Samuel Montembeault shines in victory over Golden Knights

On the Golden Knights side, Mitch Marner faced the Habs for the first time in his new colors.

Here’s the home team line-up:

It was a fairly quiet first period, but Samuel Montembeault showed some nice things.

He was very, very solid.

And the club’s top line gave him a helping hand. Zachary Bolduc, who has really rediscovered his wanderlust on the first line, scored again today.

And once again, it was on the road that he hit the target, hehe.

After 20 minutes, the Habs had a 1-0 lead.

In the second, Cole Caufield found himself with the puck in a tight spot… but that didn’t stop him from scoring a beautiful goal.

Special mention to Alexandre Carrier, who was able to create the scoring chance.

Montembeault was once again solid in the second… even though his club multiplied missed chances on breakaways.

Jake Evans, among others, missed his chance, as did Cole Caufield and Oliver Kapanen before him.

After 40 minutes, the score was 2-0 in favor of the Habs.

And early in the third, Evans got another breakaway chance.

This time, he didn’t miss: he scored his team’s third goal. Alexandre Texier picked up his first point in a Habs uniform on the sequence.

But just when it looked like the Habs were headed for a shutout, Mark Stone had other plans.

He scored his team’s first goal with minutes left in the game… and let’s just say it’s hard to blame Montembeault when you look at the defensive coverage in front of him.

Still, the Habs held on for a big win over the Golden Knights. Juraj Slafkovský completed the scoring with an empty-net goal in a spectacular sequence.

Two wins in two games against two good clubs in the West: that feels good.

Final score: 4-1 Montreal

The Canadiens return to action tomorrow afternoon, when they take on the Avalanche (who will be wearing Nordiques colors). The game kicks off at 3 p.m. and will be broadcast on RDS.

Extensions

– The Habs played a really good game this afternoon. Facing a good team, it multiplied quality scoring chances, and didn’t give the Knights much. And when they did, Samuel Montembeault was there… except once, hehe.

– In the third period, Ivan Demidov received some treatment on the bench. More fear than harm, fortunately.

– Nick Suzuki finally seems to have recovered from his foot injury. The captain has been dominant since the start of the trip, and you can tell the three-day break before Wednesday’s game has done him good. With three consecutive sequences of two games in two days approaching, it’s reassuring to see that Suzuki seems to have regained his health.

– Lane Hutson has got his mojo back .

– Good news for the Habs: the Avalanche had to work overtime in Minnesota this afternoon, and Jared Bednar’s troupe even lost a shootout to the Wild. Playing at 3pm in Colorado tomorrow won’t be easy for the Canadiens… but the locals are likely to be tired, too.