The Montreal Canadiens were in Colorado on Tuesday night to face the Avalanche at Ball Arena. The last time the Avalanche failed to secure a win on home ice was in mid-February, making it a particularly tall order for Martin St-Louis’ team.
But the Habs managed to emerge with a hard-fought 2-1 win thanks to some timely goaltending, a record-setting play by the youngest player in the lineup, and a veteran’s great individual effort.
Let’s take a look at those highlights!
False Start
The Avalanche are one of the most skilled teams in the league, which is why it comes as no surprise that it took Nathan MacKinnon just 43 seconds to score his 45th goal of the year.
Former Hab Jonathan Drouin played a crucial part in the scoring play by keeping the puck in the Canadiens’ zone. It appeared that it may have been offside upon review, but there were no conclusive angles available and the Habs wisely opted not to challenge the goal.
Captain’s Response
As has been the case the entire season, captain Nick Suzuki led the charge for the Montreal Canadiens.
It took him less than 10 seconds to respond to Colorado’s opening goal, registering his 29th goal of the season in the process. It also meant Suzuki set a new career high in points, with 67. Seeing as Suzuki only recently entered his statistical prime, there’s a very good chance the best is yet to come for the 24-year-old centre.
And the same can be said about Juraj Slafkovsky, who is still among the youngest players in the NHL. The 19-year-old assisted on Suzuki’s scoring play, and that’s notable for a few reasons.
The assist extended his point streak to eight games while also pushing his season totals to 40 points. This means Slafkovsky tied a franchise record held by Henri Richard for the most points in a season by a teenager.
Technically, Richard turned 20 during the season in which he scored 40 points, which means Slafkovsky is the lone record holder, but that’s not all that important.
What matters most is that the youngest player in the lineup has slowly yet surely established his identity in the NHL as a player who is just scratching the surface of his potential.
He’s playing on the top line against the opposing team’s best players, and he’s facing this difficult challenge with aplomb. To make matters even more interesting, he’s still a few years away from his statistical prime.
And to put a fine point on his encouraging sophomore campaign, we can look at the fact that Slafkosvky has scored 26 of his 40 points this season on the road.
Goalie Game
We’d be remiss if we didn’t mention the excellent play from Samuel Montembeault. The Canadiens held the lead for the first half of the game, but it would not have been possible without Montembeault holding the fort while the Avalanche pressed.
Good Finnish
Thanks to Montembeault’s strong play when his team needed him most, the Habs would go on to establish a lead late in the first period.
Full marks to Joel Armia for taking advantage of a chaotic situation before tucking the puck behind Avalanche goaltender Justus Annunen, a fellow Finn.
Alex Newhook did not officially receive an assist on the play at first, but he was surely happy to see his new team take the lead over the team that unceremoniously traded him this summer. For the record, the Avalanche aired a nice montage to welcome Newhook back to Colorado, which was a nice touch.
Brendan Gallagher also played a crucial part in the play, tying up Drouin’s stick so he could not prevent the Armia goal.
For the record, upon further review, the NHL did eventually credit Newhook for assisting the goal.
Segment
The Montreal Canadiens are back in action on Thursday. They will host the Philadelphia Flyers at the Bell Centre with the puck drop scheduled for 7 pm ET.
All Montreal Canadiens statistics are 5v5 unless otherwise noted. Via Natural Stat Trick.
More must-reads: