Until the third period of the Montreal Canadiens’ 4-1 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday, star Connor McDavid had only unofficial influenced the scoring. His giveaway to Habs forward Joe Veleno midway through the second period led to the (unassisted) winning goal as the home side secured a decisive win at the Bell Center.
Summary of the game
By the time McDavid actually got on the scoresheet and got an assist on Zach Hyman’s third period marker, it was too late. With less than 10 minutes to play it was 3-1. And just 1:23 after the goal, Canadiens forward Alexandre Texier responded, opting to shoot at Oilers goalie Calvin Pickard in a two-on-one rush that was set up on a separate giveaway, this time off Trent Frederic’s stick.
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The Oilers signed Pickard, who got the start instead of the newly acquired Tristan Jarrywith more than four minutes remaining, but the Canadiens held on, a night after giving up several key leads in an overtime loss to the New York Rangers. The Oilers, who defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs last night (with Jarry getting the win), were also playing their second game in two nights, but the Habs looked considerably more determined in this one.
Overall, it was right up there in terms of the most complete team performance for the Canadiens this season. They scored across the board. They played a tight defensive game, culminating in a successful two-minute two-man kill in the first, in which they understandably bent but impressively didn’t break, supported by goalkeeper Jakub Dobes, who himself had a very solid game with 27 saves.
Teammate Jacob Fowler may have made headlines recently after winning the last two starts, including his own NHL debut against the Pittsburgh Penguinswhich resulted in an impressive victory. But with the understanding that the Canadiens probably shouldn’t rush Fowler to the NHL permanently, Dobes continues to stake a claim for the starting job. And if the Habs can continue to put together these types of performances in front of him, there should be no concern that he can get the job done, as they proved that as a unit they could stifle one of the league’s top offenses, with Ivan Demidov and Nick Suzuki rounding out the scoring in turn.
The Canadiens improved to 17-11-4, within striking distance of one point out of first place in the Atlantic Division, despite their recent struggles. They host the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday. The 15-12-6 Oilers visit the Penguins that same evening.
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