Postgame Poutine: ‘The Hamburglar’ Leads Habs To 3-2 Shootout Win

Patience and a passion for the game of hockey paid off for Montreal Canadiens goalie Andrew Hammond Sunday as he stopped two of three New York Islanders shooters in the shootout and made 30 saves to give the Habs a 3-2 win Sunday afternoon.

The Canadiens have now won two games straight for the first time this season. Jeff Petry and Josh Anderson scored for the Canadiens in regulation and Cole Caufield and Rem Pitlick lit the lamp in the shootout.

For the Islanders, Kyle Palmieri scored a powerplay goal and Brock Nelson tied the game at two with 2:57 left in regulation to eventually send the game to overtime. Anthony Beauvillier scored the lone shootout goal for the Isles and Ilya Sorokin made 25 saves in regulation and overtime.

Here’s your MHN Postgame Poutine:

GOLD STAR: Andrew Hammond – In his first game in 1,425 days, Montreal Canadiens goalie Andrew Hammond got his first win since April 9, 2016. With rookie goalie Cayden Primeau constantly getting shelled, new Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes decided to send Primeau back down to the Laval Rocket and acquired Hammond from Minnesota Wild on February 12. The move immediately paid off on Sunday as Hammond played like the goalie that became known as ‘The Hamburglar’ during a magical run with the Ottawa Senators in 2015, kept his team tied at one through a second period where the Habs were simply flat. The 34-year-old netminder had a huge save on Islanders forward Jean-Gabriel Pageau with 21 seconds left in regulation, then made one save in overtime and stopped two of three shooters in the shootout. Hammond finished the game wand overtime with 30 saves on 32 Isles shots.

Andrew Hammond stonewalls Brock Nelson and the Habs win!

Habs first back to back wins of the year, and Hammond's first NHL win in four years.

Hockey is fun pic.twitter.com/wb5fiY5TUl

— Scott Matla (@scottmatla) February 20, 2022

TABARNAK: Second Period – One could argue that Montreal Canadiens winger Jake Evans should be included here as well for the bad hooking penalty he took at the end of the first period that gave the Islanders a two-man advantage to start the second period. The Isles would convert on the powerplay that resulted from Evans’ penalty and tie the game at one on a Kyle Palmieri powerplay goal 1:29 into the middle frame.

Kyle Palmieri gets his 4th of the year, tying it up at 1 on the backhand rebound tally!#Isles pic.twitter.com/MOjaiyrghf

— Hockey Daily 365 (@HockeyDaily365) February 20, 2022

TURNING POINT: Josh Anderson Goal – After a brutal second period, the Montreal Canadiens still found themselves up 2-1 headed to the third period thanks to Anderson’s goal with 1:11 left in the middle frame. The Habs played a much better third period after that.

HONORABLE MENTION: Josh Anderson – Anderson was back on the top line with Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield and the trio clicked beautifully. Anderson served as the big brother/power forward for the kids, Suzuki was the slick and smart playmaker and Caufield was once again the rising sniper he’s been of late with four goals in his last four games. Midway through the period, Islanders bruiser Cal Clutterbuck absolutely leveled Caufield with a clean hit. Caufield actually got right back up and kept playing but Anderson felt Clutterbuck had taken liberties with his smaller and younger linemate and went after the Islanders forward.

Cole Caufield got right back up after this hit from Cal Clutterbuck. 😯 pic.twitter.com/MO9Z5soj3O

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) February 20, 2022

However, the Canadiens were under siege the entire period, getting out-shot 13-5 and never really being able to stem the Isles’ momentum they got from the Palmieri powerplay tally. While the first period saw a tenacious and attacking Habs squad playing on their toes, the second saw them on their heels until the final two minutes. If not for Anderson and Hammond, the Canadiens easily could’ve been trailing by a goal or even more after two periods of play.

Josh Anderson with an absolute roof job on Ilya Sorokin pic.twitter.com/8myd35nl2Y

— Scott Matla (@scottmatla) February 20, 2022

BY THE NUMBERS: Here’s how the Montreal Canadiens lined up Sunday afternoon:

Forwards

Cole Caufield-Nick Suzuki-Josh Anderson

Mike Hoffman – Laurent Dauphin – Brendan Gallagher

Rem Pitlick – Jake Evans- Paul Byron

Michael Pezzetta – Ryan Poehling – Artturi Lehkonen

Defense:

Alexander Romanov – Ben Chiarot

Brett Kulak-Jeff Petry

Kale Clague-Chris Wideman

Goalies:

Andrew Hammond

Sam Montembeault

QUOTE TO NOTE: “I’d wait 4 more years to do it again…it was worth it” – Andrew Hammond on the wait and reward for his first NHL start in four years.