The Montreal Canadiens were in Tampa Bay on Tuesday night to take on the leaders of the Atlantic Division, the Tampa Bay Lightning. Jakub Dobes was back in the net, fresh off being named the first star of the week in the NHL. In three games last week, the Czech netminder saved 100 of the 104 shots he faced and finished the week with a 1.33 goals-against average and a .962 save percentage. The rookie goaltender had 25 wins before Tuesday night’s game, besting both Patrick Roy and Carey Price’s win totals in their rookie years. He won’t beat the record established by Ken Dryden, which stands at 39, but it’s still an impressive feat. Still, he had never beaten the Bolts and was hoping to do it on Tuesday.
For once, the Habs were ready to go when the puck dropped in Tampa, and they even led shots on goals-wise by the end of the first 20 minutes with nine shots to the Lightning’s eight, but the score was still tied at 1-1.
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Juraj Slafkovsky celebrated his 22nd birthday on Monday, and he decided to keep the celebration going on Tuesday. The big Slovak played an impressive game, displaying everything he’s improved in his game this season. His puck possession, his ability to shield it with his body, and his ability to battle while keeping his balance have been key to the Canadiens’ strong possession game.
From a rookie who fell more often than not back in 2022, he has become a real power forward who gives headaches to his opponents. His reads have also gotten much better, and he’s able to identify when it’s time to switch things up. In the first frame, Ivan Demidov’s shots were off on the power play, and Slafkovsky initiated a permutation which led to him scoring the first goal of the game.
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Then, in the second frame, he came into the Lightning’s territory in possession of the puck with plenty of speed and knowing full well where Cole Caufield was, he hung on to the puck until the very last second before delivering a perfect feed with a cross-zone pass right in front of the crease, allowing the sniper to notch his 47th game of the season. In the process, he cut Nathan MacKinnon’s lead in the race to the Rocket Richard trophy to just two goals.
With Alexandre Carrier out for two to four weeks, Arber Xhekaj was back on the blueline, forming a pair with Kaiden Guhle. However, the pairings can vary during a game, and at one stage, Xhekaj found himself on the ice at the same time as Jayden Struble. They ended up being stuck on the ice for 1:51 and 1:48, respectively, trapped in the zone and unable to exit.
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While they are both capable of playing as a sixth defenseman, when they both must be in the lineup, it can become a bit of an adventure. It wouldn’t be surprising if freshly recalled Adam Engstrom had a turn sooner rather than later. The youngster is NHL-ready, and he has played most of his career on the right side, which isn’t the case for Struble or Xhekaj.
Furthermore, with the stakes as high as they are right now, it will be a great opportunity to see how he can handle pressure.
While the Canadiens led in shots in the first frame, they did not lead in shots in any other period. Over the last 40 minutes, Tampa had 29 shots while Montreal only had 14, but that mattered very little since Dobes stopped them all.
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His performance on Tuesday was rendered even more impressive because it wasn’t a struggling goalie at the other end of the ice; it was likely Vezina Trophy winner Andrei Vasilevskiy. It didn’t impress the Canadiens’ netminder, though; he was simply Dobes (to the tune of Tina Turner’s Simply the Best) on the night.
In the end, the only goal he gave up came with a couple of players making it hard for him to follow Jake Guentzel around the net. For the rest of the night, he was incredibly solid. Could he have had better rebound control? Perhaps, but at that stage, it matters very little since he stopped every shot coming from the rebounds he gave.
On Caufield’s goal, the sniper and Mike Matheson both got their 300th point, and the blueliner even added an empty netter to put the icing on the cake, just like Suzuki, who also got one, his 92nd point on the season. As for Caufield, he now has 81 points on the year. Final score: Montreal 4, Tampa Bay 1. With that win, the Habs remain in third place in the Atlantic Division, but only two points behind Tampa and four points behind the Buffalo Sabres, who are now first thanks to a 4-3 win over the New York Islanders.
Follow Karine on X @KarineHains Bluesky @karinehains.bsky.social and Threads @karinehains.
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