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About Last Night: Senators get revenge on Habs with 6-3 win – Montreal Gazette

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Josh Anderson had two goals in the loss. Tyler Toffoli scored in his return to the lineup.

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A promising week ended with an emphatic thud Saturday night at the Bell Centre, where the Canadiens lost 6-3 to the Ottawa Senators.

Following a listless effort on Thursday that drew criticism from coach D.J. Smith, the young Senators lineup responded to the 4-1 loss with a physical, more aggressive tone, set 42 seconds into the contest when Brady Tkachuk opening scoring on the powerplay. Like a younger Corey Perry, Tkachuk has a fondness for parking himself in front of opposing goalies, and in this instance, spun around and shot the puck just out of goalie Carey Price’s reach.

Like the motivated Senators, the Canadiens also looked like a different team compared to their Thursday selves. Unfortunately for them, that meant swapping an airtight team game for defensive zone sloppiness. The biggest culprits? The typically sound Jeff Petry-Brett Kulak pairing was a combined minus-7 on the night, with Petry in particular a minus-5, meaning he was on the ice for all five even-strength/shorthanded goals on the night. Even Norris candidates have off-nights: if Thomas Chabot could be minus-3 on Thursday, Petry’s also not immune to the occasional struggle.

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Forward Tyler Toffoli, back after missing three games with a lower-body injury, connected on a one-timer pass from Nick Suzuki to tie the game at one. The Senators regained the lead shorthanded when Connor Brown and Nick Paul were given multiple chances to convert on Carey Price. Captain Shea Weber had an entertaining first period. After wiring a slap shot from the top of the circle recorded at 110 mp/h, the 35-year-old dropped the gloves with the 21-year-old Tkachuk. Earlier in the season, Weber chipped one of Tkachuk’s teeth, and it’s clear the two have developed a contentious relationship on the ice.

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Josh Anderson opened scoring in a busy second period. After Victor Mete made a strong play to keep the puck in the offensive zone, Jesperi Kotkaniemi connected with his new linemate, who roofed it past Sens netminder Anton Forsberg to tie the game 2-2. It didn’t last long: Evgenii Dadonov scored less than a minute later on a tip at his torso to make it 3-2.

Later in the second, a wide open Dadonov extended the lead to two when he fired home an Artem Anisimov pass. Not to be outdone, Josh Anderson also scored twice in the period, closing out the second by beating Forsberg in a pretty similar spot to his first one. Anderson was billed as a goals-in-bunches kind of scorer, and so far he’s living up to that billing as a Hab: after scoring nine in his first 13 games, he only produced two in his next 16. The Habs will hope he’s due for another torrid stretch.

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Also in the second, Brendan Gallagher went for a hit on Tim Stützle and immediately left for the dressing room hunched over. Habs fans breathed a sigh of relief when Gallagher returned for the opening of the third period.

Only down a goal, the Canadiens remained in striking distance of Ottawa, but the team that smothered the Oilers and Senators earlier this week didn’t emerge from the dressing room. Alex Formenton swiped the puck from Jeff Petry and then tipped a shot from Anisimov to give the Senators a 5-3 lead. With the goalie pulled at a little over three minutes remaining, Drake Batherson put the game out of reach with an empty-netter. The highlight of the third period was when they played DMX at the arena.

When your starting goalie has an .839 save percentage, it’s a bad night. When your $10.5M-per-season franchise goalie has an .839 save percentage, it’s pandemonium in the Habs liveblog comments section. The Weber-Tkachuk fight had nothing on the blows being delivered by the commenters. Some blamed the goalie, others felt the entire team delivered a lacklustre performance. The only thing that’s certain: the Habs return to action Monday night against the Edmonton Oilers. Eric Staal is expected to dress. Here are the three comment stars (the PG version, anyway):

