The Montreal Canadiens were reeling to start the night in Winnipeg, giving the Jets the kind of opportunities that could have effectively ended the game before 10 minutes were even played.
But Canadiens coach Claude Julien challenged a Patrik Laine goal for offside and chastised his team while the play was being reviewed. The goal was reversed, but the Jets scored shortly thereafter on the power play.
The thing is, the complexion of the game had already changed dramatically.
Before it had, Carey Price turned miracles in Montreal’s net. He stopped Winnipeg’s franchise leader in points, Blake Wheeler, on consecutive shots in Seconds 16 and 19 of the first period.
Saves that followed on Mason Appleton, on Laine and on Nikolaj Ehlers were otherworldly.
Julien had seen enough, and he went off while Laine’s goal was in the process of being overturned. The Canadiens then shook off Kyle Connor’s power-play goal, and they went on to dominate the Jets—outshooting them 39-14 and outscoring them 5-1 for a 6-2 win.
Big win? They are all in this insane race taking shape in the Atlantic Division.
The Canadiens sit in third place. Earlier in the day, the Toronto Maple Leafs secured their hold on second with a win over the Carolina Hurricanes, and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Florida Panthers in regulation while the Buffalo Sabres were losing to the Ottawa Senators to stay within one point of both the Panthers and the Sabres, who rank just behind the Canadiens.
If this was supposed to be the most crucial trip of Montreal’s season—a four-game jaunt through Western Canada—a 3-1 record on it, with wins over Vancouver, Calgary and Winnipeg, could have serious implications when all is said and done. In the short term, that success has allowed the Canadiens to keep pace in a race that can shift a team from second place in the division to sixth on any given night.
And there’s no chance, absolutely no chance at all, that the Canadiens could have done that without what Price offered in these four games before the Christmas break.
There were 57 goalies with a better save percentage than Carey Price in November. Since then? He’s tied for most starts and has a .927 in December.
Price and Julien were instrumental in the way this game got turned around early, but a power-play goal for Canadiens leading scorer Tomas Tatar in the 16th minute of the first period put a strong wind into Montreal’s sails.
It was the team’s first power play of the game and, after nearly a minute and a half of excellent puck movement and sustained pressure in the offensive zone, they capitalized on it with a perfect play between Tatar, Nick Suzuki and Jeff Petry.
One chance, one goal. Think about that.
This team, with much of the same personnel as it had a season ago, missed on its only other opportunity of the game, but has now scored on seven of its last 17 power plays over the last 10 contests. This team, which ran one of the worst power plays (13.2 per cent) since power-play statistics started being recorded by the NHL, is winning games thanks to its power play.
The Canadiens are doing this in spite of the fact that they’ve been given the 30th-most power-play opportunities in the NHL. They’re doing it without one of their most potent offensive weapons in Jonathan Drouin, who’s been out with a wrist injury since Nov. 15.
Impressive, no doubt.
Truly impressive? On the road, the Canadiens have managed to operate at 28.2 per cent, which is better than 29 other teams in the league.
This was all so unforeseeable when the season began close to three months ago, but here we are.
QUICK HITS
• We’re here because the chemistry the Canadiens have developed on the power play is undeniable. And that chemistry was typified by the play between Tatar, Suzuki and Petry.
Watch it first, then allow me to explain:
No one on the Winnipeg side knew Suzuki was making that pass.
But, you know who did know? Tatar.
As soon as Petry gets the puck back to Suzuki, Tatar steps into the seam. He does it because he knows if there’s one player who might fake a shot and pull off a perfect bullet pass through a stream of sticks and legs, it’s Suzuki.
That is chemistry.
• Phillip Danault, with two goals in the game, pulled to within three goals of his career high of 13. There are 45 games left to play.
At five-on-five, the Canadiens controlled 75.61 per cent of the shot attempts in the game with Danault on the ice.
