Canadiens: Just Like On The Road

As the Montreal Canadiens got on the ice for warmup tonight, the Bell Centre DJ aptly played a song about coming home and even though the arena wasn’t full at that point, the players got a fitting reception for the road warriors they have become. As for the visitors, they were happy to get Quinn Hughes back in the lineup.

It was a hard hitting start to 2025 in Montreal, Kaiden Guhle rocked freshly recalled Jonathan Lekkerimaki with a bone crushing hit and set the tone as the first 20 minutes featured 19 hits but only 10 shots. Even Noah Juulsen got in on the action, hitting an unsuspecting Cole Caufield who had already fallen to his knees.

Related: Canadiens: Guhles Is A Gamer

The Canadiens scored early on. Juraj Slafkovsky who rode the pine for a while on Saturday night made sure to get off the naughty list, sending a picture perfect pass to Caufield in the slot. The sniper picked his spot and scored his 22nd goal of the season (his 15th at even strength – the highest total in the league).

10 minutes later, J.T. Miller tied up the score on an one timer, thanks to a great feed from Nils Hoglander. Montreal had a golden opportunity to get the lead back on the power play, but Kirby Dach, who was alone in the blue paint, somehow sent an easy tap-in wide and the score remained 1-1 as the teams headed back to their respective dressing room.

If the Canadiens scored fast in the first, it was the Canucks turn in the second frame and they did it twice with only 20 seconds in between both goals. Miller scored his second of the game on a rebound from a Lekkerimaki shot, before the latter got one past Montembeault as well to give the visitors a two-goal lead.

Had this happened to the Habs in November, the wheels would have came off the wagon, but not to this new and improved version. The Canadiens shook it off, rolled up their sleeves and got back to work. As Caufield said in his post game media availability, they had to stop the bleeding after getting a cut and they did it.

Related: Canadiens A New Evans Contract Is Just A Matter Of Time

Halfway through the period, Guhle showed he could hit pucks as well as people and scored his third of the season to bring Montreal back to within one. Kevin Lankinen stood tall for the remaining nine minutes though, saving his best stops for Nick Suzuki and Dach who were both frustrated on one-timers.

If Slafkovsky got an assist in the first frame, in the second stanza it was frustrating to see him shy away on a couple of great shot opportunities, electing to pass instead. Perhaps the fact he’s only got four goals to his name is getting to him, but he needs to get past this, and to stay away from ill advised cross ice passes. Still, the young Slovak was pleased with his game tonight, mentioning he had been extremely bad in the last two games.

Late in the period, Evans took a two-minute penalty for tripping and Montembeault got his chance to shine as he frustrated the Canucks on a perfect passing play. With 20 minutes to go, Vancouver led 3-2 and shots were 16-13 Montreal.

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The third period was a thriller to say the least. Two minutes in, with the Canadiens on a power play, Lane Hutson took a shot on net that was stopped but Lankinen couldn’t deny Dach on the rebound.

Less than five minutes later, Hutson threw the puck to the front of the net and Hughes deflected it past his own goalie. Montreal had the lead for the second time of the game, but it wasn’t going to last.

Not even two minutes later, Caufield was assessed a two-minute minor for slashing and Jake DeBrusk tied up the score. Hughes, who must have felt bad after that own goal, made up for it with an assist on the tying goal. Asked about the fact some coaches would have made Caufield pay for taking that penalty, St-Louis replied:

Cole is not a a guy who takes a lot of penalty. […] If Cole had the opportunity to go back in time, he wouldn’t do this again. We were at a stage in the game where it would have been hard to make him pay that mistake. It would be easy for Cole to just score goals and stay on the periphery and not get involved physically, but it’s harder to do what we ask him to do…he did something tonight he’d like to take back, but it wasn’t the time to give him a lesson.

With less than a minute to go in the third frame, Hutson’s perseverance forced Vancouver to take a penalty and while the Canadiens couldn’t score before the end of regulation, Suzuki wrapped things up 48 seconds into overtime, on assists from Hutson and Caufield.

It was a second great game in a row from Guhle whose big hits in the first really set the tone, Caufield said it best in his post game availability when asked what the rugged defenseman brought to the team: “he buries people”. Vancouver was physical as well tonight and even though they tried to rough up Hutson, he responded brilliantly, not only is his name all over the scoresheet, but as St-Louis mentioned, he’s slippery and he can escape a lot of hits, so he made the Canucks chase him.

It wasn’t Montembeault’s best game, far from it, but tonight, the Canadiens showed that they can win a game relying on their attack alone if their goaltender is not red hot. That’s something the Habs have been lacking for years, all the way through the Carey Price era, if he wasn’t his usual self, Montreal was doomed. Something tells me Price is watching this team play right now and wishes he would have had that kind of support back in the days.

The Canadiens will have a much deserved day off tomorrow, before getting back to work on Wednesday in readiness for Friday night’s game in Washington against the Capitals.

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