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Canadiens Postgame

Habs Highlights: Yes, Laine Scored For The Canadiens, Again

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3 months ago

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patrik laine montreal canadiens

The Montreal Canadiens hosted the Detroit Red Wings at the Bell Centre on Saturday night, the second leg of back-to-back games that also included travel. The Habs were attempting to win their third game in a row for the first time this year, and given how well they played against the Red Wings on Friday night, it was a perfect opportunity to build on their momentum.

The Habs emerged with a well-deserved 5-1 win, and yes, Patrik Laine scored again. More on that a little later in the recap.

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Let’s dive into those highlights!

Rallying Early

The Habs have a long history of slow starts since Martin St-Louis took over as head coach, but they’ve enjoyed a reversal of fortunes in that department over the last stretch. As we all know, playing behind the eight-ball early in a game is very taxing, which is why the Canadiens only have one win this season after giving up the first goal.

They were looking to make it two wins on Saturday, as Joe Veleno opened the scoring a little over five minutes into the first period.

Juraj Slafkovsky responded by using his large frame to create havoc in front of Red Wings goaltender Alex Lyon, while also tipping the point shot from Nick Suzuki. This often goes without saying, but yes, Lane Hutson assisted on the scoring play.

As an aside, the only combination that seems to work for Slafkovsky is when he’s used on the top line, and that combination also works for the team, since they tend to control the flow of the game.


He’s On Fire

Not to be outdone, the fourth line followed suit, with Jake Evans scoring his seventh goal of the year, and his second in as many games. If we’re being honest, Evans’ excellent play means he’s a likely trade target for playoff teams, which means we may be watching the last season with No.71 in the lineup.

Personally, I hope he signs an incredibly rich contract this summer, because this may be his only opportunity to capitalize on unrestricted free agency. I also hope he signs for as many years as possible. Evans works so hard that you’d be hard-pressed to argue many others around the NHL are more deserving of a significant raise.

I’m just not sure if it makes sense to pay out that raise via Canadiens’ coffers.

That being said, I’ll try to avoid bringing up his contract status next time he scores a big goal for the Habs. For now, we’re being treated to quite the show from the fourth line, and that’s good enough.

Patrikplay Prowess

You knew it was coming. I knew it was coming. Hell, even the Red Wings knew it was coming, but it appears that absolutely nothing can stop Patrik Laine on the powerplay, as evidenced by his eighth patrickplay goal in just nine games.

He wasn’t even trying to score, per se. It was clearly a slap pass, but when you’re hot, you’re hot.

Laine is now just three goals behind the New York Islanders for goals scored with the man-advantage this season, though to be perfectly fair, the Islanders have hit a few posts lately, so they could easily be at 12, or even 13 powerplay goals if a little more luck went their way.


More Value

Slafkovsky isn’t the only one who has now scored goals in back-to-back games. Emil Heineman, who is enjoying quite the season given his usage, capitalized on some questionable defending from the Red Wings to score his eighth goal of the season.

I don’t want to take anything away from the Habs, but we do have to recognize that Detroit had to deal with a brutal goaltending performance, and I ain’t Lyon.


Secondary And Tertiary Support

Veteran Brendan Gallagher got into the action, scoring his ninth goal of the year despite being at the tail-end of his shift. At this point, every line but the second managed to score a goal at 5v5, and if we’re feeling generous, we can count Laine’s patrickplay tally, which means all the lines were rolling on Saturday night.

That’s a recipe for success against any NHL team, let alone a struggling club like the Red Wings.

The Montreal Canadiens will play one final game before Christmas, facing the Blue Jackets in Columbus, on December 23, 2024. All Montreal Canadiens statistics are 5v5 unless otherwise noted, via Natural Stat Trick.

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