Why? To start with, Danault won 13 of the 18 faceoffs he took in the game.
Then he, Tatar and Brendan Gallagher just dominated—whether they had to face Mark Scheifele’s line with Connor and Laine or Wheeler’s with Ehlers and Jack Roslovic.
Danault also led the Canadiens with seven shots on net.
The Victoriaville, Que., native is on pace for 65 points, and he’s picking up support (outside of Montreal) in the mid-season conversation about the Selke Trophy.
He’ll definitely be in the top-3 for me when I fill out my midseason ballot.
• Here’s what Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin said about Max Domi in Vancouver, just hours before the team started this road trip: “What he did last year, we saw what he was capable of offering, so I don’t know why he wouldn’t be able to do it again. Sometimes a player thinks too much. It’s hard to get into a player’s head, but I’m not here to go after Max. I think he’s still a useful player to the organization and I’m sure he’ll come out of it.”
When Bergevin said this, Domi was stuck on six goals, 14 assists and 23 points through 33 games.
Since then? Domi notched two assists in the win over the Canucks, scored the overtime winner in Calgary, scored a beautiful goal in the 4-3 loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday, and scored a goal and added an assist in Winnipeg.
Suddenly, the plucky 25-year-old is on pace for 20 goals and 58 points.
That’s good news for Domi, given that he had 28 goals and 72 points in a breakout campaign last season and that he’s playing for a new contract right now. But it’s better news for the Canadiens, who need the Domi they saw in Winnipeg from here to the end of the season—and hopefully beyond.
• Victor Mete, back from an ankle injury that kept him out of 10 Canadiens games, played 13:04 and finished plus-1 against the Jets.
• Former Jet Joel Armia left the game with an upper-body injury. His last shift came in the eighth minute of the second period, and there was no update on his status afterwards.
Armia is one goal from his career high (he scored 13 last season) and he’s been one of Montreal’s most consistent and best players. The team and its fans will be hoping his injury isn’t too severe.
UP NEXT
The Canadiens will resume play in Florida on Dec. 28. From there, they’ll play the Lighting on the 29th and the Hurricanes on the 31st to finish off this season-long road trip.
EDMONTON – Teuvo Teravainen had two goals and two assists and Connor Bedard had a goal and two assists as the Chicago Blackhawks captured their first victory of the season, defeating the Edmonton Oilers 5-2 on Saturday.
Seth Jones also had a goal and two assists in his 800th career NHL game and Philipp Kurashev scored the other goal for the Blackhawks, who improved to 1-1-1 on the season.
Corey Perry and Leon Draisaitl scored for the Oilers, who fell to 0-2 to start the season on the heels of making it all the way to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final last season before losing out to the Florida Panthers. Edmonton has been outscored 11-2 in its first two games.
Petr Mrazek had 35 saves in the Chicago net, while Calvin Pickard made 15 stops between the pipes for Edmonton.
TAKEAWAYS
Blackhawks: Former Oiler Taylor Hall now has eight points (2G, 6A) in 12 career games against the team that drafted him first overall in 2010, picking up an assist on Chicago’s first-period goal. There were four former first overall picks playing in the contest in Hall and Bedard for the Hawks and Connor McDavid and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins for Edmonton. Nugent-Hopkins picked up his 700th career point in the contest.
Oilers: Oilers defenceman and Edmonton-area product Brett Kulak suited up for his 500th career NHL game. The 30-year-old has been a mainstay since arriving from Montreal at the 2023 NHL trade deadline, playing in all 183 regular-season and 53 playoff games that he could. He has recorded an even 100 points in his career.
KEY MOMENT
The Blackhawks took a two-goal lead with six minutes to play in the middle frame as Bedard used a defender as a screen before ripping a perfect shot glove-side past Pickard for his first of the season.
KEY STAT
With his third period power-play goal, Oilers forward Draisaitl now has a 16-game point streak (13-18-31) against Chicago dating to Oct. 28, 2018 and passed teammate Connor McDavid (15-game streak versus New Jersey) for the NHL’s longest active point streak against one opponent.
