The Canadian sky darkened further on Tuesday at the Bell Centre, with the Tampa Bay Lightning scoring the first four goals of the game to cruise to an easy 6-1 victory.
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Nick Suzuki and his teammates – especially his two goalkeepers – offered a pale opposition to the winners, all under the eyes of the head coach of the Canadian Olympic team, Jon Cooper. This is not the kind of performance that the CH captain and his cronies wanted to deliver against a section rival; Moreover, Tampa Bay has regained the top of the Atlantic, while Montreal is three points behind the “Bolts”.
As was the case in some bitter defeats suffered this season, “the chain landed” on the Habs at a certain moment in the match. This time, it was in the first third, during which he was dominated from start to finish. The most negative of the club’s supporters remember the “shameful Tuesdays” of the fall of 2024: the defense as well as Jakub Dobes and Samuel Montembeault surely bring back painful memories, because the CH has allowed at least four goals in its last four duels – all failures – presented on Tuesday.
And on attack, the Canadian does not deserve a passing grade. Confronted with Jonas Johansson, the Lightning’s second goalkeeper who replaces Andrei Vasilevskiy (injured), he threatened a few times, but not enough to worry the enemy. It took Oliver Kapanen on the team’s fourth power play – late in the second period – to break the ice.
A miserable time
As was the case on Sunday, Martin St-Louis’ men left their conviction and good conscience at home in defense, at least in the first period. Although they fell behind by only one goal against the St. Louis Blues after 20 minutes, this time they found themselves in the ditch. Blanked in their two previous outings, the Lightning made their opponents pay for their lack of vigilance and their wandering in defensive territory.
Unconvincing for several meetings, Jayden Struble opened the door for the visitors in the third minute. Brayden Point went around him as if he had turned into an orange cone and then beat Dobes with a high shot. Speaking of the goalkeeper, he didn’t have the best period of his career. To be convinced, just look at the goals of Pontus Holmberg, who beat him between the pads on a breakaway, and Nikita Kucherov, who capitalized on his too pronounced lateral movement.
Result of the races: spectators witnessed the unexpected return of Montembeault, who had been kept aside in the last days. However, he is far from having encouraged his detractors to remain silent. Quebecer Charle-Édouard d’Astous thwarted him on the first throw aimed at him. And in the third period, “Monty” was surprised twice by rather routine shots from Darren Raddysh. Not a good campaign for number 35.
In brief
Dobes totaled 11 saves before heading to the bench. Montembeault blocked nine shots. Mike Matheson finished with a differential of -3.
Injured, Victor Hedman was unable to finish the match. The veteran did not play again after the initial period.
The CH finds itself out of the playoff picture mainly because of its deficit record at home (7-8-1).
The good news for the “Glorieux” is that they will play their next two matches abroad; they have an 8-3-2 record on hostile terrain. CH will visit the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday, then the New York Rangers on TVA Sports on Saturday evening.
SUMMARY
THIRD PERIOD
15:16 | Everyone can’t wait for this meeting to end. Fortunately for the people still on the scene, Anderson and Scott Sabourin are giving them the chance to express themselves a little. They throw down the gloves and the little fight ends to Sabourin’s advantage.
The fight of despair between Josh Anderson and Scott Sabourin –
12:59 | There is nothing good to mention regarding the last minutes. The stands at the Bell Center are emptying.
8:41 (TB 6 MTL 1) | Xhekaj is back at a place he knows well, having carried his stick high. Shortly after, Montembeault cracked on a weak point shot from Raddysh.
Darren Raddysh, again, thwarts Montembeault from afar –
8:10 | With the significant gap on the scoreboard, the match loses intensity. The disjointed game and the fairly calm atmosphere in the building show this well.
5:54 | Poor Bolduc landed in the dungeon two seconds later, because he tripped Douglas.
5:52 | Frustration spreads to the CH and its public who begin to grumble. Zachary Bolduc completely misses his shot. This is followed by a scrum involving the support players.
1:27 (TB 5 MTL 1) | Montembeault does nothing to reassure his detractors. He was surprised by a shot from a tight angle from Darren Raddysh.
Darren Raddysh’s throw is so good no one believes it –
0:00 | Start of period
SECOND PERIOD
19:06 (TB 4 MTL 1) | The answer is yes. Caufield is told no by the posts, but Oliver Kapanen sends the puck into an abandoned net. Demidov gets an assist in a fourth straight game.
