A visit from the Columbus Blue Jackets doesn’t spark passions in Montreal. The many empty seats at the Reds this Thursday evening were evidence of this. But the season subscribers who hold those tickets were wrong not to show up at the Bell Center. The Canadian overcame a two-goal deficit to secure his fourth win in seven games (4-2-1). Not that bad!
The third period and overtime resulted in a spectacular game!
Martin Saint-Louis and Pascal Vincent undoubtedly deserve blood behind their team’s bench. But the spectators had a lot of fun. As Cole Caufield put the icing on the cake with around forty seconds on the clock, the Bell Center vibrated.
The fans went home happy. There’s nothing like a win to keep them in good spirits, no matter who the opponent is. There have never been any small victories for the Habs, and that’s even more true during this time of rebuilding.
People take them all!
The Suzuki-Caufield duo wakes up
Let’s move on to the positive aspects of this game.
Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield played by far their best game of the season. Each scored a goal and collected two assists. We felt them more strongly during the meeting. They played with more emotion.
Although it is impossible for them to perform at full throttle during a long season of 82 games, they need to deliver this kind of performance as often as possible. They are the leaders of their team.
The Habs will go as far as they want.
St. Louis won’t say, but they must have been desperate for their two best forwards to show their true colors.
Montembeault has rehabilitated himself
The coach also surprised by using a third different goalkeeper in three games. While we expected to see Jake Alle in front of the net, Saint-Louis called for Samuel Montembeault.
The Bécancour goalie looked bad for the Blue Jackets’ second goal, scored by Emil Bemstrom on a power play, but he recovered well.
He made good saves many times in crucial moments; He saved the furniture during a Brendan Gallagher penalty with 55 seconds left in the third period.
A good grade for Montembeault.
Finally two important goals from the five-man attack
Another positive point to remember is the performance of the massive attack that gave the Canadian the second and third goals, by Mike Matheson with 17 seconds left in the second period and by Sean Monahan in the eighth minute of the third third.
Kent Hughes hit the nail on the head when he acquired Matheson from the Pittsburgh Penguins for Jeff Petry. The Pointe-Claire defenseman plays inspired hockey.
I can’t wait to see Dvorak!
Finally – and I hate to say this – Rafael Harvey-Pinard is no match for the Suzuki-Caufield tandem. He’s a good worker, but primarily he’s out of place.
Christian Dvorak’s return to action, scheduled for November 4th in Saint-Louis, could allow Saint-Louis to move Monahan to that offensive line. We can understand St. Louis being hesitant to make this move, as Monahan pairs well with Brendan Gallagher and Tanner Pearson. But he won’t have a choice.
Unless Kent Hughes pulls another rabbit out of his hat.