Canadiens edge closer to playoff berth with solid performance vs. Leafs
The Canadiens played a smart, disciplined and calculated game against the Maple Leafs and earned a point. They didn’t secure a playoff berth, but it was a step in the right direction.
TORONTO — It was a 1-0 overtime loss in a game the Montreal Canadiens had to win in regulation to finally clinch their first playoff berth in four years, so to call it anything other than disappointing would be wrong.
This one hurt the Canadiens.
Perhaps not as much as their 5-2 loss to the Ottawa Senators a night prior, when they missed their first official opportunity to clinch.
But the pain was still as visceral.
At least this time it was dulled by collecting a point in the standings, which could prove even more precious than it already has. Because the point the Canadiens earned in Toronto eliminated the Detroit Red Wings from the race hours after the New York Rangers and New York Islanders were dispatched from it, and it will be the clincher if the Columbus Blue Jackets lose to the Washington Capitals in any fashion Sunday night.
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How the Canadiens earned that point also has value, even if the result was disappointing and painful.
They played a good game and re-established the habits that put them ahead in the wild-card race to begin with, and that was noteworthy considering the circumstances.
This was the second half of a back-to-back, with the Canadiens facing off against a rested Atlantic Division-leading Maple Leafs side that was flying high off a galvanizing win over the Tampa Bay Lightning. It was being played less than 24 hours after the Canadiens stunk up the Canadian Tire Centre with a loss you could see coming based on the negative trends accumulating through the six-game winning streak they rode to Ottawa. Another bad start in Toronto was foreseeable, and the Canadiens forcing things from there would’ve been imaginable, too, especially considering how badly they wanted to finally end the playoff race.
None of that happened, though.
Instead, the Canadiens played a smart, disciplined and calculated game.
“I think it was to our standard, and when we play to that standard, we give ourselves a chance,” said Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis. “We weren’t able to be opportunistic on our chances, but we played with heart and courage and our intentions were there tonight.”
It wasn’t just evident in the way the Canadiens killed a third-period five-on-three after Toronto ran a lethal-looking five-on-four advantage a little more than halfway through the second period; it was obvious in how few chances they offered and how many chances they generated at five-on-five.
The shot clock may have read 35-15 Leafs by night’s end, but attempts from both teams were 57-57.
Mitch Marner scored the only goal, and it came at three-on-three. At five-on-five, the Canadiens had 20 scoring chances to Toronto’s 15 and 10 high-danger attempts to Toronto’s nine.
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Jacob Dobes played excellent from Montreal’s net, as St. Louis said, but the Canadiens looked much more like themselves in front of him. Especially their best players, with top-liners Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield and Juraj Slafkovsky rebounding from a terrible night against Ottawa’s third line with a strong performance against Toronto’s top line of Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and Matthew Knies.
All that mattered almost as much as that point the Canadiens got in the standings.
It’s something they can build on for Monday’s game against the Chicago Blackhawks, when Ivan Demidov is all but certain to debut.
The Russian prospect, who was drafted fifth overall last summer, had his first chance to watch the Canadiens play live, and he got a good glimpse of the style of game they aim for every time they take the ice.
He should scrub the Ottawa game he watched on TV from memory and stick to this one.
Kaiden Guhle, who took part in both, had a good explanation for what Demidov and Canadiens fans saw in both.
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Regarding Friday’s game, he called the Canadiens’ performance the result of “human nature.”
“You win games, you try to find easier ways to do it,” Guhle said. “It’s human nature; no one’s ever going to be perfect. I’ve been on winning teams, and every winning team I’ve been on has been on certain stretches like that. You win a certain amount of games in a row, you keep winning, and things slip, and sometimes you get away with it. You win games when things are slipping, it’s just human nature (you keep slipping until you lose).”
Then, Guhle said it was up to the Canadiens to fix that, just like they had at other points when things slipped for them this season.
It took time over those stretches, but with no time to waste on Saturday, the Canadiens got back to their brand.
“We believe in this group (that when) you play the right way, you’ll get rewarded,” said Guhle. “That’s why I think we’ve been winning games, and we’ve went on runs. It’s something we’ve got to keep building on.”
It’s the most likely way the Canadiens will finally get the result they’re after.
It wasn’t achieved Saturday, and that was a disappointment.
But it was a step in the right direction and the chance to take their biggest one is still ahead.
