SUMMARY
MONTREAL – After going 0-14-0, the Canadian won a third consecutive game by trailing after 40 minutes of action. A win also signed Lane Hutson against Quinn Hughes.
This means that the Canadian has enjoyed only a second victory in his last seven games following his return from the holiday trip! Above all, it is a fifth victory in six games for Montreal, which enters the playoff picture.
Here are our observations of this 5-4 overtime triumph against the Vancouver Canucks.
What an end to the match!
Down 3-1 midway through the game, the Canadian orchestrated a comeback to take a 4-3 lead in the final third via a goal from Hutson.
But frustrated with Tyler Myers, Cole Caufield responded and his indiscipline allowed the Canucks to tie the game, 4-4, with 11:09 remaining in regular time.
Nick Suzuki finally had the last word by scoring the winning goal on the power play on the third point of the evening for Hutson.
Confrontation between Hutson and Hughes
In the opinion of many, the best comparison, in the medium term, for Hutson is Quinn Hughes. The architect of the Canucks offense returned to action after missing four games.
It was just in time to face Hutson. The Canucks captain collected two assists (his 325th and 326th) in his 400th NHL game.
Besides a lost battle from Hutson, on Vancouver’s first goal, he did very well against Hughes. The little Canadian prodigy collected a goal and two assists. But the best part of the story is that his goal was scored when the puck deflected off Hughes’ right skate.
A little relaxation that almost sank the team
After walking from Columbus, to Sunrise, to Tampa, to Vegas, to Chicago and to Denver, it was predictable that the Canadian felt a dose of fatigue.
It was most evident during a brief sequence early in the middle period. JT Miller (his 2nd of the evening) and Jonathan Lekkerimaki threaded the needle in quick succession against Samuel Montembeault to allow the visitors to take a 3-1 lead.
The duo of Alexandre Carrier and Kaiden Guhle were on the ice for these two allowed goals. On the first, Carrier was unlucky on a rebound while, on the next, he applied pressure to the offensive blue line while the three CH forwards were skating deep in the opposing zone which caused an overcount.
But hey, Carrier has helped save a lot more goals since his arrival in Montreal.
The energy returns in front of its audience
That said, the Canadian did not let the fatigue of the trip lower his energy. Martin St-Louis’ troops instead responded with a point shot from Guhle which counted for the first time in 20 matches.
Honorable mention, once again, to the Jake Evans trio for orchestrating this success.
Subsequently, Suzuki and Kirby Dach generated serious threats on the opposing cage but Kevin Lankinen won.
Raise your heads, gentlemen!
In the first half, even though it was the first duel of the season between the two clubs, we felt an interesting animosity. Body checks were distributed significantly more often than shots on goal.
Guhle got the ball rolling by stamping Lekkerimaki, but Jayden Struble and Arber Xhekaj wanted to join in the dance. Miller made sure to respond at the expense of Lane Hutson and Tyler Myers didn’t shy away from Nick Suzuki.
It was perhaps to spice up the 1500th match of Quebec referee Eric Furlatt to whom we tip our hats. Furlatt and Frédérick L’Écuyer were booed in the third period for their tolerance, but they inflicted punishment at the very end of the game on the Canucks which led to Montreal’s triumph.
Unless it was in honor of Xhekaj’s bobblehead party.
More details to come.
