Canadian 5, Devils 2: rare road win

BETTING À DAY

NEWARK | The Devils had won 14 of their last 19 games and were third in the NHL. The Canadian had only won one in his last eleven outings on opposing rinks. In such a context, we expected a triumph of the devils. 

But a great sage once said that hockey is played on ice. And Alex Belzile had said in the morning that there was no easy meeting in the NHL. We know it even better now. 

The CH defied all predictions by winning 5 to 2 against the gang of Nico Hischier and Jack Hughes, Tuesday, at the Prudential Center. < /p>

“We show that we can play with everyone,” said Martin St-Louis. There are difficult circumstances with the many injuries, but we continue to move the train forward. We are starting to prove things to a lot of people, but more importantly to the rest of us. 

Martin St-Louis can thank his goalkeeper for this victory in the very uncharming city of Newark. 

Samuel Montembeault blocked 37 of the locals' 39 shots. 

Big saves

Number 35 notably made saves against Miles Wood, Brendan Smith and Dawson Mercer on breakaways. 

“I made some big saves, but my teammates also blocked several shots [19],” Montembeault said. Savard even made a blocker save in the third period. During the game in Carolina, I had given up two goals on breakaways with shots on my blocker side. I had worked a lot on this aspect over the past few days with Éric [Raymond], so I am happy to reap the benefits. ”

Author of a goal and an assist, Nick Suzuki carried part of the attack on his shoulders. But the Habs also benefited from the help of their defenders with three goals, those of Justin Barron, Johnathan Kovacevic and Mike Matheson (in an empty net). The fickle Rem Pitlick also hit the mark against Vitek Vanecek.  

Sign of a diversified attack, eleven CH players wrote their names on the score sheet. Josh Anderson is one of the few who didn't get a point, but he knocked on the door three times with high-quality chances. He played a strong game on the right wing of Suzuki and Rafaël Harvey-Pinard.  

What we noticed… 

< strong>OLD SAGUENÉANS

Dawson Mercer and Rafaël Harvey-Pinard shared the same locker room for a few weeks with the Chicoutimi Saguenéens in 2019-2020. Harvey-Pinard was the captain, while Mercer, who had just been obtained from the Voltigeurs de Drummondville, was to energize the team's offense even more. But COVID-19 derailed the plans. “I'm still being told about it in Chicoutimi, there are several fans who come to see me to tell me that we had the team to win the Cup,” said Harvey-Pinard in the morning. Three years after their spell in Chicoutimi, Harvey-Pinard and Mercer found themselves on NHL ice with different uniforms on their backs, but a similar role as winger of a first line.  

< p>ONE MORE CRIMP

In the universe of the Habs, there is a mystery about injured or sick players. Kirby Dach has missed a third game in a row due to a bizarre illness that prevented him from traveling to New Jersey. Against the Devils, Martin St-Louis lost one more player with Joel Armia. The Finn left the game in the first half after three short appearances. 

TIC-TAC-TOE

We would not have predicted a CH victory on the road against the Devils. But we would not have predicted a goal from Rem Pitlick after a superb series of passes with Evgenii Dadonov and Christian Dvorak. It was a real tic-tac-toe. 

+ The first lineMontembeault is the big star of this game, but Suzuki, Harvey-Pinard and Anderson also had a big say in this victory They set the tone for the game from their first appearance They spent a lot of time in enemy territory even if they were playing against the line of Jack Hughes – Jonathan DrouinUsed in the center for this visit to New Jersey, Drouin was hardly visible on the offensive level He did not get a shot in the direction of Vitek Vanecek In the face-off circle, Alex Belzile had a tough game with a zero in eleven on his record

5

2First Father ;riode1-Mon: Justin Barron (3) (Suzuki, Harvey-Pinard)3:54
2-NJ: Jesper Bratt (23) (Hughes)13:48Penalties: No penaltySecond period3-Mon: Johnathan Kovacevic (2) (Ylonen, Matheson)2:29
4-Mon: Nick Suzuki (18) (Hoffman, Schueneman)3:42Penalties: Dvorak (Mon) 8:09, Smith (NJ) 11:25Third period5-Mon: Rem Pitlick (4) (Dadonov, Dvorak)5:13
6-NJ: Dawson Mercer (16) (Wood, Hughes)AN-11:58
7-Mon: Mike Matheson (3) (Dvorak)FD-16:13 Penalties: Mercer (NJ) 0:40, Drouin (Mon) 1:33, Barron (Mon) 10:27 Shots on goalMontreal 8 – 4 – 6 – 18 New Jersey 11 – 14 – 14 – 39Goalkeepers:Mon: Samuel Montembeault (G, 12-11-2) NJ: Vitek Vanecek (P, 24-6-3)Numerical advantages: Mon: 0 for 2, NJ: 1 for 3Referees:Kelly Sutherland, Corey SyvretLinesmen: Bryan Pancich, Julien FournierASSISTANCE:14,854 Samuel Montembeault★Nick Suzuki★★Josh Anderson★★★