An incredible comeback at the end of the game gives the habs the victory

Michaël Petit
An incredible comeback at the end of the game gives the habs the victory
Credit: DansLesCoulisses.com

On Saturday evening, the Canadiens visited the Senators in Ottawa.

A few minutes before the start of the game, the Habs announced that Samuel Blais was giving up his place in the lineup to Jake Evans.

It's an intriguing decision, given that games against the Senators have always been shaky, and Blais will always have what it takes to help on the physical side of things.

At least the Habs can count on the return of Evans, who obviously adds depth to the bottom-6 at center.

In short, here's Martin St-Louis' lineup for tonight's matchup:

Right from the start, the Senators were awarded a penalty, and the Habs had no intention of missing out.

Juraj “Tkachuk” Slafkovsky fired a powerful shot into the slot, past the alert Levi Merilainen.

A few minutes later, Slafkovsky blocked a shot that hurt. He returned to the bench in pain, but more fear than harm in the Slovak's case.

Definitely, Slafkovsky was having quite a start to the game, and that's exactly what we want to see from the Habs power winger.

Just past the midway point of the first period, Jake Evans caused a turnover and Bolduc unleashed a power-play goal… Unfortunately for the Habs, the goal was disallowed for offside following a challenge by coach Travis Green.

At the end of the 2nd period, Ottawa was again awarded a penalty. Cole Caufield took advantage of a beautiful play by Nick Suzuki to keep the puck in the offensive zone, and the diminutive forward beat the goalie between the pads.

The American's 23rd goal of the season.

With 35 seconds left in the first period, Kaiden Guhle took a penalty and, at the very end of the period, Josh Anderson was also penalized.

The Habs had to go three-on-five for a minute and 25 seconds to start the 2nd period, but were leading 2-0 after 20 minutes of play.

With a five-on-three powerplay, you absolutely have to take advantage, and the Senators did.

Jake Sanderson fooled the Habs players by racing into the opposition zone, which ultimately led to Brady Tkachuk's goal.

And just under two minutes after the Habs' final penalty, Tim Stutzle put his Sunday hands on the net to score a sublime goal.

Samuel Montembeault could do nothing about it.

This goal will certainly be a candidate for the most beautiful goal of the season.

The Habs wasted no time in regaining the lead, and who better to put them back in front than Josh Anderson.

The forward has been on fire since his return to action.

However, the Habs' paucity of shots in 40 minutes of play is never ideal for winning a game (10 shots versus 22 for the Senators).

In the last five minutes of the second, Dylan Cozens scored on the powerplay and David Perron gave the Sens the lead for the first time in the game.

After 40 minutes of play, the score was 4-3 in favor of the Senators.

In the third period, it was a little quieter at first, but there were still a few chances on both sides.

The Senators played an excellent game defensively, and Jake Sanderson played one of the best games of his career.

He was very solid defensively and also picked up his fourth point of the game by scoring his team's 5th goal.

Following this goal, Martin St-Louis stirred the pot.

Mike Matheson was seen alongside Alexandre Carrier and Lane Hutson was paired with Kaiden Guhle. In addition, Carrier was seen with Hutson, so obviously Arber Xhekaj skipped his turn on a few occasions following Sanderson's goal.

Up front, Juraj Slafkovsky was seen on the first line alongside Suzuki and Caufield, but the Slovak was also used on the second line.

The first line and Matheson were used extensively at the end of the game: we really wanted to try and make one last push and come back from behind.

With just under five minutes left in regulation, the Habs pulled Montembeault and it paid off.

Phillip Danault won a very important face-off, Hutson fired and Slafkovsky deftly deflected behind Merilainen.

And moments later, Alexandre Carrier scored another goal this week to tie the game.

Very nice play by Demidov and quite a shot on landing by the Québécois defenseman.

After 60 minutes of play: 5-5. Heading for overtime.

What had to happen happened: Cole Caufield played the hero in overtime, scoring his 24th goal of the season.

Final score: 6-5 for the Habs.

The Habs' next game is next Tuesday against the Minnesota Wild at the Bell Centre.


Overtime

– There was a funny moment in the first period. David Perron decided to steal Jake Evans' stick when the latter passed in front of the enemy bench.

– The Habs had just 12 shots with just under five minutes to play and finished the game with 19 shots, scoring three goals in the process to complete the comeback and win the game. However, the Habs didn't deserve to win the game and can't rely on fewer than 20 shots per game to score six goals. Levi Merilainen clearly didn't play his best game, and the Habs took advantage at the very end.

– Once again, indiscipline cost Martin St-Louis' team dearly. At least they could console themselves with the fact that Ottawa was no more disciplined.

– Nick Suzuki was once again very useful to the Habs in this game. With another two or more points in this game, the captain has three games of two or more points in his last four.

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