The Montreal Canadiens wrapped up their three-game road trip with a devastating 7-2 loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday. Colorado, wearing vintage Quebec Nordiques jerseys for the contest, took control of the game and kept their opponents out of reach for the entire 60 minutes.
“We had a really good start. Made a couple of mistakes that they made us pay for. They get one off the faceoff and then we’re chasing the game, trying to do too much. Our lack of details at that point and trying to gain it all back in one play hurt us,” Martin St. Louis said post-game.
Despite the disappointing result in Denver, the Habs returned home with four of the possible six points during their trip. It is a satisfactory collection of points, especially considering they had one win in six games before jumping on a plane to travel to Utah.
The next three opponents are Canadian teams as the Ottawa Senators and Winnipeg Jets visit the Bell Centre for a rare home back-to-back starting on Tuesday, followed by a trip to Toronto on Saturday to face the Maple Leafs, and then back in Quebec to host the St. Louis Blues on Sunday.
Habs Notes
Here are some latest observations around the team.
- After a stretch of 1-for-23, the power play succeeded three times in six opportunities during the road trip. Nick Suzuki and Zack Bolduc scored with the man advantage against the Mammoth, and Lane Hutson versus the Avalanche. For the game against Utah, St. Louis removed Ivan Demidov from the top unit and brought back Juraj Slafkovsky. Demidov wasn’t the problem, but the current five‑man combination looks like the better fit.
- The line of Suzuki, Bolduc, and Cole Caufield finally started producing. In addition to the two power play goals, the trio scored three of the team’s seven even strength goals.
- Jayden Struble was a late scratch in Colorado with an upper body injury. The team did not announce the severity of the injury, with an update expected on Monday. Struble’s absence forced Adam Engstrom, and Arber Xhekaj into the lineup. The pair rotated spots to begin the trip. The Canadiens listed a pairing of Hutson and Xhekaj on Saturday, but they did not spend a lot of time on the ice together. As a result, St. Louis primarily rolled with the four other defencemen through 40 minutes. Engstrom and Xhekaj started getting more regular ice time in the third, when the game was no longer in reach for Montreal. The coach is certainly counting down to the days until Kaiden Guhle returns to action.
- After a tremendous 8-3 record in October, Montreal finished November with five wins in 13 games. While the difficulty of November’s schedule was higher than the previous month, there was a slight decrease in offence from 3.64 goals/game in October to 3.23 in November. The key difference came in goals allowed, with the average increasing from three to four. The overall defensive play has been a problem.
Rocket Notes
The Laval Rocket were on the road for two games this weekend. On Saturday, Laval defeated the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (Philadelphia Flyers) 5-4 in shootout, and on Sunday, won 4-3 versus the Hershey Bears (Washington Capitals). The Rocket return home to host the Providence Bruins (Boston) for a rare Tuesday night game at Place Bell, and on Friday, they kickoff a doubleheader on the road against the Belleville Senators (Ottawa).
Here are some notes from the weekend action.
- The newly acquired Samuel Blais had a productive weekend, obtaining two goals, four points, and plus-5 rating. He also scored the shootout winner on Friday. Blais played on a line with Lucas Condotta and Xavier Simoneau, and was on the top power play unit.
- David Reinbacher added two assists to his record, and at the same time, extending his point streak to four games. He collected six points during the sequence. With Engstrom’s recall to Montreal, Pascal Vincent threw Reinbacher over the boards on the top power play unit.
- Alex Belzile played an important role in the two victories by scoring three times. He now has 15 points and a plus-11 rating in 20 games.
- In Trois-Rivieres, former Hab Joel Teasdale had a successful ECHL debut as he collected five points in Lions’ three-games weekend sweep against the Reading Royals (Philadelphia Flyers). Riley Kidney assigned by the Rocket for Saturday’s game obtained two assists in two games.
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