CHICAGO | The Canadiens players were looking forward to these few days off. And they did everything they could to go on vacation with peace of mind.
• Also read: A win before the Christmas break
This 5-2 victory, achieved on Friday evening at the United Center, allowed the Habs to close this first part of the game on the road from the Bell Center with a harvest of five points out of six possible.
Photo credit: Getty Images via AFP
Nick Suzuki and his teammates will also be encouraged if they face a setback in the Eastern Conference standings. Casually, Martin St-Louis and his men returned home just three points behind in last place, allowing them to move into the playoffs. A significantly better situation than last year (nine points).
This break comes at exactly the right time, as the Montrealers have expended a lot of their energy in these three matches. Two of them required an extension. In the last two games, the Canadian was able to make up a 0-2 deficit.
Even I, who didn't play for a single second, got burnt out. And when I get home, there are a few Christmas parties waiting for me. Evenings that will not be easy to play against, as others would say.
Slafkovsky sacrifices himself
But back to our putti.
To score their goals, Montreal had to stick their nose into traffic, work to recover loose pucks and force turnovers by applying pressure on the forecheck.
Additionally, for the second time in as many nights, Juraj Slafkovsky scored a goal with his skates just inches from the blue painted ice surface. Like the day before, he collected two points.
“Someone has to go,” Slafkovsky laughed. Seriously, I love going there. At the moment I'm scoring goals near the net. Maybe we should start like this, then I can keep scoring. »
Mitchell Stephens scores for the first time with the CH –
A little earlier in the game, Mitchell Stephens scored his first goal in a Canadian jersey, blocking a shot from Mike Matheson that was placed in virtually the same spot.
Anderson, the snorer
Suzuki doubles Canadians' lead –
Suzuki's goal, his tenth goal of the season, was also the result of individual effort. Those of Slafkovsky and Cole Caufield (whom the Canadian lost for a few minutes in the second period).
“This is the perfect example of failing before you teach. “The boys did a lot of work and we managed to finish the game,” said the Canadian coach.
Anderson scores his 4th goal in 4 games –
And there's Josh Anderson, pulling the strings for the fourth time in as many games. In my opinion, the snorer has already developed the gift we gave him for Christmas, on page 84 of the Journal de Montréal on Saturday morning. We should have hidden it better.
The Canadian now has five days to recharge his batteries before facing the Hurricanes in Carolina on December 28th.
With that in mind, I leave you for the next three games in the care of esteemed colleague and friend Jean-François Chaumont, the man who enjoys spending the year in a city other than Montreal.
Nice holidays!
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