On Wednesday night the Montreal Canadiens were in Winnipeg to face the Jets. The Olympics trade freeze passed earlier in the day and the Habs were quiet. It was their final game before the Olympic break and the result was a 5-1 win for Montreal.
Here are some things I noted.
The old guys got it done.
They might be the most expensive fourth line in the NHL at $17.5M, but they are finding ways to be effective. All three members of the veteran line – Danault between Anderson and Gallagher – scored to lead the team in an important win heading into the Olympics.
Anderson may take some ill-timed penalties, and Danault may have drained most of his offence dry, and Gally may be on his 99th wind, but together they’re finding chemistry and identity.
Anderson had the nice tip. Gally scored another beauty from the goal mouth. Danault got the solidifying empty net goal. Even the Hutson goal was off a beautiful setup from Anderson and Gallagher. The guys had a night!
That was Monty’s best game of the season.
Like all of you, when the Jets scored first I winced a little. But Montembeault wasn’t phased and made big stops early in the game to give the boys a chance to get going. Monty earned that win, and it’s good news for the Habs if both their netminders can be reliable.
It’s nice to have some Olympians.
Slafkovsky played the forecheck well to create the Kapanen goal. Kapanen was in his usual spot to finish. Suzuki had one of his lighter loads of the season, and Texier was nursing a minor injury. All four Habs will represent four different countries in the coming days.
Caufield and Hutson deserve to be there and Demidov probably be there if Russia wasn’t busy being Russia. Those three will get some rest and be ready to dominate when they return.
It’s been a minute since the Montreal Canadiens have had this much skill.
The Canadiens head into the break with a record of 32-17-8 and holding second place in the Atlantic. That’s a pretty solid improvement over their position heading into the Four Nations.
Hab At Her 