistic in this regard.

At the same time, after what we have just seen recently, it would be difficult to bet against this team which never ceases to surprise…