Canadiens Instant Recap: Referees Lose Control, Habs Lose Laine

The Montreal Canadiens hosted the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Bell Centre on Saturday night, looking to avenge their 2-1 loss to their Ontario rivals earlier in the week.

It appears the Canadiens’ health issues are here to stay, as an early knee-on-knee incident led to what looked like a significant injury to newcomer Patrik Laine, though he wasn’t even the first player who was forced to leave the game, as David Reinbacher left the ice in pain after just 13 seconds of ice time.

GOTTA SEE IT: Canadiens forward Patrik Laine Injured, Arber Xhekaj Retaliates

The Leafs once again emerged with a 2-1 win, and there’s a lot to get to, so let’s dive into those highlights!

The Referees Lose Control Of The Game

It was difficult to get a good read on individual performances, as the chaotic nature of the game did not allow for much even-strength play. The injury to Reinbacher was random, however, it did remind Canadiens fans that they’ve watched almost the entire roster head down the tunnel in pain over the course of the last few seasons.

If the Canadiens did not have the worst possible luck, they’d have…a chance of qualifying for the playoffs one of these days. But given how severe Laine’s injury looked, that dream will probably have to be put on the back burner for now, as he was the only significant addition to the lineup this season.

Patrik Laine goes down after a knee-on-knee contact.

Doesn’t look good. He had to leave the game. #GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/cXrNTOzK4L

— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) September 28, 2024

On that note, what matters most is Laine’s health. It’s such a terrible situation for a player who had gone to great lengths to put his career back on track. If the injury is substantial, hopefully the Habs will keep him around the team so that his teammates can offer support, as they did with Kirby Dach last year.

The play itself was clearly a kneeing penalty, and it’s quite frustrating that a player most had to look up on Hockey Db took out a legitimate NHL player in a meaningless game. To make matters more frustrating for the Canadiens, the referees opted not to penalize the play, or even review the play, which is an option when a player is injured. By failing to do their jobs the referees they lost control of the game, and were partly responsible for the chaos that ensued. It’s one thing to miss a penalty that led to an injury, but it’s another to set up a situation in which retaliation comes to the forefront, as it puts even more players at risk of being injured.

Unsurprisingly, Arber Xhekaj took exception to the play, which is when he decided to take matters into his own hands. He jumped on Pare and unloaded a series of punches that rightfully led to his ejection from the game. It remains to be seen if Xhekaj will be suspended, but given he didn’t actually drop his gloves when he saw Cedric Pare wasn’t going to answer the call, he may avoid a suspension.

Arber Xhekaj unloads on Pare after he injured Laine. #GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/lq75y4fMmN

— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) September 28, 2024

Josh Anderson and Juraj Slafkovsky also got into fights, and thankfully neither seemed to be injured. Slafkovsky landed a few punches and made his opponent bleed, but he got caught with a punch at the end of the fight, which probably raised the collective blood pressure in Montreal. He also grabbed Marshall Rifai’s hair, and though it looked accidental, he’ll want to make sure that doesn’t happen again.

Slafkovsky gets into a fight. #GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/H7QWh4CfKh

— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) September 29, 2024

Actual Hockey Footage From The Montreal Canadiens

Again, there was not much actual hockey happening on Saturday night, and we don’t have any powerplay highlights from the many opportunities given to the Canadiens because they showed little to no killer instinct on the man advantage. This time around, the lack of Lane Hutson can’t be blamed, either. Hutson played quite well, but overall, there was almost no powerplay movement, making life very easy on the Leafs defenders.

The Habs did not allow the Leafs to have many scoring chances either, but the disparity in talent between both lineups should have led to a better effort from the home team, regardless of how high emotions were running after the game derailed in the first period.

Cowan had a huge head start but Hutson and Newhook tracked him down with blazing speed to negate the scoring chance. #GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/jhT5tkMwjj

— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) September 29, 2024

Beyond the flaccid powerplay, the third line of Owen Beck, Joshua Roy, and Jared Davidson (not Sean Farrell, as written in the Tweet) actually showed signs of life, doing a reasonable good job on the forecheck, which led to a few chances. They clearly had a little more petrol in their tanks than the veterans in the lineup. To be fair, most players had to absorb a lot of ice time as the Habs had very few rested bodies on the bench following the first-period shenanigans.

Strong forecheck by Roy, Farrell, and Beck leads to this Mailloux chance that goes wide. #GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/ZfsUxAdQNi

— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) September 29, 2024

A disallowed Jared Davidson goal gave the Canadiens a little life in the third period, which eventually led to Kirby Dach’s late goal that was set up perfectly by Nick Suzuki and Lane Hutson with some slick passing. However, it was too little, too late, as the Leafs left Montreal with a 2-1 win.

Nick Suzuki to Lane Hutson to Kirby Dach, who opens the scoring for the Habs with the goalie pulled. #GoHabsGo

Very nice pass by Hutson to set it up. pic.twitter.com/15Kys4Ce69

— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) September 29, 2024

The Montreal Canadiens are back in action on Tuesday. They will face the Senators in Ottawa, with the puck drop scheduled for 7 pm ET.

All Montreal Canadiens statistics are 5v5 unless otherwise noted, via Natural Stat Trick.