The Montreal Canadiens resumed their road trip in Tampa Bay on Sunday following some time off for the holiday break. After a disastrous second period, Montreal scored three unanswered goals to force overtime. The Bolts picked up the 5-4 win in the shootout.
The Canadiens seven-game road trip concludes this week with stops in Florida on Tuesday, Carolina on Thursday, St. Louis on Saturday, and Dallas on Sunday.
Habs Notes
Here some notes from Sunday.
- Montreal’s offence came from the line of Juraj Slafkovsky, Ivan Demidov, and Oliver Kapanen. Slafkovsky scored the two last goals to complete the comeback and also assisted on the opening goal by Demidov. In the last three games, Slafkovsky has seven points and Demidov has five.
- Meanwhile, the line of Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, and Zachary Bolduc struggled. Martin St. Louis swapped Bolduc with Alexandre Texier in the third period due to what he described a gut feeling. Notably, it is not the first time that Bolduc has been moved off the top line in the period.
- Philip Danault joined the team at the perfect time, with Jake Evans injured the next night. The club announced that Evans will miss four to six weeks with a lower‑body injury. Los Angeles Kings general manager Ken Holland may have increased the price for Danault if Evans was out at the time of the trade. Danault won 72 per cent of faceoffs on Sunday.
- Samuel Montembeault travelled with the team to Tampa Bay following his conditioning loan to Laval and acted as Fowler’s backup. The netminder started two games for the Rocket and had two full practices with goalie coach Marco Marciano before the break. Martin St. Louis advised that Montembeault will get another opportunity between the pipes with Montreal.
Rocket Notes
The Laval Rocket resumed action from the Christmas break with a double header against the Syracuse Crunch (Tampa Bay Lightning) at Place Bell. Joshua Roy, Laurent Dauphin, and Alex Belzile were back on the ice after serving a three-game suspension following a recent incident against the Toronto Marlies (Maple Leafs). Pascal Vincent’s squad swept the Crunch with 4-3 shootout win on Saturday, and 4-2 on Sunday.
The Rocket head on the road Wednesday to face the Belleville Senators (Ottawa), before returning home to host the Utica Comets (New Jersey Devils) on back-to-back days starting on Friday.
Here are some notes from the weekend.
- David Reinbacher played a key role in Saturday’s win with two primary assists, including on the game winning goal.
- Kaapo Kahknonen started both games. It is rare that Vincent starts the same goalie on back-to-back games. The decision paid off as Kahkonen had two solid performances making 33 and 31 saves, respectively.
- Belzile continues to play an important role on the club. He earned the first‑star in Sunday’s game after a three‑point performance. The alternate captain has 10 goals and one assist in the last nine games.
World Juniors Notes
The 2026 IIHF World Junior Championships kicked off on Boxing Day in Minnesota. The Canadiens have five representatives at the tournament. Here are some observations through Sunday’s games.
- Michael Hage co-leads Team Canada with Gavin McKenna with four points in two games. He has scored twice, including the overtime winner against Latvia on Saturday. He has taken 9 shots on goal, plus-2 rating while averaging 16:08 ice time. Hage has struggled on faceoffs, winning 27% (7-for-26) in two matches.
- Aatos Koivu has two points in two games. He’s taken six shots on goal, a plus‑4 rating, and is averaging 13:03 of ice time.
- Carlos Handel picked up an assist in Germany’s opening contest against the United States. The defenceman averages 24:24 ice, is a minus-2 rating and is also wearing an ‘A’ on his jersey.
- LJ Mooney hasn’t picked up a point in two games for the United States. He has five shots on goal and averaging 15:16 ice time.
- Mikus Vecvanags started Sunday’s game against Latvia and allowed eight goals on 41 shots.
Home › Forums › Canadiens Leaning On Slafkovsky, Demidov