Prior to the games, Julien announced two line-up changes. First and despite the fact that he had said that Price could perhaps be in net for both games of the back to back, he decided that Kinkaid would man the net. Needless to say that Habs nation wasn't necessarily happy with the news but the reality is, you cannot play Price every game no matter how much money he makes. Secondly, Julien revealed that Jesperi Kotkaniemi would not be playing suffering from a groin injury and that Jordan Weal would therefore be back in the line-up. This meant that Nick Suzuki would take over KK's 3rd line centre spot while Weal would complete the 4th line with Cousins and Thompson.
Claude Julien confirms that Keith Kinkaid will get the start tonight in Vegas.
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) October 31, 2019
Jesperi Kotkaniemi is out with a groin injury, so Nick Suzuki will move to center and Jordan Weal will enter the lineup.#GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/4FtSNkoDeR
The Knight were fresh off a few days off and the Canadiens were very much aware of this, there was no time to lose and they had to match their energy level. For the second time in as many nights, the Habs stroke first when Philip Danault managed to beat Fleury just over 2 minutes into the first completing a nice play set up by Tatar and Weber.
Les matchs commencent tard, mais les Canadiens se mettent au travail tôt, ces temps-ci. â°
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) November 1, 2019
The games have been starting late but the Habs have been getting to work early.#GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/LGdMySZ3x0
Karlsson and Tuch would however beat Kinkaid before the end of the first frame to allow the Knights to take a 2-1 lead back to the locker room. While trailing isn't good, it's even worst when you once again surrender a goal with less than a minute to go and especially when it's on a shot your goaltender should have stopped. Those last minute goals are back breakers and can often break a team's resolve...
Thankfully though, the Habs did not bend the knee, they kept on playing their game in the second period and thanks to Jonathan Drouin's determination (yes, I said Drouin and determination in the same sentence), they tied things up halfway through the 2nd. Granted, it was the Knights' player that actually put the puck in but had Drouin not put it on the door step that wouldn't have happened. This was Drou's 7th goal of the season (13 games), last year, he had scored 7 goals in his last 48 games. I know, he was good early on last season as well but not that good, and certainly not that dedicated or persistent. It's almost as if Domi and Gallagher have finally rubber off him and quite frankly, it was about time that they did.
So, when the puck dropped on the 3rd, both teams were dead even at 2 and the Canadiens were about to face the dreaded last period of a back to back. Less than 5 minutes in, Cody Glass put the Knights back on top with his 3rd of the year. Shortly after that, Tomas Tatar took yet another penalty bringing his total to 8 minors on the year and the situation looked dreadful for our Habs. They had just given the go ahead goal and they were going to face a pretty good power play unit. Against all odds though, they killed that penalty and gave us hope that just perhaps, they could pull it off... Until Keith Kinkaid suffered what can only be described as a brain fart and set up Vegas' fourth goal(on which Max Pacioretty also got an assist recording his 500th career point):
they don't ask how 😜 pic.twitter.com/1gEs1JVx4O
— Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) November 1, 2019
At that stage, nearly halfway through the third and with the late start time, many just turned off the TV and went to bed but they shouldn't have. The Canadiens weren't down and out, far from it. About 5 minutes later, Tatar went to the net got hit in the chest by the puck and in it went making it 4-3. While he has been annoying with the penalties this season, it's hard not to be happy with Tuna, he's just been so useful to the Habs since the trade...I mean check out his and Pacioretty's stats since the trade:
Things you love to see: #GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/S5ZZQ6J3oN
— Mike (@mikebrucePT) November 1, 2019
Finding themselves just a goal down, the Habs kept on pressing and who else than Brendan Gallagher was going to put the Tricolore back on level terms? It wasn't a pretty goal, it was a Gally goal that sent both team through to overtime while the Habs' net was empty. The extra frame lasted just 28 seconds when Max Pacioretty failed to cover Domi who was served a nice pass by Jeff Petry before slipping the puck in between Flower's pads to give the Canadiens the 2 points. Those of us who hadn't gone to bed could barely believe it... the Habs had just not only won the second game of a back to back and they had done it using their back-up who gave up a few stinkers. this is the kind of moment that just cements a locker room, look at them all coming off the ice:
B̶O̶O̶ WOO! 👻#GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/AQyjKeclfT
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) November 1, 2019
Things to take away from the game: -While Kinkaid gave up some bad goals, he did make some big saves at times. Perhaps now that he's got his first win with the CH, he'll settle in his back-up role. -Once again, the Habs didn't give up a power play goal. Of course they only took a single penalty but at least, their penalty Killing rate is now 71.8% not so long ago, it was in the low 60s. -The Habs are tied third in the league for goals scored with 49 goals in 13 games. This is impressive given the fact that most experts wondered where the goals would come from...the simple answer? Everywhere. The fact is that both Gally and Drouin have got 7 goals and Armia's got 6.
The Habs will be back in action on Saturday when they take on the Stars.