It had been a good long while since the Montreal Canadiens managed to have the better of the Carolina Hurricanes; it was probably when they made that overinflated offer to Jesperi Kotkaniemi but on the scoreboard, the Habs’ last win against Tuesday night’s visitors dated back to February 2020.
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Although we didn’t see much of Owen Beck thanks to the numerous penalties the Hurricanes took, when he was on the ice with his linemates, the second line looked much better than it usually does in transition.
Why? Because Beck has more speed than Dach, and on a line where there’s already a slower skater in Patrik Laine, an infusion of speed made a big difference. The lack of speed was downright annoying when Dach, Laine, and Juraj Slafkovsky were on the same line, but even with Alex Newhook replacing the young Slovak, there’s room for improvement.
At times, it looks like Newhook is too fast for his teammates. He pierces the defense and then finds himself alone in no man’s land. On Tuesday night, we saw such an occurrence on the second wave of the power play, but not at even strength.
Before the game, captain Nick Suzuki had never scored a goal against the visitors, and in 12 games, he only had one point. That’s not true anymore. On top of making a great play that led to the opening goal, on which he got an assist, the center scored a beautiful goal on the power play and added an assist on Lane Hutson’s goal, ending his struggles against Carolina.
Meanwhile, his partner in crime, Cole Caufield, got a secondary assist on his power-play goal, notching his 200th point in the NHL in the process. In 6 games against the Canes, he had never managed to notch a point, but he did it tonight for a significant milestone. He needed 263 games to do so, making him the quickest player to accomplish the feat in a Canadiens’ uniform in the last 30 years.
200 points pour Cole, le joueur des Canadiens à atteindre le plus rapidement ce plateau dans les 30 dernières années!
200 NHL points for Cole, the fastest Hab to reach this milestone in 30 years! #GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/H5makc7fAP
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) February 26, 2025
As for Samuel Montembeault, after six consecutive losses at the hands of Rod Brind’Amour’s men, he was finally able to win a game against them. That he did it with a shutout is just the icing on the cake.
The Bell Centre crowd usually is unforgiving, to say the least. Once you cross Canadiens fans, you better be ready for a lifetime of booing. The most potent example is probably how Zdeno Chara was booed every time he touched the puck in Montreal after the Mac Pacioretty incident.
That’s the kind of treatment Kotkaniemi received in Montreal since putting pen to paper on the above-mentioned offer sheet, but not anymore. The Finn has become such a nonfactor that Canadiens fans don’t care they lost him anymore. There’s no more hate. Instead, there’s something much worse for a hockey player: indifference. Kotkaniemi has fallen into the “picks everyone would rather forget” category. This is fair enough, considering the Canes used seven defensemen in the game, leaving the pivot without an actual line or much ice time.
Ultimately, the Canadiens won the game 4-0, which will be great for the team’s collective confidence, especially since Montreal had not beaten the Carolina outfit in regulation since 2018. The sole downside about the game for the Habs was the way Josh Anderson crashed into the boards at full speed. The dad-to-be has regularly replaced practices with therapy days, and this certainly won’t help matters.
Full-marks for Laine last night, he managed to grab three points and was named the third star of the game. He appears much more confident than he was before the international break and that’s a good sign going forward.
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