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Canadiens fight back to beat Flames 4-3 in overtime – Montreal Gazette

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Max Domi scores winner as Habs improve their record to 5-1-0 in the last six games after battling back from 2-0 first-period deficit.

CALGARY — The Canadiens just missed making the playoffs last season, but they were a fun team to watch and they never gave up.

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They created a new identity after finishing 28th in the overall NHL standings the previous season.

After going through an eight-game winless streak earlier this season, the Canadiens seem to have regained the identity they worked so hard on developing last year. On Thursday night at the Scotiabank Saddledome, the Canadiens were losing 2-0 after the first period and 3-2 in the third period before battling back to beat the Calgary Flames 4-3 in overtime on a goal by Max Domi.

The Canadiens now have a 6-2-0 record since that eight-game losing streak (0-5-3) and are 5-1-0 in their last six games, including back-to-back road wins in Vancouver and Calgary to start this Western Canada trip.

Brendan Gallagher, Joel Armia and Nick Suzuki scored for the Canadiens in regulation time against the Flames. Matthew Tkachuk, Elias Lindholm and Olivier Kylington scored for Calgary. The Canadiens outshot the Flames 43-27.

The Canadiens improved their season record to 17-12-6 and moved into second place in the Atlantic Division. They now have a 9-4-3 record on the road.

“When you go through a situation like we did, any team is going to lose a little bit of confidence,” coach Claude Julien said after the game about his team’s eight-game winless streak. “That’s why you talk about being fragile. It seems like every time you turn around the puck’s in your net or something bad is happening. But we’ve worked our way out of it and now we’re playing with obviously a lot of confidence, but also a lot of commitment. I didn’t think our first period was the best, not that it was bad. But second period we came out, we started skating the way we wanted our guys to skate and compete and that made a big difference. The rest of the game was see-saw.

“As a group in that dressing room, we as coaches give a lot of advice and ask for a lot of things,” Julien added. “But there’s a certain amount that happens in that dressing room with leadership and pushing each other and I think this is a group that respects each other to the point where they can push each other without taking it personally. And that’s where I think we’re getting better as a team.”

Tkachuk opened the scoring for the Flames at 7:34 of the first period as the result of a defensive breakdown by Canadiens defencemen Brett Kulak and Jeff Petry with centre Phillip Danault somehow caught alone behind the net. Winger Tomas Tatar scrambled to get in front of the net, but was too late and Tkachuk was left wide open to put the puck past Carey Price.

Suzuki came close to tying it for the Canadiens with three minutes left in the period when Price hit him with a breakout pass near centre ice. Suzuki streaked down the right wing and rang a shot off the goalpost.

The Flames went up 2-0 with only eight seconds left in the first period and Danault sitting in the penalty box for tripping. Lindholm completed a gorgeous tic-tac-toe passing play with Tkachuk and Johnny Gaudreau. Price had no chance. Giving up goals in the final minute of a period has been a big problem for the Canadiens this season.

Gallagher got the Canadiens on the board at 9:46 of the second period when he scored from an almost impossible angle. With his butt basically touching the boards at the goal line to Flames goalie David Rittich’s right, Gallagher fired on the net and somehow it went in on the short side for his team-leading 15th goal of the season.

Armia tied it up at 13:11 of the second period on another shot Rittich probably should have stopped, but the big forward surprised the goalie with a quick release. Armia fired a short-side shot from the high slot without any screen and it went in for his 12th goal of the season, one short of the career high he set last season.

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Armia almost put the Canadiens ahead 3-2 when he went in on a breakaway and rang a shot off the post just under six minutes into the third period. That miss looked like it would prove costly when Kylington scored at 6:25 to put the Flames up 3-2, beating Price with a high shot to the glove side.

But the Canadiens battled back yet again and Suzuki scored a nice deflection goal at the 11:58 mark. The rookie had gone 12 games without a goal. Jordan Weal picked up an assist on Suzuki’s goal after going 15 games without a point.

When Domi was asked after the game if the Canadiens are starting to play like they did last season, he responded: “As far as we’re concerned we’re just worried about this year. Nothing else matters. We know what we have in this locker room. We want to play for each other. Everyone’s here to win hockey games and that’s all that matters. Confident group right now.”

“The Western road trip is a big turning point in the year,” Domi added. “If we can come away with as many points as possible in this roadie going into a couple of days off at Christmas, I think that’s what winning teams do. We’re finding ways to win right now, so we just got to keep it going.”

The Canadiens flew to Edmonton after the game and will look for their third straight road win Saturday against the Oilers (7 p.m., SNE, CITY, TVA Sports, TSN 690 Radio).

scowan@postmedia.com

twitter.com/StuCowan1

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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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