The Montreal Canadiens are back on track after posting another win. This time Claude Julien’s guys have defeated Vancouver Canucks, 3-1, which is their fourth success in the recent five games.
Canadiens’ goalie Carey Price was fantastic this Tuesday night, posting 38 saves. He was the main reason why hosts didn’t win, and the Canucks’ fans were in disbelief on several occasions after his reactions.
Price, who recorded his 335th NHL win, always has a motive when playing in Vancouver, because a lot of his friends and family come to town to watch him. His hometown Anahim Lake is some 500 miles away, and each time he faces Canucks at Rogers Arena, there is a group of fans who are rooting for this guy.
“Well it’s fun to play here,” said Price. “Obviously, got a lot of people coming from up north to watch the game, and it’s always special to play in front of family.”
However, the night started with Price conceding an opening goal. It was Adam Gaudette who beat him on a power-play with 1:39 before the end of the first frame. The way the Canucks played in that sequence didn’t indicate that they might stop at that sole score, but that is exactly what happened.
Nick Cousins would tie the result at 8:05 in the second period, when Max Domi stole the puck from Canucks, and then superbly assisted to Nick Cousins, through the legs of Vancouver’s Oscar Fantenberg. Of course, Cousins would score after that, crowning one very nice individual effort by his teammate.
The tide began to shift in those moments, and although the home team continued to attacks and post shots towards Price, they couldn’t score.
But on the other side, the guests from Montreal were very clinical when having a chance to hurt the home team. Jake Virtanen was penalized for slashing, and on that power-play, the guests broke the tie, through Tomas Tatar.
“Guys made a nice play and I was open in front of the net,” said Tatar
Shea Webber closed this one, also with a power-play goal with 3:25 until the end of the contest.
After having just one win in 10 matches, (1-6-3) and experiencing a very tough period, during which many believed that Canadiens might fall apart, Julien managed to snap his players from desperation. With the fourth win in five matches, they are again near the playoff zone and are back in the saddle.
Montreal (16-12-6) now has six more matches on the road, the upcoming two in Canada against the Flames and the Oilers.
As for the Canucks (16-15-4), the next four games they play are at home. The first is against the Golden Knights, then the Penguins, Oilers, and the Kings. Tonight’s loss was their fourth in the previous five events.
“It’s frustrating. It’s been way too many games we are in, it’s close, and we are playing good, but we’re not getting any points out of it,” said goalie Jacob Markstrom, who had 29 saves in this match.