3. “Was listening to the Rocket’s game last night hand the announcers were talking about the Gordie Howe Hat Trick. I thought it was named after him because he had done if often. Turns out that in over 1700 games, he only did it once. But apparently, he was the first.” -Marc Taillefer (He did it twice, apparently.) 2. “We are dreadful in our own end. All the bad habits re-emerging tonight.” -Derek Stevens 1. “5 goals to the Sens on 24 shots. I see we’ve used up our “rest” and gone back to underperform mode.” -Justin Miller


  1. Canadiens’ three-game win streak comes to an end with 6-3 loss to Sens

  2. The Ottawa Senators’ Nick Paul (13) congratulates teammate Connor Brown after he scored on Canadiens goalie Carey Price in game Saturday night at the Bell Centre.

    Canadiens Game Day: A night to forget for the Habs and Jeff Petry

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Allen on trade to Devils from Habs: 'Sometimes you've got to be a little bit selfish' – Yahoo Canada Sports

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Jake Allen loved being a member of the Montreal Canadiens.

The hockey-mad market, the crackling Bell Centre on a Saturday night, the Original Six franchise’s iconic logo.

The 33-year-old goaltender is also realistic.

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With the Canadiens still in full rebuild mode — and two young netminders in Sam Montembeault and Cayden Primeau ready for more playing time — Allen could see the writing on the wall.

Desperate for help in their own crease, the New Jersey Devils asked Montreal about the veteran’s availability. But the team, general manager Tom Fitzgerald told reporters earlier this month, was initially on Allen’s no-trade list.

There wasn’t anything the Fredericton product disliked about the organization or city. The Devils simply appeared to have their crease set for years to come.

But when the club that finished with 112 points and made the second round of the playoffs in 2022-23 was badly hampered by poor play from Vitek Vanecek, Nico Daws and Akira Schmid — each netminder owned save percentages below .900 — the Devils circled back.

And Allen had changed his tune.

“Loved my time as a Hab,” he said of pulling on Montreal’s red, white and blue threads. “I always will cherish that. Put on probably the most special jersey in hockey, in my books. But you realize in your career, it doesn’t last forever.

“You’ve got to make decisions sometimes.”

Allen, who is signed through next season, eventually agreed to a deal that sent him to New Jersey ahead of the NHL’s March 8 trade deadline for a conditional third-round pick at the 2025 draft.

Apart from playing meaningful hockey on a team trying to claw its way back into the Eastern Conference playoff race, the swap gave him more runway to get his family settled in a new city instead of waiting to see what this summer’s crowded goalie market might bring.

“Sometimes you’ve got to be a little bit selfish,” said Allen, a Stanley Cup champion with the St. Louis Blues in 2019. “Look yourself in the mirror and wonder what’s best for you and your family.”

He’s been really good for his new team.

Allen was lights out in Tuesday’s first period against the Toronto Maple Leafs, making an eye-popping 25 saves in what would turn into New Jersey’s 6-3 victory.

So far he’s 4-2-0 with a .925 save percentage and a 2.51 goals against average in six starts for the Devils, who sit five points back of the East’s second wild-card spot.

“A real pro,” said interim head coach Travis Green.

Allen is a combined 10-14-3 in 2023-24 with a .900 save percentage and a 3.39 GAA. Across his 11 seasons with St. Louis, Montreal and now New Jersey, he’s 193-164-41 with a .908 save percentage and 2.75 GAA.

“Makes the saves we need to get some momentum back,” Devils captain Nico Hischier said. “If you have a solid goalie in the net, that makes your work easier.”

Allen is also 11-12 with a .924 and a 2.06 GAA all-time in the playoffs — a good sign for his new club should New Jersey manage to make the cut.

For now, though, he’s just enjoying being back in a post-season race.

“I thought this was a good opportunity to come in the rest of this year, play some games,” Allen said.

“It’s been a good start.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 28, 2024.

___

Follow @JClipperton_CP on X.

