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Habs Highlights: Dramatic Comeback Secures Key Point, Playoff Spot

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Montreal Canadiens Juraj Slafkovsky

The Montreal Canadiens hosted the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday night, hoping to establish another precious win streak down the final stretch of the regular season.

It wasn’t the worst effort of the season from the Habs, but the first period featured a shambolic showing for a team that is in the playoff hunt. The Canadiens were forced to chase all night, and by the good grace of Maurice Richard, they managed to overcome a 3-0 deficit to push the game to overtime.

Extra time could not determine a winner, leading to a shootout, where the Avalanche emerged with a 5-4 win.

Let’s dive into the highlights!

Behind The Eight Ball

There’s no two ways about it, the Canadiens were awful in the first period. They were outshot by a chasm-sized margin, while allowing the Avalanche to take seven high-danger shots at 5v5. For the record, the Canadiens did not manage to register a single decent scoring chance.

It’s also fair to say Samuel Montembeault could have done a little better on both Avalanche goals. He wasn’t the main reason the Avs scored, but if the Habs hope to make the playoffs they’ll need to receive big saves from their netminders at crucial moments.

Now, before we move on, I would like to clarify that Montembeault is a top 15 goalie at 5v5 this year. He’s a top 10 goalie in all situations. Statistically speaking, he’s not just a legitimate starter, he’s in the top half of the league.

However, he can also do a much better job tracking shots from defenders who have scored 12 or so goals in their careers. Especially when there’s no screen in place.

It would help Montembeault’s cause if David Savard stopped taking risks when he knows he does not have the speed to compensate for a bad read, but it feels like that ship sailed a long time ago.

Just The Tip

The Avs established a three-goal lead just five minutes into the second period, giving the impression that they simply weren’t interested in fighting back this time around. Resilience is great, and it has come to define this team, but chasing leads takes a big toll on players, both mentally and physically.

Fortunately, Juraj Slafkovsky had a little fight left in him, as evidenced by his 15th goal of the year, which featured a very nice tip from the youngest player in the lineup. He used his condor-like wingspan to ensure he was the only one that could make contact with the puck.

The play also rewarded the Habs for a much better showing compared to the first 20 minutes of the game.


Speaking of having a little fight left, defenceman Arber Xhekaj gave the Habs a little life when he dispatched Avs defenceman Keaton Middleton. Once Middleton was put off balance, it was all downhill from there. The linesmen had to jump in, as Middleton could no longer defend himself following a series of punches that landed directly on his face, making this a classic TKO.

Not-So-Special Teams

On most nights, pinpointing one issue is very difficult. Hockey is the epitome of a team sport. It takes more than one player to win, and it takes more than one bad shift to lose.

But the Canadiens could have made life easier on themselves if they were able to capitalize on their many powerplays. It wasn’t just a matter of struggling to score, either, seeing as they did not come remotely close to threatening the possibility of a shot. Speaking of which, Mike Matheson had a very tough time at 5v5, which isn’t surprising, but that becomes a much bigger issue when he can’t contribute in the offensive zone.

Better Late

Just when it seemed all hope was lost, the Habs decided to dig deep, scoring two goals in 30 seconds to cut the Avalanche lead to just one.

The first came off the heels of a nice rush by Alex Newhook, as well as a smart follow-up by Joshua Roy, who scored his second goal in as many games. I have criticized Newhook’s consistency in the past, but I have to give him credit, he’s found another gear in March.

The second goal was particularly noteworthy because it was a great individual effort by Slafkovsky. He doesn’t always have the confidence to go at it alone, and that’s fine. It’ll come with experience. But when he does take advantage of his size advantage over most players, he creates a ton of open ice for his linemates, or, in this case, himself.

Do Call it A Comeback

The Slafkovsky goal setup what can only be described as yet another clutch goal from Christian Dvorak. As we discussed earlier, the Montreal Canadiens will need players to step up if they’re to make the playoffs. You’d be hard-pressed to suggest Dvorak hasn’t done his part in the last stretch.

Some may submit the Avalanche collapsed in the third, and there’s some truth there, but they collapsed due to sustained pressure from a team desperate to collect points in the standings. A team that was willing to outwork a much more talented opponent.

Yes, the Habs eventually lost in the shootout, but once again they managed to snatch some semblance of victory from the jaws of defeat, by securing one very important point.

The Montreal Canadiens are back in action on Tuesday. They will face the Blues in St. Louis, with the puck drop scheduled for 8pm ET. All Montreal Canadiens statistics are 5v5 unless otherwise noted, via Natural Stat Trick.

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