It’s a mystery. Without their two-goal second period in the St. Louis Blues’ 4-3 victory over the host Montreal Canadiens on Sunday night, the visitors technically would have lost.
Ironically, it was also perhaps the worst frame of the match for the Blues, with them putting just six shots on net as the Canadiens dominantly dictated the pace of play. Unfortunately for the home side, two of those shots came past goalkeeper Jakub Dobes within less than a minute of each other, giving the once trailing visitors a lead they would not relinquish.
Summary of the game
With the Blues trailing 2-1, Brayden Schenn, who had opened the scoring in the first, gave Dylan Holloway a partial two-on-one break for the equalizer just 26 seconds into the second. Thirty-nine seconds later, Robert Thomas found an open Pavel Buchnevich in front of the net for an easy tip-in and a 3-2 lead.
Related: Projected lineups for Blues vs Canadiens – 12/7/25
Schenn effectively closed it out midway through the third. Holloway returned the favor after another strange rush by feeding the Blues captain, who made no mistake in filling the open cage for the 4-2 and eventual game-winning goal.
Canadiens defenseman Noah Dobson, with a late goal, turned it into something of a contest with Dobes, who had been a surprise starter in his second game in 24 hours instead of a sick Sam Montembeaultaway for the extra attacker. That’s as close as the Habs could get, though…despite Dobson’s perception to the contrary, as he celebrated a phantom goal off Cole Caufield’s stick, right on the edge of the crease as the buzzer sounded.
However, Blues goalkeeper Jordan Binnington had gone for it and broken the hearts of the Habs fans in attendance. You can understand Dobson’s mistake, though. If there was one player the Canadiens would have wanted on the stick in that situation, it would have been Caufield. No one on the team is hotter, as Caufield had scored earlier in the game to give the Habs a short-lived lead in the final minute of the first period, extending his point streak to a career-high 11 games.
However, it wasn’t intentional. Chalk it up as a major missed opportunity on the part of the Canadiens, who had been dealing with a submarine. 500 team and could have reached first place in the Atlantic. The now-15-10-3 Habs will get a chance at redemption on Tuesday, however, as they host the Tampa Bay Lightning, who currently hold a one-point lead over them in the division. Coincidentally, the 11-12-7 Blues can give the Habs a solid performance by beating the Boston Bruins, who co-lead the Atlantic with 34 points, when they host them as their next opponents, also on Tuesday.
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