NASHVILLE | Over the last few weeks we've heard Habs players talk about bad jumps, some bad luck. On Tuesday in Nashville, they benefited from the return of the pendulum.
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Brendan Gallagher had just scored the Canadian when David Savard took advantage of a strange jump off the ramp six seconds later to decide the game. The Canadian, who until then had achieved nothing in the second third, then came back to life.
Martin St-Louis' team capitalized on that momentum and won 4-3 in overtime, ending the Predators' eight-game winning streak.
The third time will have been the good one. After two shootout losses early in this journey, the Canadian finally managed to win a tiebreaker match.
Jake Allen breathes a sigh of relief as Nick Suzuki scores the winning goal with a quick and precise shot into the top corner. The poor New Brunswicker hadn't enjoyed a win since January 15th. His last victory at an opposing rink was on December 18th in Winnipeg.
As the Creole Company sang, it's good for morale.
Armia is placed in the window
Auditions will continue for those who may find themselves in other locations through Friday. In any case, Joel Armia is playing like a forward who wouldn't mind joining a Stanley Cup contending team in the next few hours.
Photo Getty Images via AFP
The Finn stood out defensively against the Predators. In some cases, his positioning and that of his stick ended a threat or prevented cross passes.
In the morning, Martin St-Louis rightly reminded us that a very large part of a game is played without the puck.
“In a game you have the puck 5% of the time. Joel does good things when he has the puck. But 95% of the time you don't have the puck. It can also be in the attack zone. What are you doing during this time? “Where are you going?” he asked.
On the ice at Bridgestone Arena, Armia seemed to have the right answer. He showed that he could read the game well offensively. In the first third, a sustained advance from Juuse Saros allowed the Habs to keep the attack going beyond the goal. A few seconds later, Alex Newhook hit the post.
In the second half, he managed to position himself in free space so that he could accept a pass and threaten the opposing goalkeeper. Saros had to make one of the best glove saves of the night to prevent him from scoring.
Yes, the big number 40 was hung in the window. And besides the three players in the first trio, who is the only Canadian striker to reach the 10-goal mark this season? Good Joel.
A breathtaking trio
Obviously you don't give up three goals without something going wrong. On Tuesday, Canadian defenders discovered that there's something far more dizzying in the country's capital than the choreography of “Achy Breaky Heart” or “Boot Scootin Boogie.”
At first, Jordan Harris and Jayden Struble and Kaiden Guhle and Mike Matheson grew dizzy as they tried to contain Filip Forsberg, Ryan O'Reilly and Gustav Nyquist, the quick and agile members of the Predators' front line.
Although they often competed against Nick Suzuki's unit, the members of this trio took turns scoring points.