Joshua Clipperton, The Canadian Press

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Matthews game-time decision for Maple Leafs against Capitals with illness – NHL.com

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TORONTOAuston Matthews will be a game-time decision for the Toronto Maple Leafs against the Washington Capitals at Scotiabank Arena on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; SN1, MNMT) because of an illness.

“It’s going to be on how he feels throughout the day,” Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said.

The forward did not participate in Toronto’s morning skate. Max Domi took his place as the center on a line between Tyler Bertuzzi and Mitch Marner, a right wing recovering from a high-ankle sprain sustained March 7 and will be out the next two games.

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Matthews leads the NHL with 59 goals, one from becoming the ninth player in NHL history with at least two 60-goal seasons. He scored 60 in 73 games in 2021-22, when he won the Rocket Richard Trophy, Hart Trophy and Ted Lindsay Award. He had one goal and nine shots in 23:44 of a 6-3 loss to the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday, which extended his point streak to five games (four goals, seven assists).

He missed one game this season with illness, a 7-0 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Dec. 16.

“Of course, it’s an adjustment when your best player is out of the lineup,” Domi said, “when anybody is out of the lineup, but I think we’ve done a great job all year of guys stepping up when they have to, and we just have to continue to do that.”

Toronto defenseman Morgan Rielly will miss his second straight game with an upper-body injury.

“He just remains day to day,” Keefe said. “We’re hopeful he’s going to bounce back here. The one thing that is good is once he gets through this day or two here, it’s not going to be a lingering situation. It’s not going to be an injury that’s ongoing. Once he’s past it, he’s past it so we just need to give him some time.”

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Canucks place goalie Thatcher Demko on long-term injured list

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The Vancouver Canucks have placed all-star goalie Thatcher Demko on the long-term injured reserve list retroactively.

“It’s just cap related,” coach Rick Tocchet said after practice Wednesday. “We get some cap relief, that’s all it is.”

The 28-year-old netminder has been considered week to week since being sidelined with a lower-body injury midway through Vancouver’s 5-0 win over the Winnipeg Jets on March 9.

That injury designation hasn’t changed, Tocchet said.

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Demko boasts a 34-18-2 record this season, with a .917 save percentage, a 2.47 goals-against average and five shutouts.

Casey DeSmith has taken over the starting job for Vancouver, going 3-2-1 since Demko’s injury. He has a .899 save percentage on the season with a 2.73 goals-against average and one shutout.

The earliest Demko could be back in the Canucks’ lineup is April 6 against the Kings in Los Angeles.

He’s expected to be a key piece as Vancouver (45-19-8) prepares for its first playoff appearance since the COVID-shortened 2019-20 campaign.

Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin also announced Wednesday that the club has called up forward Arshdeep Bains from the Abbotsford Canucks of the American Hockey League.

“I’d like to see where [Bains is] at,” Tocchet said, noting he isn’t sure whether the 23-year-old winger will slot into the lineup when the Canucks host the Dallas Stars on Thursday.

WATCH | Bains makes NHL debut

 

Surrey, B.C.’s Arshdeep Bains makes Canucks debut

1 month ago

Duration 2:20

Arshdeep Bains from Surrey, B.C., has made his NHL debut with the Vancouver Canucks Tuesday night against the Colorado Avalanche. As CBC’s Joel Ballard reports, it’s been a hard-fought journey for the hometown kid to the big leagues.

Bains played five games for the NHL team in February before being sent back to Abbotsford.

“He went down, he’s done a couple of things that we like, and he’s got some speed,” Tocchet said.

Vancouver may get another forward back in the lineup Thursday.

Dakota Joshua practised in a full-contact jersey on Wednesday for the first time since suffering an upper-body injury in Vancouver’s 4-2 win over the Blackhawks in Chicago on Feb. 13.

The physical winger, who’s set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer, has a career-high 26 points (13 goals, 13 assists) this season.

Sitting out injured “hasn’t been fun,” Joshua said.

“It feels like forever,” he said. “But at this point, that’s behind me and I’m moving forward.”

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