The Canadian certainly deserved a better fate. As Martin St-Louis indicated, he played well enough to hope to win. However, had it not been for the prowess of Samuel Montembeault in the first period, we might have closed the books early.
Fresh and ready, the Stars put Montembeault to the test on 16 occasions during the first 20 minutes of play. It was only one shot less than the 17 that the Habs allowed to the Capitals the day before, during the entire match.
“Monty was excellent,” said Juraj Slafkovsky. We had a slow start. Meanwhile, the Stars were flying on the ice. »
The Bécancourois suspected that this was what was going to happen since he and his teammates returned rather late from the American capital. With Patrik Laine and David Savard, both back after an absence of four games, he was undoubtedly the most rested teammate in the French camp.
“It was important for me to come out strong in the first period,” said the Quebecer. Afterwards, the guys found their legs. We had an excellent second period during which we had a few scoring opportunities. But [Jake] Oettinger also did well. »
Play smart
For the third time in a row, the Montrealers saw their winning streak stop at three, but Montembeault preferred to see the result of the match on the positive side.
“Yes, it’s a little disappointing, but it’s another big point that we picked up against a good team,” he argued.
Not to mention that the Stars have already seen snow. It’s not a close, low-scoring game that’s going to make them panic. However, not so long ago, the Habs might have collapsed under the pressure.
Yesterday, that was far from being the case.
“We must be calculated in our actions. We must avoid helping the other team, stressed St-Louis. We played a very intelligent third period. We gave ourselves a chance to get two points, but above all we made sure to get one. »
Once again, this is a sign of great progress.
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