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Habs offense comes alive against the Jets, winning 7-4. |
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The Montreal Canadiens defeated the Winnipeg Jets 7-4 in what amounted to an unexpected offensive explosion with both teams taking advantage of some sloppy defense. It was a strong statement for the Canadiens to be able to rebound so quickly from their disappointing 4-1 loss to the Washington Capitals. Every time that the doubt starts to creep in as to when the Canadiens will finally come back to reality, the team responds with a strong effort. While they will not be happy about allowing four goals, the team can still be pleased at how hard they come out to play and continue to press for more goals.
The Canadiens scored within the first minute of the game for the second time in three games when Phillip Danault opened the scoring with his eighth goal of the season. Max Pacioretty forechecked hard to retrieve the puck and get it to Alexander Radulov who sent a perfect pass to Danault to score and give the Canadiens the early 1-0 lead. Before the game was five minutes old the Canadiens would score to give them a quick 2-0 lead as Brian Flynn was beneficiary of quick passing from Sven Andrighetto and Nathan Beaulieu.
The game became all too reminiscent of last Saturday's 5-3 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs though as the Canadiens allowed the Jets back in the game with two first period goals as Jeff Petry particularly struggled in his own end. Just like Saturday, the Canadiens would grab the lead back to go up 3-2 heading into the first intermission as Tomas Plekanec scored in his second consecutive game for the first time since November of 2015. Plekanec had earlier skipped practice as he battled the flu but he fortunately he was able to recover in time and continue to develop strong chemistry with Artturi Lehkonen and Paul Byron.
In the second period the Canadiens once again got off to a quick start as Sven Andrighetto finally scored his first goal of the season at just the 54 second mark. Danault scored his second of the game and perhaps the prettiest goal of his career as he went coast to coast to beat all five Jets players on the ice and the Jets goaltender Michael Hutchinson who had already replaced Connor Hellebuyck who had let in the first three Canadiens goals. Mark Scheifele would bring the Jets a little closer as he scored a powerplay goal before the period was over to cut the lead to 5-3.
The goals continued to rain in the third period for the Canadiens as Lehkonen scored his ninth and tenth goals of the season, the latter on the powerplay as he deflected Shea Weber’s shot. Bryan Little scored the final goal of the game to make it a 7-4 Canadiens victory.
Puck props and flops:
Phillip Danault - With his two goals, Danault continues to enjoy his time on the Canadiens first line as he now has seven points in seven games. What was impressive was the way that he and his linemates immediately bounced back after a subpar game against the Capitals. Danault continues to make Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin a genius for insisting that the Chicago Blackhawks include him in the trade for Dale Weise and Tomas Fleischmann. Danault is an absolute bargain at only $913,000 US dollars for this year and the next and is a lock to be protected come the Las Vegas expansion draft. Head coach Michel Therrien is going to have some interesting decisions to make once he gets some healthy bodies back into the lineup. In the meantime, enjoy this goal over and over again as Danault makes the Jets players look like they are almost performing the ‘Mannequin challenge’:
Artturi Lehkonen - This young man continues to impress at just 21 years old. He is now tied for fifth in rookies goals scored along with the likes of Mitch Marner and Sébastien Aho. Lehkonen battles hard for the puck and makes things happen in the offensive zone by going to the net and being at the right place at the right time. He is a smart hockey player and his role with the team should only grow over time.
Sven Andrighetto - He played his best game since the 2015-2016 season, finally breaking through and contributing offensively with a goal and an assist. Andrighetto often gets forgotten about when it comes to the Canadiens future as he seems too good for the AHL but not good enough to stay in NHL. Consistency has been an issue as he is not strong enough defensively to contribute in ways other than offense. However, for this game he played hard and competed at both ends of the night. Good on him.
Tomas Plekanec - Expectations were low for Plekanec to play when it was announced that he was combating the flu yesterday. The fact that he was able to build off of his season best performance against the Capitals on Monday and score for the second game in a row was impressive to say the least. He is developing some nice chemistry with Lehkonen and Byron as they are competing hard and complementing one another. Is this version of Plekanec here to stay? The Canadiens need him to keep this up in order for them to have continued success.
Flops:
Jeff Petry - Perhaps the pressure of having to constantly step up and play bigger minutes in the absence of his regular partner Andrei Markov is finally catching up with him. Petry has not played less than 22 minutes in a game since before Markov got injured in December. Nathan Beaulieu has been able to step up and play big minutes on the left side but Neither Ryan Johnston or Zach Redmond can contribute more than 13 quality minutes a night. Petry has played such a big part of the Canadiens success thus far this season. Perhaps the all-star break will be an opportunity for him to relax and recover.
Nikita Scherbak - It's not that the rookie had a horrible game. However, it is evident that he needs time to continue to develop in the AHL. This call up was a fantastic opportunity to learn about life in the NHL during the regular season and he will be better for it. Scherbak will know what it takes to play everyday for the Canadiens and I expect him to challenge for a spot next season with the big club.
The Canadiens conclude their brief road trip and back to back games tonight against the Minnesota Wild. Carey Price will get the start in net.
Cheers and enjoy the game!
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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