Christian Dvorak, twice, Michael Pezzetta, Tyler Toffoli — who was playing his first match since December 4 — and Josh Anderson hit the target for the Canadian (8-25-5), who thus signed a first victory since that of 3-2, acquired in a shootout against the Philadelphia Flyers on December 16. Nick Suzuki also stood out with two assists.
The return of “Toff” has brought a lot to our team on the ice, but also in terms of leadership in the locker room, noted Ducharme. They [Toffoli et Suzuki] did well, they scored a big goal and I think they played a solid game.
For his part, Toffoli seemed pleased with his performance.
I was out of the game for a long time, and it took me half the game before I could finally find my legs. I then realized that I had a little more time to make a play when I had possession of the puck, and I was more comfortable
, said Toffoli.
Jake [Evans] et “Suzi” [Suzuki] did a great job supporting me. “Monty” [Montembeault] did very well to keep us in the game, we got lucky a few times — especially with the posts early in the game — but we got the win.
Jacob Peterson, Tyler Seguin and Joe Pavelski blackened the scoresheet for the Stars (18-16-2), who suffered a third loss in a row.
Samuel Montembeault was brilliant in net for the Habs and he finished his night’s work with 47 saves. Montembeault thus signed his second victory this season, and his first since November 20 against the Nashville Predators.
His vis-à-vis, Jake Oettinger, gave up five goals on 18 shots before giving up his place in the third period to Braden Holtby, who completed the game in front of the Stars net.
Monty [Montembeault] played amazing, Suzuki started. He made some big saves, and he probably got us the win. If it hadn’t been for his big saves — several of them downright acrobatic — maybe we wouldn’t have won this game. He was obviously our first star tonight.
The two teams exchanged a few good chances to score in the first period, but they returned empty-handed to the locker room during the first intermission – thanks in particular to the brilliance of Montembeault.
Dvorak finally broke the power play deadlock midway through the middle period, after firing a one-timer from the slot. Pezzetta doubled the Bleu-blanc-rouge lead 22 seconds later.
However, the Stars should not be counted as beaten. Far from there.
Peterson first closed the gap with 3:36 to go in the period, hitting the puck on the fly from the slot behind Montembeault. The Quebecer then had to intervene to repair a blunder by his defenders, standing in front of Michael Raffl on a breakaway – a video replay was also necessary to confirm that there was no goal.
Then, on the return from the second intermission, the Canadian kept the pedal to the floor and shoved in three additional goals. Toffoli hit the target 63 seconds into the game, and Dvorak made it 4-1.
Seguin fired back 25 seconds later, but Anderson restored the Habs to a three-goal cushion within moments.
The Stars showed signs of frustration late in the game, including causing a few skirmishes. Jamie Benn, of the Stars, as well as Anderson and Jonathan Drouin, of the Canadiens, were notably expelled from the match after receiving game misconduct. It is unknown at this time if further sanctions will be imposed by the league.
We will see
, simply said Ducharme about the sanctions that could be imposed on his players.
Pavelski completed the scoring for the Stars with 1:19 remaining on the clock.
Caufield and Armia away
In addition to Toffoli, the Canadian was able to count on the return to play of defender Kale Clague in Dallas. Pezzetta was also back in the starting lineup, having given way to Laurent Dauphin the day before against the Coyotes.
These decisions were made after the CH had included the names of forwards Cole Caufield and Joel Armia on the list of players subject to the protocol of the COVID-19 earlier in the day. Armia is on a third stint on this list since the pandemic began in March 2020.
The Canadiens will continue their seven-game journey by visiting the Golden Knights in Las Vegas on Thursday night. This will be the second game between the two teams this season, after CH’s 5-2 loss at the Bell Center on November 6th.
Meanwhile, Hughes is due to meet the Montreal media at a press conference Wednesday at 4 p.m.
Ducharme reacts to hiring Hughes
Shortly before the match, Ducharme reacted to the appointment of Kent Hughes as the team’s new general manager.
I can’t wait to meet him. I got his call this afternoon [mardi] and he told me that Jeff [Gorton] and he will join us in Las Vegas on Thursday. I don’t know Kent, I know more about his brother, Ryan, who I played against [dans la NCAA], but I can’t wait to meet him, I’ve heard a lot of good things.
