Martin St-Louis’ patience was tested again on Tuesday in Nashville. The Montreal Canadiens ended a tough seven-game road trip with a 6-3 loss to the Predators.
As so often lately, the Habs quickly came into play. The local hero scored twice in the first six minutes and the game was over.
After strong starts in Tempe and Denver, the Canadians lost the next five games to end their consistently tough holiday trip with a 1-5-1 record. He’s also conceded 22 goals in the last three stops.
Difficult for Barron
The first third was difficult again, but this time the Canadian fell victim to unfavorable jumps. The first goal was the result of a fairly high deflection from Cody Glass, and the third was awarded to Mattias Ekholm by defender Justin Barron against his own clan.
Barron had previously been the originator of a neutral zone turnover that allowed the “Preds” to launch a two-for-one attack. Colton Sissons used a great elevated pass from Filip Forsberg to fool the vigilance of Samuel Montembeault, who ended up making 28 saves in the match.
Cole Caufield and Josh Anderson both hit the target after that, but the Predators quickly got going again to put the game out of reach for the Canadiens. Thomas Novak, Roman Josi and Matt Duchene were the winner’s other scorers, while Nino Niederreiter provided three assists.
Meanwhile, Juuse Saros blocked 24 of 27 shots aimed at him, also thwarted by Brendan Gallagher.
In summary
Anthony Richard returned to training, replacing Joel Armia. He racked up his first-ever career assist and had two points in five games this season.
David Savard made a comeback after missing the team’s last 13 games. He was one of just three club players to finish the game with a +1 difference after spending 22:30 on the ice.
Caufield startled many Bleu Blanc Rouge fans by retiring to the sore dressing room in the second period, but quickly returned to the game afterwards.
The Canadiens return to Bell Center on Thursday to host the New York Rangers.