10 Thoughts: Habs wrap up road trip with 2-1 win over Avs

Les Habitants landed in Denver on Saturday to take on the Colorado Avalanche for the final stop of their holiday road trip, following on from Columbus, Miami, Tampa, Las Vegas, and Chicago. Always a tough trip, and at times disastrous for the team’s goals, this time the bleu, blanc, et rouge were on the winning side of the ledger coming to Colorado, with a 3-2 record over the first five games.

The Habs brought their disciplined game with them, to good effect, the defence holding the Avalanche to just 19 shots through regulation and rookie goaltender Jakub Dobes allowing but a single goal. They finally clinched a 2-1 victory from Cole Caufield and Kirby Dach’s goals in the shootout to finish the road trip on a 4-2 record.

Starting Lines

Caufield – Suzuki – Slafkovsky
Pezzetta – Dach – Newhook
Heineman – Evans – Armia
Anderson – Dvorak – Gallagher

Hutson – Matheson
Guhle – Carrier
Xhekaj – Struble

Dobes
Montembeault

Ten Thoughts

1) The game opened with some free-flowing play, but the Avalanche had the early edge, applying pressure in the Montreal zone. The Habs’ defence kept the shots to the outside, but Dobes had to be alert in net to avoid an early goal against, a far too frequent feature of the Montreal games.

2) Cole Caufield was called for high-sticking Cale Makar four minutes in, but the Habs’ penalty killers were able to keep the Avalanche to the outside again, and the only shots that made through were both above the crossbar. However, Alex Newhook followed that with a slashing penalty at 7:43, and this time the luck was not with the Canadiens. Nathan MacKinnon made a pass from the top of the left circle to Mikko Rantanen at the right post, and the puck bounced into the net from Rantanen’s skate for a 1-0 Colorado lead.

3) At this point, shots were 5-0 with 11 minutes still left in the period, and things were looking a bit grim for the Habs. And they didn’t get much better very quickly, either, as the Avalanche finished the period with an 8-4 edge in shots and a 61% Corsi rating, reflecting their strong possession performance. The Canadiens outshot the Avs 8-5 in the second, but with few dangerous chances and they were still unable to match Colorado in terms of puck possession.

4) The Joel Armia-Jake Evans-Emil Heineman line showed its offensive potential early in the third, building on a series of puck battles in the defensive zone to create a pair of scoring chances for Heineman and Evans but they were unable to beat Mackenzie Blackwood.

5) Shortly afterwards, former Hab Artturi Lehkonen was called for high-sticking Cole Caufield. Lehkonen argued vehemently that it was Caufield’s own stick, but to no avail. However, just 38 seconds into the penalty, Kirby Dach was called for tripping Logan O’Connor, nullifying the power play.

6) Evans was at it again with less than seven minutes left, poking the puck away from Parker Kelly’s stick as the Avalanche were rushing into the Montreal zone. Lane Hutson picked up the puck and passed it to Caufield on the right side of centre ice. Caufield forwarded it to Nick Suzuki on the left as the two streaked into the Colorado zone on a two-on-one, and the captain then returned the puck to Caufield on the right. Caufield wristed the puck over the sliding Blackwood’s pad on the right side to tie up the game.

7) Kaiden Guhle was sent off at 18:16 of the final frame for slashing MacKinnon in what was at best a marginal penalty call. The penalty killing unit played well once again and the Habs survived the first 1:44 of the penalty in regulation. And another 16 seconds of four-on-three play in the overtime, with but one shot for Colorado. And as Guhle sprang out of the box, he received a gift breakaway as MacKinnon’s shot caromed around the boards and to centre ice. Alas, Guhle was unable to beat Blackwood on the opportunity.

8) Lehkonen was sent off to the box again three minutes into overtime as he barrelled into Dobes as he had a breakaway with only Guhle defending. The power play–still without the ill Patrik Laine–was unable to get a single puck on Blackwood, though. As the penalty expired, a falling Josh Manson batted the puck out of the Colorado zone, finding Lehkonen, sprinting out of the penalty box. On a totally clear breakaway, Lehkonen had all the time in the world, but Dobes was still able to foil him with a pad save.

9) Caufield opened the shootout with a very casual-looking wrist shot over Blackwood’s right pad and under the blocker. Jonathan Drouin, another former Canadien, thought he had Dobes beat as he went to his backhand but Dobes had his trapper ready for that. After that, Suzuki lost the puck before taking the shot, and Dobes gave Rantanen nothing to shoot at. Dach then wrapped up the proceedings by lifting the puck over Blackwood’s left pad, giving the Habs a hard-fought win.

10) And that was it for the road trip. In spite of a disappointing loss to the Blue Jackets in the first game and a loss to Chicago in a goaltending duel, it was better than anyone had the right to expect, as the Habs beat all four teams that have won the Stanley Cup in the last five years. With only one point separating them from the last Wild Card playoff spot and five points from third place in the division, the team has clawed its way back from a terrible start and they are now undeniably “in the mix” for a playoff spot.

HW Habs Three Stars

First Star: Jakub Dobes (23 shots, 22 shaves, .957 save percentage, 1.512 GSAx) followed his debut shutout with another excellent performance, keeping the Canadiens within one until they were finally able to get on the board themselves. Add to that a perfect result from the shootout, and the young Czech goaltender is showing great promise, although two games is rather early to anoint him as Montreal’s next great goaltending hope.

Second Star: Cole Caufield (1 goal, 3 shots, +1, 22:41 TOI) showed what he can do, beating Blackwood twice, once on the pretty two-on-one play with Suzuki, and then a second time in the shootout. While there is no questioning his power play credentials, he continues to show his versatility by scoring when it’s most needed.

Third Star: Joel Armia (0 goals, 0 assists, +0, 16:45 TOI), along with Evans and Heineman, brought his top defensive game. MacKinnon and Rantanen got barely a look at Dobes with this line on the ice, and Armia was particularly strong in winning battles against the top Avalanche players.