Habs Score 5 Unanswered Goals and Get 1st Win of The Year

It wasn’t until Zack Bolduc got the puck at the halfway mark of the first period around centre ice that things started to turn for the Habs. Bolduc passed it back to Mike Matheson, who sent an outlet pass to Brendan Gallagher, who sprung a streaking Bolduc in on a breakaway, where Bolduc scored his second goal in as many nights to get the Habs on the board. 

This goal officially woke the Canadiens up like their first goal against the Leafs on Wednesday did. However, the difference is that the goals kept coming and went unanswered against the Red Wings. 

About 2 and a half minutes after the Bolduc goal came Oliver Kapanen’s 2nd goal of the season, which started from the defensive zone where Ivan Demidov made an incredible breakout pass to Alex Newhook that gave him a 2-on-1 with Kapanen, who finished the job and put the Habs in the lead for good. The line of Demidov-Kapanen-Newhook has continued to develop more chemistry every passing game. This line of young players has been really fun to watch thus far. 

With 7 seconds left in the first period, Mike Matheson scored a buzzer-beater to put the Canadiens up 3-1. On the play, Noah Dobson recorded his first point as a Hab after getting an assist on the goal. Nick Suzuki got the other assist.

Early in the 2nd period, the Canadiens ‘ scoring frenzy continued as Alex Carrier put a shot towards the net that appeared to be tipped by Bolduc for what was supposedly his 2nd goal of the game and 3rd of the season. However, during the 2nd intermission, the goal was switched to Carrier’s for his 1st of the season. Nonetheless, Bolduc screened Gibson, which helped the puck go in. As it stands, the deal for Bolduc is looking like it could be a steal, as he has been amazing in the first two games of the year.

The Habs’ last goal of the game was scored late in the 2nd period on the power-play, when Juraj Slafkovsky jumped on a rebound in front of the net to get his first goal of the year. It felt like a long time coming over the last two games for Slafkovsky, as he had many opportunities to get a goal up to that point. Slafkovsky made it his goal to have a strong start to the season, and so far, he is doing just that. He has been the best player on his line with Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield through the first 2 games. 

The Red Wings pulled goaltender John Gibson after he allowed 5 goals on just 13 shots following the Slafkovsky goal. His debut with the Red Wings was spoiled by the Habs capitalizing on all their chances against him. The Canadiens managed just 4 more shots on Cam Talbot the rest of the way as they mainly played to protect their lead in the 3rd period.

Meanwhile, on the other end, Jakub Dobes was a brick wall who stopped 30 of the 31 shots he faced in the win for the Habs. 

It took the whole team for the Canadiens to get their first win of the season, and everybody rose to the occasion. 

The only negative from this game has to be Suzuki’s faceoff struggles. Despite getting on the scoresheet with 2 assists, Suzuki only won 3 of his 12 draws and has won just 8 of 25 so far this season. This is not good enough for the Habs 1C, who take the most faceoffs on any given night. Hopefully, his numbers improve as the season goes on, as this could lead to the Habs getting into trouble if he is unable to win a draw.

The Canadiens got the win anyway and Suzuki didn’t play bad outside the faceoffs, so it doesn’t matter much on Thursday, but it is still something to keep an eye on.