The Montreal Canadiens proved Tuesday night that good things eventually come to those who wait.
After enduring nine straight losses, and being outscored 33-9 in the process, the Canadiens finally solved the Carolina Hurricanes with a 4-0 win at Centre Bell.
The 'Canes held the joint-longest active winning streak against Montreal at nine games dating back to Feb. 29, 2020.
Even more impressive is that the fourth-most porous defence in the NHL put on a clinic Tuesday night in defending the zone, stamping out most chances before they could ever materialize.
“The way we handled their pressure was what I’m most proud of and we frustrated them,” said Montreal's head coach Martin St. Louis. “When teams spend a lot of time in our zone, I feel like we don’t give them all that much. We were really organized tonight and that’s something we focus on a lot. We did a lot of very ordinary things over and over, they aren’t the most fun, but they pay off.”
Backstopped by a 20-save shutout from Samuel Montembeault, the entire Canadiens squad contributed to the stifling performance, blocking an additional 21 shots. The majority of the shots that did make it through were from tight angles or good lines of sight.
“I think we’re just playing more of a complete game. Maybe it wasn’t the most exciting game of the year, but we played really solid,” said Montembeault, who is now tied for the second-most shutouts this season with four.
“When everybody’s on board and plays the way we want to play, we can compete with any team. We were patient and we didn’t try to force anything, we waited for them to get rid of the puck and we scored on our chances.”
Defence aside, goals are needed to win, and the Canadiens provided the kind of opportunistic and efficient scoring that comes with winning hockey. Three of the goals came from a point shot with Patrik Laine and Juraj Slafkovsky’s goals coming off deflections while Lane Hutson’s goal managed to make its way through the front-of-net traffic.
In addition to Hutson’s goal, Nick Suzuki also scored on the power play. Finding the back of the net twice out of five attempts is even more significant when it comes against an elite penalty killing team like Carolina that has an 84.3 per cent efficiency.
“We tried to keep it simple, there were a couple breakdowns they had, and we were able to capitalize,” said Laine. “Throughout my career, whenever I played (Carolina), they’ve been a very good penalty kill team.”
Montreal forward Josh Anderson left the game halfway through the third period after being sent face-first into the boards and did not return. The team said post-game that he’s still being evaluated.
UP NEXT
Hurricanes: Host the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday.
Canadiens: Host the San Jose Sharks on Thursday.
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