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Canadiens Postgame

Canadiens Lose in Overtime After Great Effort Against Oilers

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4 months ago

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Montreal Canadiens Cole Caufield

The Montreal Canadiens hosted the high-scoring Edmonton Oilers on Saturday night, a classic all-Canadian match-up at the Bell Centre.

The game featured top forward prospect Joshua Roy’s NHL debut. The 20-year-old played alongside Sean Monahan and Joel Armia on the Canadiens’ third line. But it was the Canadiens’ top line that led the charge for the home team during a very entertaining back-and-forth battle with Connor McDavid and the Oilers.

Edmonton eventually emerged with a 2-1 win thanks to a powerplay goal in overtime.

Let’s dive into those highlights!

Segment

The Canadiens had a hard time keeping up with one of the worst teams in modern NHL history on Thursday, but it must be said they flipped the script against the very talented Oilers lineup.

In addition to doing a good job keeping McDavid at bay, the Canadiens provided an honest effort, which is all most fans expect against a powerhouse team like Edmonton.

The Oilers ended up outshooting the Habs in the first period, but Martin St-Louis’ team held a 3-1 advantage in 5v5 high-danger scoring chances.

However, it was the powerplay, which hadn’t scored in the last seven opportunities, that put the Canadiens on the board in the first period. Not only did Cole Caufield score his 12th goal of the year, but he also drew the tripping penalty that put the Habs on the powerplay in the first place. Nick Suzuki gets full marks for selling the shot prior to the cross-ice pass.

Despite scoring on the powerplay, it was still an important moment for two key top-line players who have had a hard time scoring at 5v5 in recent games.

Juraj Slafkovsky seemed to draw inspiration from the goal, as he quickly generated a solid chance in a high-scoring area.

Strong Like Bull

Every once in a while an NHL defenceman will line up Suzuki for a big hit while forgetting that he possesses oak trees for legs. There’s a reason this 5’11” forward weighs over 210lb.

 

Hold The Fort

The Oilers took over in the second period, though the Canadiens did a relatively good job limiting their chances. Any time you play against Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl you’re bound to allow a fair amount of shots. The key is limiting the damage, as Mike Matheson did with his excellent defensive play in the second period.

The Oilers generated just three high-scoring chances while maintaining control of the puck much more often than the Canadiens.

When the Oilers did manage to generate a quality scoring chance, Samuel Montembeault was ready. His anticipation and puck tracking were excellent through 40 minutes of play.

 

Bad Luck Goal

Again, the Canadiens genuinely did a good job limiting the Oilers’ chances, but Edmonton finally broke through early in the third period. You could argue Warren Foegle interfered with Montembeault on the play. In fact, that’s exactly what St-Louis did, but the referees reviewed the play and felt there was no interference on the play.

 

Segment 1

The third period turned into a run-and-gun battle, which is normally advantageous for a team like the Oilers, but the Canadiens once again did a good job outworking the Oilers and keeping the chances even.

The Oilers eventually scored in overtime, on yet another powerplay, but overall, the Canadiens can be proud of their performance on Saturday night.

 

The Montreal Canadiens will be back in action on Monday night. They will face Jonathan Drouin and the Colorado Avalanche at the Bell Centre. The puck drop is scheduled for 7 pm ET.

All Montreal Canadiens statistics are 5v5 unless otherwise noted. Via NaturalStatTrick.

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