About Last Night: Habs dealt 4-1 loss by Vegas in Game 1 - Montreal Gazette

Selasa, 15 Juni 2021

About Last Night: Habs dealt 4-1 loss by Vegas in Game 1 - Montreal Gazette

Cole Caufield scored the lone goal for the Canadiens. Marc-Andre Fleury made 28 saves in the win.

Author of the article:

Erik Leijon • Special to Montreal Gazette

Publishing date:

Jun 15, 2021 • 36 minutes ago • 3 minute read • 6 Comments

Canadiens defenceman Alexander Romanov (27) checks Vegas Golden Knights defenceman Alex Pietrangelo (7) during the first period of Game 1 of the 2021 Stanley Cup Semifinals at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Monday, June 14, 2021. Photo by Stephen R. Sylvanie /USA TODAY Sports

The Montreal Canadiens were given a rude welcome by the Vegas Golden Knights in their first game of the season on American soil. The Golden Knights handed the Habs a 4-1 loss in the opener of their third-round series. Marc-André Fleury made 28 saves in the Game 1 victory. Vegas also received offensive contributions from their blue-liners, with Shea Theodore, Alec Martinez and Nick Holden scoring goals.

In the opening 10 minutes, things appeared a little more even. With Jeff Petry out of the lineup with a hand injury, Alex Romanov made his presence felt early with an open ice hit on Alex Pietrangelo.

After chances by Josh Anderson, Brendan Gallagher and Cole Caufield were stopped by Fleury in the opening minutes, Vegas drew first blood when Theodore off the draw wired a shot through traffic and past Carey Price to make it 1-0. The play came off an icing that forced a tired Habs line to stay on.

Later in the period, Corey Perry re-introduced himself to former Habs captain Max Pacioretty, but ended up getting on the wrong side of a faceoff skirmish.

The Habs may have out-chanced Vegas in the first period, but they still ended the frame down 1-0, and things got worse for the Habs as the night progressed.

With Phillip Danault already in the box to start the second, on the opening draw Ben Chiarot flipped the puck over the glass inadvertently for another penalty. The Habs killed both penalties, but just as Chiarot returned to the ice, Shea Theodore faked a slap shot with all five Habs and Price headed in the wrong direction, leaving Alec Martinez wide open to score on Theodore’s pass.

With Vegas pressing and the Habs already down 2-0, Price had to come up large, making a windmill glove save off former Ottawa nemesis Mark Stone from a Pacioretty pass.

Stone grimaced while Price winked after the highlight reel save:

With William Carrier in the box for the fifth minor penalty of the second period, Caufield broke the ice for the Canadiens, scoring his first NHL playoff goal. He missed his first chance, but made up for it when a Fleury rebound landed in the same spot seconds later. Habs were down a goal.

Caufield’s family was in attendance for the big moment.

Less than a minute later, the Golden Knights regained the two-goal advantage, again doing damage off the draw. Alex Tuch sent a set pass in Mattias Janmark’s direction in front of the net. Janmark succeeded on the redirect, making it 3-1. That’s how Period 2 ended. Vegas outshot the Habs 13-5 in the period.

The Canadiens did not come out in the third period with aplomb. The Golden Knights tightened up the neutral zone and the Habs couldn’t break through. Paul Byron fired a stinger at the skate of Martinez, the league’s leading shot blocker. Martinez left gingerly but returned. Captain Shea Weber also winced after receiving a stick to the hand. By the time the Golden Knights iced the contest with their fourth goal midway through the period, the Habs just didn’t seem to have an answer to their opponent’s speed and physicality. Holden jumped into the play, receiving a Reilly Smith cross-ice pass and catching Price by surprise.

The Habs finally had sustained offensive pressure in the dying minutes of the contest, but it was too late, and the Golden Knights skated away with a convincing 4-1 win. The loss of Petry was felt, as Weber and Chiarot played over 25 minutes in picking up the slack. Not only did Vegas snap the Canadiens’ seven-game winning streak, they also made short work of Montreal’s streak of not trailing in these playoffs, which stretched back to Game 4 of the Toronto series. The experts suggested the North Division was a rung below the rest of the league, and in Game 1 Vegas did nothing to disprove that belief. The Canadiens will have a chance to even the series Wednesday at T-Mobile Arena.

So the Golden Knights are good. No surprise there. But the Liveblog commenters aren’t ready to throw in the towel. Plenty of series to go. But also, one of the Liveblog regulars said he WAS AT THE GAME. Said he was behind a married couple. Possibly this one:

3. “Wow. ALOT of hyperbole on here tonight. Woah. Two lost faceoffs resulted in two goals in their end. Those small details make winners and losers. That’s the best Vegas has. It was fine. They ain’t the ’80s Oilers. The Habs were half a step off due to week off. It wasn’t just Vegas. If Evans plays Game 2 this will be huge, bigger than people think. Danault-matching not needed because Evans can do same thing. More faceoff wins, more puck possession. Little things like this are big things.” — Kyle Davidson

2. “To all the negative Nancys out there…did you expect the Habs to win eight more straight games after winning their last seven? Come on, even the 1993 team lost a few games!” — Bob Taylor

1. “Pray for me folks. I am deep in enemy territory. Row G, Section 6, right behind the Habs bench. Do not ask what I paid. More importantly, do not tell my wife what I paid.” — Michael Way

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2021-06-15 11:46:01Z
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