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Canadiens Honour Subban, Power Past Predators in 4-3 Win

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1 year ago

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Montreal Canadiens

On a night that sought to honour one of its most spectacular players in recent memory, P.K. Subban, the Montreal Canadiens put on one heck of a show.

The Canadiens came out of the gate roaring after a passionate speech from Subban, who spoke about playing with the same passion that the Canadiens fan base demonstrates on a nightly basis.

The Canadiens’ special teams came up big, with two goals on the power play from Cole Caufield, and even a goal at four-on-four from Jake Evans.

The Nashville Predators pushed hard to get into the game, tieing up the games on two occasions, but the Canadiens continued to show the edge in their game and kept the Predators at bay, despite putting over 40 shots on Samuel Montembeault.

Juraj Slafkovsky played his most complete game by far tonight. He was physical, involved, playing smart, blocking shots, making plays; he was everywhere with the time that was given to him.

After making two crucial shot blocks earlier in the game and showing more assertion in the defensive zone after the Predators’ first goal, Martin St-Louis even saw fit to play Slafkovsky in the final minutes of the game, a strong show of approval for the youngster’s most complete game this season.

Your Canadiens post-game review below:

Snipe Show

Cole Caufield has been one of the major bright spots for the Montreal Canadiens so far this season.

Caufield has been scoring at a near 50-goal pace since the very start of the season and, despite the Canadiens going through some tough times of late, has shown no signs of slowing down.

What’s even more impressive is that, before tonight, only five of Caufield’s 23 goals came on the power play.

Caufield rectified that tonight by adding two power play markers, both one-timers, bringing his total to 25 goals through 42 games.

In scoring his 24th and 25th goals, Caufield has now set new career highs in goal scoring and took sole possession of 9th in the NHL for most goals this season.

It’s an impressive total for the young man so far this season, and there are still 40 games still to go; but the proper development of Caufield and the real potential to see him cross the 40-goal mark has to be reassuring to the organization as they continue their rebuild.

Making Good Impression

Jesse Ylönen has been quietly waiting for his opportunity to show Montreal Canadiens management and the fans that he’s more than ready for the NHL.

His 27 points in 34 games for the Laval Rocket ranked him second on the team and has been one of the club’s most complete players so far this season.

Finally earning a call-up this season after a cup of coffee last year, Ylönen wasted little time in making an impact; jumping on loose pucks and getting shots on net.

Despite not having an attributed line, with the Canadiens dressing 11 forwards, Ylönen played with many different teammates and didn’t flinch at all.

He showed his good acceleration with the puck and quick hands at even-strength, forming some chemistry with Jonathan Drouin, his most common linemate.

He was able to get his name on the scoresheet however, after receiving a good pass from Drouin, Ylönen faked out Nashville’s Roman Josi before sliding off a pass to Kirby Dach for the easy tap-in.

He may not stick with the Canadiens in the immediate future, but, after some bodies are cleared at the NHL Trade Deadline, good performances like this could see Ylönen remain a Canadien for the long term.

Good Times Rolling

Jake Evans had a very difficult first half of the season, but, since the Canadiens returned from their recent road trip, he’s been a different player.

He had recorded three points in his last three games, and followed up his excellent play of late with his second goal of the season in clutch fashion on a two-on-one.

Evans is finally getting rewarded for his uptick in play, which started a few weeks ago; and the main reason for that is due to a rise in his intensity of late.

He’s been faster, more aggressive and is battling with more vigour against the boards, resulting in longer offensive zone time and more high-danger opportunities, like tonight.

His line with Joel Armia and Evgenii Dadonov created high quantities of chances again tonight, and once again all found themselves at the top for the Canadiens in chances for, expected goals and high-danger chance generation.

When everyone is in the right chair, that’s exactly the kind of performance you want from your fourth line if your Martin St-Louis.

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