The Montreal Canadiens were fortunate to escape Ottawa on Saturday night with a loser’s point as they were defeated by the Senators 4-3 in overtime. Speed was a characteristic that Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin wanted his team to be defined by but it was the Senators who out skated them and dominated much of the play. Ottawa jumped out to a 2-0 lead as Dennis Wideman had the primary assists on the team’s opening goals. The score could have been much worse had Al Montoya not been solid in net. The Canadiens special teams led the way for them the penalty kill units kept them in the game and helped spark a comeback while the powerplay started to show signs of life as Jeff Petry scored with the man advantage. The lines were juggled midway through the game and the Canadiens played better for the last half of the game. Artturi Lehkonen scored his first NHL goal by going to the net and getting a rebound by Craig Anderson and Petry scored his second of the game just as Dion Phaneuf stepped out of the penalty box to complete the comeback and give the Canadiens a 3-2 lead. Unfortunately for Petry, he and Andrei Markov could not successfully defend the Senators odd man rush and Tom Pyatt tied the game. Overtime solved nothing and Erik Karlsson would go on to score the winning goal in the shootout.
Puck Props & Flops:
Props:
Shea Weber - Weber has come exactly as advertised to the Canadiens. His presence alone creates space in front of his goaltender’s crease and his 29:27 minutes of ice time led the team. He was superb on the penalty kill, especially when the Canadiens were two men down and that helped shift the momentum to Les Bleus-Blancs-Rouges. On the powerplay he did everything but hit the back of the net. It is only a matter of time until he scores his first goal as a Montreal Canadiens.
Flop:
Alex Galchenyuk - He had a very rough night in the faceoff circle, winning only two of his draws for a lowly winning percentage of 13%. His line was lacklustre with Brendan Gallagher and Max Pacioretty and head coach Michel Therrien was right to shake up his lines. At first Alexander Radulov replaced Gallagher for a couple of shifts in the second period and then in the third Gallagher was back but with Paul Byron as the other winger. Needless to say that line did not exactly make for instant chemistry. Gallagher, Galchenyuk and Pacioretty were expected to be the number one line based on their previous times of success but they could have used a full training camp together to regain their form.
Props:
Nathan Beaulieu - So far Beaulieu has been on the ice for 6 of the Canadiens goals scored and is leading the team with a +5 rating. Petry’s return helped to stabilize the top four ice time allotment and Beaulieu saw his ice time increase by five minutes from the season opener. He is complimenting Weber quite nicely and their chemistry should only continue to improve as the season goes on. Beaulieu’s decision making is much sounder thus far and he should be getting more and more responsibility as they play on.
Props:
Alexander Radulov - Radulov was easily the Canadiens best forward on the night, despite his three giveaways. He was constantly skating and battling for the puck. Radulov was trying to make something happen every time he was on the ice and there is no questioning his heart and desire. He played well with Tomas Plekanec and Max Pacioretty on the shuffled lines and it will be interesting to see if Therrien decides to keep the trio together for the home opener on Tuesday. Radulov also scored a beauty in the shootout:
Radulov shootout goal cc @dpeters410 pic.twitter.com/MMGDVwQki2
— Stephanie (@myregularface) October 16, 2016
Flop:
David Desharnais - Giving Desharnais a flop has absolutely nothing to do with his failed shootout attempt. It was not his fault that the Canadiens lost the game in a shootout. The flop is because he is not contributing during the game and was consistently outplayed by the Senators. Desharnais played 1:52 minutes on the powerplay earlier in the game and did nothing with that opportunity. His line would get hemmed in their own zone and when they did spend time in the Senators end it was because Daniel Carr and Andrew Shaw were forechecking. Desharnais was not creating any offense yet he was still given a chance to play in overtime and spent a minute stuck in the Canadiens zone. Yes, Desharnais is historically the Canadiens best goal scorer in a shootout. However, he was not having a strong game and there were still better options on the bench. That one is on the coach, not Desharnais.
Props:
Arturri Lehkonen - The young man likes to go to the net and it paid off twice for the Canadiens against the Senators as his screen helped lead to Petry’s powerplay goal and he scored his first NHL goal off a rebound from Phillip Danault. His reward was of course a demotion to the fourth line to play with Danault and Torrey Mitchell while Paul Byron, a minus three on the night got to play with Galchenyuk and Gallagher. It was further confusing as Therrien was quite complimentary of Lehkonen in his postgame comments.
The Canadiens had the day off on Sunday and will return to practice Monday morning in Brossard as they prepare to face the Pittsburgh Penguins Tuesday night in their home opener.
Cheers & follow along! Tweet to @Jenbcutler