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Joel Armia gives CH victory late in third period

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Joel Armia gives CH victory late in third period
After three days off, the Canadiens were back in action in Columbus this evening, completing a five-game road trip against the Blue Jackets.

For the occasion, Joel Armia took Michael Pezzetta’s place in the Tricolore line-up, while Samuel Montembeault was on duty in front of net.

On the Blue Jackets’ side, Patrik Laine was in the lineup, having been left out a few games ago.

For the complete line-up, click here :

In the first period, we were treated to some… uninspiring hockey. It was pretty ordinary on both sides, and apart from a good scoring chance for Juraj Slafkovský, it wasn’t a highlight reel.

In fact, the CH looked like a club in a turnaround competition, and if that had really been the case, it would have been one hell of a powerhouse. Cole Caufield was particularly bad at this in the first twenty minutes.

After 20 minutes that won’t go down in history, the score was 0-0.

In the second half, however, we finally had something to sink our teeth into. Both teams played with more intensity, and it was a good show.

However, it was once again a laborious CH sequence that led to the first goal: a horrible turnover and lack of effort from all players (except Justin Barron) allowed Patrik Laine to open the scoring.

But the lack of effort seemed to wake Alex Newhook up, and he went to great lengths to find the back of the net. After hitting the post, he kept on working and finally scored his goal.

Over the last few games, he’s really been one of the club’s best strikers.

The turnaround festival cost the Tricolore again a few minutes later, however, when Kaiden Guhle gave the disc back to the Blue Jackets in the Montreal zone.

Yegor Chinakhov made sure to make him pay.

Once again, though, the CH made sure to redeem their mistake. Christian Dvorak’s trio continued to make their presence felt, as Cole Caufield pounced on a return to score his third goal of the season at 5-on-5.

Dvorak is clearly the weak link in the trio, but the other two have had great chemistry in recent games.

After a scoreless first period, the score was 2-2 after 40 minutes.

Midway through the third period, we were finally treated to the game’s first power play, but the Blue Jackets were unable to capitalize. All in all, both clubs were very disciplined tonight.

With just under three minutes to go, Mike Matheson unleashed a fierce shot on the Jackets‘ net. Luckily for him, Joel Armia was in front of the net and deflected his shot into the home net.

It was the Finn’s second goal of the season, and his first game-winner in nearly four years.

With six skaters on the ice late in the game, the Blue Jackets tried to tie the game, but Montembeault and the Canadiens held on.

Gustav Lindström completed the scoring in an empty net.

Final score: 4-2 Montreal

The CH will be back in action tomorrow, when it finally returns to the Bell Centre for the first time in two weeks. The CH will be back in action tomorrow, when it finally returns to the Bell Centre for the first time in two weeks, for a game against the Panthers.


Extension

– Nothing less.

– Josh Anderson has now played 11 times as many games as Kirby Dach in 2023-24… yet they have the same number of points this season (2). And Dach hasn’t played two full games…

– Jake Evans is going to have to unlock.

– Jayden Struble was solid again tonight. Maybe JiC is right and Arber Xhekaj needs to start fearing for his job…

– Watching the game, you quickly realize he committed more than just one.

– Speaking of the CH, Filip Mešár scored (another) goal in the OHL tonight.

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