Cole Caufield thought he had scored, but this goal belongs to Olivier Kapanen! –
18:10 | CH is still unable to score a goal against Tampa Bay’s number 2 goalkeeper. Cole Caufield slices through the air in front of a deserted cage. D’Astous knocks Demidov down. Will the Canadian’s massive attack capitalize?
16:02 | Noah Dobson breaks through off the wing and passes the disc… to the invisible man. Then, Slafkovsky throws a crooked note. It’s that kind of evening.
14:33 | The fans on site have not forgotten Kucherov, booed when he touches the puck. Montembeault stands out against Point.
12:33 | Xhekaj spoils an interesting presence during which he threatened Johansson. He receives the first CH penalty of the evening.
9:48 | Hedman is conspicuous by his absence on the ice, but his club is in no way worried. Meanwhile, Slafkovsky commits a juicy turnaround. Fortunately for him, Point’s descent ended in an offside.
8:16 | In life, there are some things that don’t change, like Josh Anderson not being able to score on a breakaway.
6:45 | In terms of negative points to mention, there is the CH power play. Despite some openings during a punishment from Kucherov, he fails again. So far, it’s 0 for 3 for the power play.
4:12 | When nothing goes right… Jared Davidson sees his wrist shot hit the post to Johansson’s right.
2:41 (TB 4 MTL 0) | Montembeault is greeted harshly by the Lightning who strike… as fast as lightning. D’Astous underlines his presence in Quebec in his own way by completing a sequence from Kucherov to widen the gap.
A great moment for Charle-Édouard D’Astous… at the expense of the Canadian –
1:18 | At 5 against 4, CH spends time in opposing territory. Juraj Slafkovsky gets a golden chance to break the ice for his team, but Johansson wants nothing to do with it.
0:00 | Start of the period. Samuel Montembeault is back in action for the first time since last Tuesday.
FIRST PERIOD
8:00 p.m. | The best moment of the CH period has arrived: it’s time to return to the locker room. Dominated 16 to 6 in the shots column, he can however be encouraged by the idea of starting the second third with a power play. D’Astous will start the middle engagement in the penalty box due to a double-check.
17:12 (TB 3 MTL 0) | The CH’s miserable period continues. Joseph Veleno, Struble and company are overwhelmed, leaving Dobes to his own devices. Unable to stop the disc, he conceded a questionable goal to Nikita Kucherov.
Nikita Kucherov’s turn to take advantage of the Canadian’s blunders –
16:51 | Good CH sequence in enemy zone. Alexandre Texier challenges the goalkeeper with a sharp shot from the center of the territory. Ivan Demidov and Hutson drone on without conclusion.
14:07 | Little to report shortly before the last commercial break of the period. Arber Xhekaj and juggernaut Curtis Douglas are pretty easy to notice on the ice. But no fight on the horizon for the moment.
12:24 | The Canadian goaltender can thank his post which deprives Holmberg of a second goal after he lost sight of the puck. Still, Dobes was at the mercy of the attacker. At the other end of the ice, Lane Hutson advances towards Johansson who blocks his shot from short distance.
10:24 | Dobes recovers by blocking a dangerous shot from Victor Hedman. Threatening, the Lightning don’t look like a club that suffered two consecutive shutouts before coming to town.
6:02 (TB 2 MTL 0) | The CH’s massive attack fails and to make matters worse for his supporters, Holmberg takes advantage of his exit from the dungeon to escape and throw between the pads of Dobes. The evening promises to be long for the Canadiens’ goalkeeper. Jake Guentzel scored his 600th career point.
Copy and paste from Lightning: Pontus Holmberg takes advantage of a big mistake in Dobson’s defense –
3:56 | The Habs get their first power play when Pontus Holmberg is penalized for an obstructive gesture. A scuffle follows and Gallagher is still in the thick of the action.
2:27 (TB 1 MTL 0) | The first two trios of CH are knocking on the door, but Jonas Johansson resists. Brayden Point rewards his goalkeeper by beating Jayden Struble quite easily and then beats Jakub Dobes with a high shot.
Brayden Point takes the Canadian and Jayden Struble by surprise –
0:41 | The animosity between the two clubs is already well felt on the ice. Brendan Gallagher has few friends in the opposing clan. He argues with Zemgus Girgensons before the initial faceoff, then comes up against Charle-Édouard d’Astous on an attempted check behind the visitors’ net.
0:00 | Start of the match
