Beating the top teams, the Habs have definitely taken a liking to it. Last night, it was the Washington Capitals, leaders of the Eastern Association, who suffered the wrath of the new Canadian.
A 3-2 victory acquired in overtime, thanks to Nick Suzuki’s fourth goal scored in a similar situation. This is certainly a gain that will allow Martin St-Louis and his men to erase some nightmarish moments from his first half of the season.
Getty Images via AFP
We will remember that during the last visit to Washington, the Habs collapsed in the third period. A late match that prompted St. Louis to claim that his team had “vomited on itself.”
The third period was also fatal for Montrealers when the Capitals visited the Bell Center. That evening, the Canadian could have had a better fate if his skaters had managed to take advantage of one or other of their four breakaways.
“You don’t see a lot of that. You have to change the way you think,” St-Louis said about Logan Thompson catching with his right hand.
Yesterday, that didn’t bother Josh Anderson who took advantage of a single presence in front of Thompson to give his team the lead, while Kirby Dach was in the cell.
Moreover, we have not felt a drop in performance among the Habs over the last twenty years. This time he held on. It was even he who dictated, to a large extent, the appearance of this period.
Revoilà Slafkovsky
Juraj Slafkovsky doesn’t give a damn about what is said and written about him. With good reason. However, we see that when his general manager speaks, he listens more.
-In his mid-season review, Kent Hughes said he expected more from his 20-year-old striker. Like what happened last season, the Slovakian showed a lot of inconsistency in the first half of the season.
Due to his young age, this is understandable. Except that at the dawn of the entry into force of his eight-year contract which will bring him $7.6 million per season, there is reason to scratch his neck a little.
Yesterday, Slafkovsky demonstrated that he may have gotten the message. The first overall pick in the 2022 draft didn’t have a perfect game, but he created his share of scoring chances. In the second period, particularly.
Let’s first point out that he was complicit in Cole Caufield’s fifth goal in as many games. The right winger offered a solid cross-ice pass to the team’s sniper who lodged the puck in the top of the net.
Previously, he had made fun of two opponents entering the zone before offering Suzuki an excellent scoring opportunity. At the end of the second period, he once again set the table for his captain. Once again, the latter was unable to benefit from it.
Facing the Stars without Dach?
The task will not be easier this evening, when the Canadian has a meeting with the Dallas Stars at the Bell Centre. Peter DeBoer’s squad, which has been waiting for the Habs since yesterday, has won its last six games.
We can guess that St-Louis would like to count on the returns of Patrick Laine and David Savard, who remained in Montreal. They each had to skip the last four meetings. The first due to flu symptoms, the second due to an upper body injury.
The Finn’s return would be all the more welcome as we should not be surprised to see the NHL give an additional sanction to Dach for the leg he gave to Tom Wilson in the second period. Recently, Zachary L’Heureux of the Predators received a three-game suspension following a similar action.
