Habs Highlights: Jake Evans Steals Spotlight Again

For the second time in just over 24 hours, the Montreal Canadiens were back in action, facing the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Fresh off the heels of shutting the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers 4-0 the day before, in probably one of their best 60-minute efforts of the season, they were hoping to keep the strong momentum, and thanks to yet another great performance by Jake Evans, the Habs managed to beat Tampa, emerging with a well-deserved 5-2 win.

Florida State Dominance

Sam Montembeault was given the start, and it wasn’t a particularly busy night, as he turned aside 20 shots en route to his 13th win of the year.

There were five different goalscorers in the victory, and some broke long goalless streaks in the process. Christian Dvorak who tipped a Kaiden Guhle point shot midway through the second, got his third of the season, and first in 19 games. Alex Newhook, who had two assists Saturday, scored the game’s opening goal, his first tally in seven games. Jake Evans and Joel Armia scored the team’s third and fourth goal respectively, and Brendan Gallagher added an empty net goal late in the third.

Evans, whose career high was 13 goals set back in 2021-22, scored for the fifth straight game, and now has 10 on the season, not even halfway done the season. The Habs also stretched their record to 9-0 when Evans scores this season. The future unrestricted free agent looks like he’ll be getting a hefty raise this summer if the Montreal Canadiens intend on keeping him around.

Cole Caufield was also looking very hungry all game, looking to score career goal number 100, was denied on multiple occasions by Lightning goaltender Jonas Johansson. And forward Patrik Laine, who started the season on fire, has now gone three games without lighting the lamp.

However the bright side it Montreal has now scored four or more goals in their last six games, and have a 5-1 record through that streak. The win pushed them ahead of the New York Rangers for 12th in the Eastern Conference, and are only three points behind their division rival Ottawa Senators for the final wild card spot.

Montreal has a break tomorrow, with their next matchup coming New Year’s Eve against the Vegas Golden Knights.