SUMMARY
MONTREAL – In the curtain-raiser, the Canadian managed to whitewash the powerful Toronto Maple Leafs 1-0. An encouraging performance to cling to the possibility of remaining in the “mix”.
Here are our observations from this evening. It was the fifth consecutive year that the Canadian started his schedule against Toronto and it was a second triumph.
Montembeault impresses as number one
Samuel Montembeault does not need to be drawn, he realizes that his influence will be crucial in front of the CH net.
For this first season which he begins as number one in the NHL, Montembeault was both reassuring and smoking in his semi-circle. It’s hard to ask for better than a 47-save performance against the big guns of the Leafs. This is a league record for a shutout in an opening game.
Talk to Auston Matthews who was robbed by the Quebec goalkeeper’s mitt, in addition to being frustrated at point blank range at the very end of the game. Number 35 of the Habs, it must be said, also benefited from the help of its posts on two occasions.
Montembeault stopped Toronto from extending its streak to 227 games with at least one goal, the eighth longest in NHL history.
Caufield on the power play, what a scenario
The 0-for-30 performance of the power play during the preparatory games had many fans cringing.
Cole Caufield found the best way to start the season by finding the back of the net on the Habs’ second power play.
You had to see Caufield’s heartfelt celebration to understand the impact of this success.
The problem is that the Canadian could have broken away from the Leafs with his other opportunities on the power play, but the Leafs held the fort so well that Montreal finished the game with one goal in five attempts.
Matheson, Guhle and Hutson ready, each in their own way
Considering the youth of the defensive squad, it was obvious that Mike Matheson would be used extensively again this season.
Martin St-Louis and Stéphane Robidas did not hesitate to entrust him with a ton of missions so much so that he spent more than 25 minutes on the ice, including only 9:17 in the first period.
For Guhle, his performance was intriguing even though he missed most of the preparatory games. But the 21 is used to reacting like a veteran and that’s exactly what he did with a solid performance.
As for Hutson, he looked anything but a player playing his third game on the Bettman circuit. His offensive maneuvers were lively and no, he didn’t look bad in his territory.
Let’s add an honorable mention to Alex Barré-Boulet who had a strong first regular match in his father’s favorite team.
No love between Savard and Domi, Xhekaj keeps his cartridges
With the incident which cost Patrik Laine a two to three month absence in the preseason against the Leafs, it would not have been so surprising if Arber Xhekaj decided to send a message by competing against Ryan Reaves.
Xhekaj was rather cautious and we feel like congratulating him.
That said, we were instead witnessing physical confrontations between David Savard and Max Domi.
Things were brewing between the two players and Savard pleased himself in the most satisfying way by knocking down Domi with a powerful check. Enough to enrage the plague of Leafs.
Laine seems touched by the vibrant welcome
Criticized last year, the Canadian chose an original, and clearly successful, way of presenting his players to the crowd.
The players appeared on the ice to the music of an orchestra made up of around twenty musicians.
St-Louis triggered a superb reaction from the crowd, but we will especially remember the touching ovation for Patrik Laine who seemed to absorb the moment and who showed a smile in his colorful jacket.
Starting Thursday, CH will have another heavy task when they face the Bruins in Boston. That’s not all, the Senators will be in Montreal on Saturday evening, and the Canadian will conclude a start of four games in six days by hosting the Penguins next Monday.
More details to come.
