After losing in Winnipeg on Saturday, the Habs looked to get back in the win column on Tuesday as they hosted Buffalo. They took advantage of a big night from Patrik Laine on the power play and picked up the 6-1 win.
Martin St. Louis elected to not make any changes from their loss to the Jets, meaning that Jayden Struble and Michael Pezzetta remained healthy scratches. Meanwhile, Samuel Montembeault got the start in goal. The team lined up as follows:
Caufield – Suzuki – Slafkovsky
Newhook – Dach – Laine
Anderson – Dvorak – Gallagher
Heineman – Evans – Armia
Hutson – Matheson
Guhle – Barron
Xhekaj – Savard
1) With the Sabres losing 10 straight coming into this one, getting off to a good start and taking away their confidence was a key for Montreal. Mission accomplished on that front. On the opening shift of the game, Jake Evans took a shot that missed but the rebound hit Owen Power and went right to Joel Armia. He had a partially empty net to shoot at and made no mistake. I thought it was odd that the Habs started their fourth line but it definitely worked out.
2) One issue the Habs have run into lately is not capitalizing on their chances. Despite getting the lead 19 seconds in, they failed to score on several chances soon after. Alex Newhook was denied on a breakaway and that was sandwiched by a pair of goalposts, one where the referee called it a goal at the time. Alas, Patrik Laine’s fourth of the season would have to wait a little longer.
3) But not much longer. Just past the six-minute mark, Lane Hutson hustled back to break up a Zach Benson rush, drawing a holding penalty for his efforts. The power play went to work from there with Buffalo somehow leaving Laine wide-open in ‘his spot’ (the left-side faceoff circle). Nick Suzuki sent a pass over and Laine picked his spot, beating Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen high to double the lead. Considering how poorly the last home game went for the Habs, this couldn’t have been scripted any better.
4) It’s worth highlighting another missed opportunity, however. When Mattias Samuelsson went off for interference on Kirby Dach (a play that caused Dach to get pulled by the concussion spotter), the Canadiens couldn’t do anything with the man advantage. Meanwhile, Samuel Montembeault had to make a stop on a breakaway for his first save of the game. Buffalo picked things up from there although the Habs were able to keep them off the scoresheet.
5) I had some worries about Montreal letting up to start the second and those concerns came true for a bit. Montembeault had to make a big save on the opening shift and then a few minutes later, Dylan Cozens fired one home to make it a one-goal game. Fortunately, it didn’t matter in the end as Juraj Slafkovsky was able to get it back two minutes later, banking one off Luukkonen and in, sparing me from lamenting another missed opportunity when Newhook hit the crossbar moments earlier.
6) Then it was Laine’s time to shine. He has a high-end shot and likes to shoot from his spot. Sometimes, even knowing that isn’t enough as he fired two more past Luukkonen on separate two-man advantages to turn it into a rout. Remember when the Habs went more than two years between five-on-three goals? (It was only earlier this month that streak was snapped.) Now they’ve scored on three straight in two weeks. Both of those stats are a bit of an anomaly.
7) Most of the second half of the period was uneventful but the Sabres decided to gift Montreal a late goal through some sloppy defence. (Or, perhaps more aptly, non-existent defence.) The end result was Christian Dvorak going cross-crease to Josh Anderson who tucked it into an open net.
8) The third period featured a whole lot of nothing from both sides. Really, that’s not too surprising; the Habs didn’t want to run it up and Buffalo couldn’t get out of there fast enough. I’ll point out that Montreal killed off a five-on-three but that was about it for noteworthy events.
9) Montreal has now tied the NHL record for most games without recording more than 30 shots on goal with 31. I know the trend now is to greater prioritize puck possession but on a lot of nights when this team isn’t scoring, it feels like throwing the puck on net and hoping for a rebound or two – the older-fashioned approach – might be worth a try.
10) Buffalo is a cautionary tale for just adding another year to the rebuild each season. Their original one didn’t work so they tried another, then another. Meanwhile, most of their core players from the first one are long gone and now we’re seeing speculation about them needing to shake things up again. (At 11 straight losses, that speculation is justifiable too.) Yes, the Habs’ rebuild is going to be extended based on how this season has gone but this is an example of how missing the playoffs too many years in a row can snowball.
1st Star: Patrik Laine – At five-on-five, I didn’t think he had a great game, to be honest. But scoring three power play goals makes all of that forgettable. Laine is still clearly playing his way into form, but being that big of a threat on the man advantage will buy him plenty of patience from the coaches.
Stats: 3 goals, -1 rating, 5 shots, 13:12 TOI
2nd Star: Juraj Slafkovsky – In his last game against Buffalo, he had three points and there was some hope it would spark a breakout which didn’t happen. In this one, he showed enough improvement that there should be some hope that the breakout – or at least some more consistency – could start now. This was a solid complementary game from Slafkovsky who looked at home on that top line.
Stats: 1 goal, 1 assist, +1 rating, 2 shots, 14:35 TOI
3rd Star: Joel Armia – A couple of penalties notwithstanding, this was a very effective game from Armia on both sides of the ice. He scored the opening goal and kickstarted that play with a takeaway. He was solid on the forecheck and strong on the penalty kill. It’s exactly the type of game that buys him a long rope with the coaches and the type of game that will have him generating interest closer to the trade deadline if he isn’t signed to an extension by then.
Stats: 1 goal, +1 rating, 4 PIMS, 1 shot, 11:50 TOI
