The Montreal Canadiens returned home for a Saturday night tilt at the Bell Centre against the Colorado Avalanche. The building was packed, and the fans were loud, mercilessly booing the American national anthem and going nuts early on for every big hit the Habs landed. Still, the visitors soon quieted them down with a pair of first-period goals.

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Not The Time Of The Year To Send Messages

Even though his goaltender Samuel Montembeault did not play very well in his last two games, Martin St-Louis decided to stick with his first netminder for Saturday night’s crucial match. Why? Because it’s not the time of the year to send messages, and because the Canadiens wouldn’t be where they are in the standings without him.

That’s fair, but it doesn’t have to be about sending a message. It’s possible to tell your goaltender you want him rested and not overworked for the final stretch and give him a night off riding the pine. That being said, the fact the Habs were down 2-0 after 20 minutes wasn’t on him.

The play was going just a bit too fast in the defensive zone for the David Savard-Arber Xhekaj pairing, and they finished the first frame with a minus-two rating.

Xhekaj Has Matured

However, early in the second frame, Xhekaj showed he had matured. Josh Anderson and Keaton Middleton were involved in a pushing-and-shoving game after the whistle while the Sherrif was on the ice. Not so long ago, he would have skated over and jumped in to say, “Not on my watch. ” He would have gotten a third-man penalty in the process, but not Saturday night.

Instead, he skated away, and after the linesmen had separated the two men, he extended an invitation to fight to Middleton. I don’t know which words he used, but they were provocative, judging by how fast the Colorado player skated over. The two men dropped the gloves, and Xhekaj put his opponent down after both pugilists got to throw a few punches.

Just like that, the Bell Centre was reignited, and it might have been a turning point if the Canadiens hadn’t taken a too-many-men penalty less than two minutes later. Still, it resulted in the Habs playing a much better period, seeing more of the puck and dominating 10-7 in shots. Granted, the power plays helped, but Xhekaj still played a big part in the Canadiens getting back in the game.

There’s No Quit In This Team

As St-Louis explained, his team couldn’t execute early on, but they could stop the bleeding and improve from there. The execution got better as the game went on, and even though they were down 3-1 at the start of the third, they weren’t ready to “bend the knee.” The coach said:

I reminded the guys between the second and the third that we had scored five in the third against Ottawa, two in an empty net, but we had to get three in anyways, we scored two against the Islanders…We could have scored even more than three (in the third). We had our chances afterward as well.

–

Even after Colorado put in a fourth goal, the coach was impressed that his team didn’t let the game slip away from them. On his third line, St-Louis said:

Early on, Andy was…Andy was a wrecking ball, he just kept going. That line they just keep going, whatever the score is, I’m getting the same thing every shift, every night and they’re helping us out. Dvo’s goal tonight was a big goal.

– Martin St-Louis on his third line

I was very impressed with the Canadiens’ dominance in the faceoff department. Montreal won 57% of the draws, and it’s not like the Avalanche doesn’t have good centers. Nathan MacKinnon only won eight of his 24 faceoffs tonight, a 33% success rate. Throughout the season, he’s had a 49% success rate. Mike Matheson and Alexandre Carrier, who defended against Colorado’s top line, finished with a plus-two rating, which is quite impressive.

With an assist tonight, Brendan Gllagher caught up to Pierre Mondou in 28th place of the top scorers with the Canadiens, with 456. Alex Newhook played another good game, his speed really has an impact but he needs to find a finishing touch, thankfully, on his best opportunity, Joshua Roy was there to grab the rebound and score.

While two points would have been better, the Canadiens still skated away with a point after the 5-4 shootout loss, and it’s a big one. The Habs remain in the second wildcard spot, but they are a single point ahead of the New York Rangers, who won against the Vancouver Canucks. However, Montreal has two games in hand on New York. The Habs will have a day off on Sunday before heading to St. Louis on Monday since they have a date with the Blues on Tuesday.

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