There were 22 seconds left when Sean Monahan took his place in the penalty box. He had just accidentally hit young Connor Bedard in the face with a stick. Monahan found the seconds long, as did Samuel Montembeault.
• Also read: Connor Bedard loved being booed by Canadiens fans
The Canadian trembled, but he didn’t fall. Mike Matheson blocked a powerful shot from Andreas Athanasiou and Nick Suzuki stopped a shot from Seth Jones in the final seconds of the game. Jones also hit the post with almost ten seconds left.
When the siren sounded, Monahan left the penalty area, smiling, to find Montembeault and his teammates.
“There were big blocks at the end of the game from Math (Matheson) and Suzie (Suzuki), but it was my fault,” Monahan said. You have paid the price. We won this game through a team effort. »
CH won that first game in front of their fans thanks to their sacrifice. A 3-2 win against the Bedard phenom and the Chicago Blackhawks.
“That’s what it takes. “To win, it’s going to hurt sometimes,” Martin St-Louis said with a smile. They looked like they were in pain too! »
“Suzuki and Matheson have letters on their jerseys and that’s no coincidence,” added defender Kaiden Guhle. Seeing this makes me want to do the same even more. They made some very big plays by sacrificing themselves at the end of the game. They are talented players. You don’t want them to stop a ton of shots, but you need to do it in the crucial moments of a game. This was the case in the last few seconds. »
Matheson (4), Guhle (3) and David Savard (5) blocked 12 of a total of 20 shots. Montembeault did the rest with 28 saves.
Zero out of seven
It wasn’t just the blocked shots that drew attention. The CH also had a perfect evening when they were shorthanded and survived seven times.
“We scored penalties, which was my favorite part,” said St-Louis. We took too many punishments, but we killed them. »
Savard, Matheson, Guhle, Jonathan Kovacevic, Rafaël Harvey-Pinard, Jesse Ylönen and Jake Evans were outnumbered and all exceeded the four-minute mark in front of a man.
To add to the frustration of the Luke Richardson gang, CH scored their third goal at four on five. Monahan intercepted a pass from Harvey-Pinard to escape and beat Petr Mrazek.
Photo Martin Chevalier
It was a real pendulum swing for Harvey-Pinard. Before he got the passport, he knocked dangerously on the door three times.
“If you have chances to score, it’s a sign that you’re playing good hockey,” said number 49. “If you don’t manage to score, you pass to another player.” It felt good. He spoke well to me on the ice, I knew he was there. »
At the end of the game, Harvey-Pinard was not part of the three-star selection. But he deserved to come and greet the crowd.
Cole Caufield, who scored a spectacular goal in the second period, highlighted his teammate’s work.
“It seems like he manages to do different things every night,” noted the American. He always does good things. We’re lucky to have him. »
The breach of roof
There are not only positive aspects in this game. CH lost an important player in the first third. Kirby Dach was hit by Jarred Tinordi, a former first-round pick of the Canadian in 2010, and retired after just four appearances.
Dach spoke to the team therapist while touching his right leg before finally returning to the locker room.
Monahan said after the game that the big center was in good spirits. St. Louis, meanwhile, only mentioned that he would be tested on Sunday.
In Dach’s absence, St-Louis juggled primarily three centers (Suzuki, Monahan and Evans) for more than 40 minutes. Alex Newhook also got some reps at center.
Lukewarm ceremonies
At this opening meeting at the Bell Centre, the Canadian had a big visitor to Bedard. The Hawks’ number 98 picked up an assist and got on the scoresheet for the third game in a row.
Photo Martin Chevalier
In the missteps category, we note the players’ emotionless presentation. The idea of inviting players by position wasn’t that great. Martin St-Louis, Caufield, Suzuki and Arber Xhekaj received the warmest applause.