The Washington Capitals were visitors to the Montreal Canadiens last night and had been riding a five-game winning streak while winning 6 of their last 7. The Canadiens hadn’t won in regulation at the Bell Centre against the Capitals since January 10th, 2009, back when Andrei and Sergei Kostitsyn both scored to secure a 5-4 win for the home team. Despite an absolutely dominant performance by the Habs last night, the Caps managed to squeak a 3-2 win thanks especially to Braden Holtby.
There are a lot of positives to take from last night’s game, and Michel Therrien certainly has nothing negative to say about the output by his team. In Carey Price-style heroics, Holtby extended his winning streak to 8 by being lights-out and shutting down the Habs’ non-stop barrage of scoring opportunities. In a Price-style manner, Holtby almost singlehandedly guaranteed a win for a Washington team that arguably did not deserve the victory last night. For the first time in a few years, the Habs were treated to a taste of their own medicine.
There’s no debating that Price is the team’s most valuable player, although many have theorized that he’s the standalone reason as to why the Canadiens have had any success over the course of the last two years. The team has shown that they can rely on so much more than a handful of players in order to maintain an elite status in the NHL, and that remains true in spite of last night’s loss.
To my surprise, Max Pacioretty continued to play alongside David Desharnais and Dale Weise, and Tomas Plekanec centered Paul Byron and Tomas Fleischmann. I did not think that those were experiments that would continue for a second game in a row, and at this point I’d be surprised if the first trio is taken apart by Therrien. The Desharnais line did what it always does in being a constant offensive threat even if they were stoned by a red-hot goaltender, while Plekanec’s line was mandated with shutting down Alexander Ovechkin’s trio. I’m personally not a fan of that assignment, simply because I’m not sure Fleischmann has the speed to keep up with Ovechkin and company, although Plekanec and Byron certainly can. I simply couldn’t see how this line would develop any lasting chemistry, and would have to say that I disagree with Therrien’s choice to start this trio together.
Fortunately, and strangely enough, Lars Eller and Alex Galchenyuk would team up with Plekanec to score the team’s first goal and Brian Flynn scored the sixth shorthanded goal of the season thanks to a nifty neutral zone backhand pass from Byron that sent Flynn streaking in alone. He finished the play off with a great deke.
Mike Condon did not play the best game of his career, and one could tell that he was visibly nervous. His rebound control was not as consistent as it normally is, and he didn’t look great on the second and third goals. Perhaps he was trying to size up a Capitals team that he had never faced before, and might have been worried about Ovechkin’s rockets.
The special teams continued to look good, with the Habs shutting down the Capitals’ three power play chances, and Lars Eller’s goal came right after the end of their own man advantage. Andrei Markov hit the post with his shot from the point in another instance, and Sven Andrighetto almost scored a wonderful one-timer but Holtby acrobatically sprawled across his crease to rob him with the glove and hold onto the puck.
In all, the Habs surely would have enjoyed earning at least one point from possibly their best game of the season. They’ll face the struggling Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday in Raleigh and should be able to make up for last night’s loss.