The Canadian was lucky. He was lucky enough to play against a team at the bottom of the table. He was lucky that the Blue Jackets were playing a third game in four nights, and he was lucky that Samuel Montembeault was in great shape.
Without any of these three conditions, Martin St-Louis and his men would have returned to Montreal after a second consecutive setback. Instead, they celebrated a 4-2 win in Columbus.
The Montrealers multiplied their mistakes in the first twenty. They were involved in various ball losses. During a single shift, Johnathan Kovacevic, Cole Caufield (twice) and Christian Dvorak placed the puck back on an opponent’s stick blade.
Even Kaiden Guhle, normally a metronome of the defensive game, had a few brain cramps.
Mental errors stemming from this arduous ten-day journey? Possible.
Armia, the unexpected hero
Photo AFP
The Canadian was as crooked as the Hunchback of Notre Dame, but he worked. And as is often the case in such cases, good things happened to him in the end.
They had to regroup and the Blue Jackets exposed their deficiencies, but the Montrealers managed to hang on while getting their game in order.
This happened in the 26th minute of the game, a few moments after Patrik Laine took advantage of a confusion near the Canadian bench to escape and open the scoring.
Proof that good things come to those who work: Joel Armia (he was tempted), back in the lineup after another stint in the American League, scored the game-winner. The Finn also hit the mark in his first comeback for the big club on October 28th.
In this win, Caufield scored his seventh goal of the season. By scoring the 60th goal of his career in his 145th game, the American became the fifth player in CH history to reach that plateau 150 games ago. Howie Morenz (74 games), Maurice Richard (83), Jean Béliveau (132) and Joe Benoit (135) are the others.
A satisfying journey
Photo AFP
It was far from perfect, but the Habs returned from that four-game trip with three more wins.
We knew the Canadian was running the risk of getting slapped against the Los Angeles Kings. After all, the Tricolore is nowhere near the same level as the next tenants of the Videotron Center.
But he won the games he had to win. Close victories, but victories nonetheless.
Montembeault was perhaps the player par excellence on this trip. He was the main architect of the victory in Anaheim and Columbus.
The Oilers spies who followed the Canadian for most of the trip were certainly taking notes.
Alex Newhook, used to facing Western Conference teams during his two full seasons with the Colorado Avalanche, used this trip to get back to life.
He found the goal in three of the four games.
no time to breathe
The St. Louis troops won’t have much time to catch their breath and recover from this trip as they receive a visit from the Florida Panthers on Thursday night.
The Stanley Cup finalists will complete a three-game trip to Eastern Canada at the Bell Centre.
Cayden Primeau, who returned to Montreal ahead of his teammates, will defend the home net.