UP NEXT
Blackhawks: Wrap up a four-game road trip in Calgary against the Flames on Tuesday.
Oilers: Host the Flames on Sunday in the third game of a season-starting four-game set at home.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 12, 2024.
CALGARY – Jonathan Huberdeau had two goals and two assists for the Calgary Flames in a 6-3 win in their home-opener over the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday.
Nazem Kadri scored twice, including an empty-netter with MacKenzie Weegar and Mikael Backlund each contributing a goal for Calgary (2-0-0).
Flames goalie Dustin Wolf stopped 37 of 40 shots in his season debut.
Travis Konecny scored twice, including one short-handed, and Joel Farabee also had a goal for Philadelphia (1-1-0).
Flyers starter Ivan Fedotov made 27 saves in his first start of the season.
The Flyers played their second road game in as many nights to start their season after a 3-2 shootout win over the Canucks in Vancouver.
The Flames overcame a three-goal deficit to beat the Canucks 6-5 in overtime to start their season Wednesday.
TAKEAWAYS
Flyers: Slow start after beating Vancouver in a shootout 24 hours earlier, but scored twice in the second period and trailed by a goal heading into the third.
Flames: Wolf was the difference early stopping all 18 shots he faced in the first period and 37 overall. Calgary’s first goal that deflected off Huberdeau’s shoulder was lucky, but the winger set up Weegar perfectly for a one-timer and a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes, assisted on a pair of power-play goals and generated the Flames’ fifth goal.
KEY MOMENT
The Flames converted a five-on-three in the second period into Kadri’s power-play goal and a two-goal lead. Wolf reached back into his crease during a scramble to clear the puck and deny Konecny a potential equalizing goal midway through the third period.
KEY STAT
Philadelphia’s power play, which was the worst in the NHL last season, was 1-for-4 on Saturday and 2-for-8 after two games. Calgary’s went 2-for-5 to be 4-for-9 after two games.
UP NEXT
Flames: Finish a back-to-back weekend on Sunday in Edmonton against the Oilers.
Flyers: Follow the Flames into Edmonton on Tuesday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 12, 2024.
MONTREAL – The Montreal Canadiens grabbed a 2-0 lead on first-period goals by Emil Heineman and Cole Caufield and went on to beat the Ottawa Senators 4-1 on Saturday at the Bell Centre.
After Alex Newhook boosted the Canadiens’ lead to 3-0 early in the third period, Tim Stutzle ended Sam Montembeault’s bid for a second consecutive shutout. Montembeault, who made 48 saves in a season-opening win over Toronto, made 24 saves.
Caufield completed the scoring with his second goal of the game and fourth of the season as the Canadiens improved to 2-1, while the Senators slipped to 1-1.
Montreal defenceman Mike Matheson was awarded a penalty shot when he was upended by Jake Sanderson on a rush to the net during a third-period power play. Linus Ullmark, who finished the game with 21 saves, got a piece of the shot which hit the post and went wide.
TAKEAWAYS
The Canadiens won the battle of special teams. Heineman scored a power-play goal with one second remaining in the advantage as Montreal went 1-for-4 with the extra man. Ottawa failed to score on four power plays and were held to three shots on goal.
KEY MOMENT
After facing only four shots in the first period, Montembeault was under pressure in the second period when the Senators outshot the Canadiens 12-3.
KEY STAT
The Canadiens have had one of the worst power plays in the NHL over the past three seasons and the outlook for this season wasn’t bright after the team went 0-for-30 in the pre-season. But Heineman scored his first NHL goal on a power play in the first period to give Montreal a power-play goal in each of its first three regular-season games.
UP NEXT
Senators: Host the Los Angeles Kings on Monday afternoon.
Canadiens: Host the Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday night.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 12, 2024.
