A (highly) controversial penalty costs the Canadiens the game against the Wild

Félix Forget
A (highly) controversial penalty costs the Canadiens the game against the Wild
Credit: DansLesCoulisses.com

Tonight, the Canadiens took the ice at the Bell Centre. The Minnesota Wild were in town for the game.

For the Habs, Josh Anderson returned to action after missing Saturday's game for personal reasons. Owen Beck was therefore left out of the lineup for the game.

Jake Evans, who was listed as questionable, was ultimately able to play. Here's how it all played out:

For the Wild, Jesper Wallstedt earned the start in net.

Here is the visitors' complete lineup:

Before the game, the Canadiens paid tribute to Carey Price. The goaltender received a massive ovation that lasted a full four minutes… and it made for a truly beautiful moment.

Here's the goaltender's speech, for those who missed it:

In the first period, the Canadiens were slow to get their first shot on goal. That said, they still had the best scoring chance, courtesy of Alex Newhook.

Newhook thought he'd scored… but instead, he hit both posts. No goal, in the end.

After 20 minutes, the score was 0-0.

In the second period, the Habs were in control of the game. We saw some very intense hockey… but once again, neither team was able to score.

So the score was still 0-0 after 40 minutes of play.

It wasn't until early in the third period that we finally saw the first goal of the game. Josh Anderson failed to recover the puck… and the Wild capitalized.

That allowed Bobby Brink to break away and give Minnesota the lead.

As the Wild played tough hockey to protect their lead, the Habs pulled Jacob Fowler in favor of a sixth skater late in the period. And in the end, it paid off: the team was able to tie the game.

Nick Suzuki, who had briefly retreated to the locker room moments earlier, brought everyone back to square one.

Cole Caufield was called for a (highly) questionable penalty late in the period, but the Canadiens were able to kill off the rest of the period without allowing a goal.

So it went to overtime.

That said, right at the start of overtime, the Wild capitalized on the final moments of their power play to secure the win.

Kirill Kaprizov sealed the victory for his team with a major-league-caliber shot.

Final score: 2-1 Minnesota (OT)

The Canadiens will be back in action Thursday night when they face the Bruins in Boston. That's going to be a big divisional showdown.


Overtime

– On a night when the Canadiens were honoring Carey Price, the team's current players also decided to pay tribute to him by struggling immensely to provide offensive support for their goaltender. You couldn't make it up.

– Tonight's game had all the makings of a playoff game. We saw two teams locked in an intense battle that was more defensive than offensive. Seeing the Habs hold their own in games like this is a great sign of maturity for this young team.

– Many people were wondering how Jacob Fowler—who hadn't exactly faced a ton of powerhouse teams since the start of the season—would perform tonight against the Wild. And the kid, true to form, was very solid. That narrative can now be put to rest: he's capable of excelling against top-tier teams.

– Nick Suzuki had to head back to the locker room twice in the third period. He was able to get back in the game, but we'll obviously be keeping an eye on this over the next few hours. If he has to sit out again…

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