Doubleheader: Kreider Scores First Goal in Habs Uniform

Michaël Petit
Doubleheader: Kreider Scores First Goal in Habs Uniform
Credit: Capture d'écran | Twitter

Once again on this Saturday night, the Montreal Canadiens had the opportunity to play two games at the same time, but this time against the Ottawa Senators.

In Montreal, Group A was in action, while Group B was in Ottawa.

Here are the two lineups for the Habs.

And here are the game results:

In Montreal: 4-2 win

Habs goals: Chris Kreider (assists by Suzuki and Matheson), Noah Dobson (assists by Slafkovsky and Caufield), Juraj Slafkovsky (assists by Dobson and Danault), Phillip Danault (assists by Slafkovsky and Matheson)

In Ottawa: 4-3 loss

Habs goals: Brett Berard (assisted by McKeown and Pastujov), Alex Belzile (assisted by Struble), Pastujov (unassisted).

In Group A, the focus was primarily on the performances of Chris Kreider, Florian Xhekaj, Samuel Montembeault, and Jacob Fowler.

In Ottawa, the performances of Arber Xhekaj, Jayden Struble, David Reinbacher, Adam Engstrom, and Jakub Dobes were closely watched.

Here are the players who stood out the most in both games.

Chris Kreider

Kreider was once again playing on the first line with Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki.

And honestly, he had another very good game. He even scored his first goal in a Habs uniform.

How did he do it? By picking up a loose puck in front of the net. Check out Kreider's nonchalance in front of the net—he simply tapped the puck with the backhand side of his stick without even looking.

We saw him in front of the net often during the game, and that's exactly what we want to see from him.

4th line: Florian Xhekaj – Owen Beck – Tyler Thorpe

Montreal's fourth line, consisting of Florian Xhekaj, Owen Beck, and Tyler Thorpe, made a strong impression in this game.

Right from the start of the game, Florian stood out with a great scoring chance. He charged toward the net, and the puck came very close to getting past the opposing goaltender.

Also, Tyler Thorpe dropped the gloves against Montreal's giant, Djibril Touré. The Senators' colossus is very tough, but Thorpe wasn't afraid of him and landed several solid punches.

All three players on this line delivered several hits, including this devastating one by Florian on Adam Nemec.

Xhekaj was called for a two-minute penalty for interference… Watching the replay, there was clearly no interference, because Nemec had just gotten rid of the puck.

The Goaltenders

In the second half of the game, Samuel Montembeault was in net for Montreal, and early in the second period, he made his mark with several big saves in a row. He was by far the best goaltender in both games, allowing no goals in regulation time (because even though the final score was 4-2 for the Habs, there was still a shootout after three periods).

Here's the play in question during a penalty kill.

Fans in the arena didn't hesitate to chant “Monty, Monty, Monty” following this sequence.

As for Jacob Fowler, who was in goal before Montembeault, he allowed two goals on 17 shots. It wasn't his best game, but it wasn't a disaster either, considering that both goals he allowed to the Senators came while the Habs were shorthanded. Furthermore, the two penalties called against the Habs weren't necessarily deserved—especially the one on Florian Xhekaj—but hey, that's part of the game, as they say.

In Ottawa, things were a bit tougher for Jakub Dobes, who played the entire game. He gave up two quick goals during a 5-on-3 (not entirely his fault, but it hurt).

The Habs really need to stay more disciplined to give themselves a better chance of winning. Ultimately, the Senators scored all four of their goals on the power play. #NotIdeal

David Reinbacher and Arber Xhekaj

As we all know, it's rare for David Reinbacher to stand out in a game. If you don't notice him, he's usually having a good game. He plays a simple, effective game and isn't the type to make the highlights regularly.

He's competing for a spot on the Montreal roster with Arber Xhekaj and Jayden Struble.

Reinbacher took two penalties in the game for tripping. That's never really ideal, especially when they're bad penalties.

Arber Xhekaj, on the other hand, was very quiet. The game in Ottawa was much less intense than the one in Montreal (especially less physical), and Xhekaj doesn't stand out much in those kinds of games.

He also picked up a penalty in the third period for tripping.

Kirby Dach

Habs fans would love to see Dach have a great season. This is officially his last chance (especially in Montreal).

He played on the first line in Ottawa (with Bolduc and Kapanen) and had a very good game.

In fact, he was the Habs' most-used forward, even seeing action on the penalty kill.

If he keeps this up, it can only be good for his future in the NHL, whether in Montreal or elsewhere.

Good for him, but he'll still need to stay healthy this season.

In short, we saw some good things and some not-so-good things in both games. For now, Dobes and Fowler look set to be the Habs' two starting goaltenders to open the season, and even though I'd like to see Reinbacher, this game didn't go his way.


Overtime

– Jayden Struble was also very quiet. You can't say he had a bad game, but it wasn't necessarily a good one either.

– Even though Dobes gave up four goals, all four were scored during a Sens power play. Clearly, the Habs lacked discipline.

– Juraj Slafkovsky took a while to get going, but he finished the game with three points.

– Everyone was confused to see that there was a shootout after the game in Montreal (which ended with a 4–2 win for the Habs). Nick Suzuki's brother, Ryan, stood out as the first Sens player to take a shot (after Nick Suzuki for Montreal). He pulled off a superb deke that fooled Montembeault.

Alexandre Texier extended the shootout with a solid low shot. Finally, after a few missed attempts on both sides, Alex Newhook sealed the victory.

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