Canadiens Survive The Avalanche

Less than 24 hours after losing 4-2 to the Chicago Blackhawks, the Montreal Canadiens were back on the ice to take on the red hot Colorado Avalanche. The hosts had won their last six games and were 8-2 in their last 10.

For a second night in a row, the Habs had to make do without sniper Patrik Laine and veteran blueliner David Savard, meaning Michael Pezzetta and Jayden Struble were in again. On the power play though, Joel Armia didn't pull first wave duty, Kirby Dach did. Jakub Dobes was back in net for the second start of his young career and he had a tall order in front of him.

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The Canadiens were unable to even get a shot on goal in the first nine minutes and by the time they finally got one to Mackenzie Blackwood, the Avs already had a one goal lead. Thanks to a couple of early penalties to Montreal, one to Cole Caufield and the other to Alex Newhook, Colorado was able to get comfortable real fast.

Their goal came on the second power play from a nice Cale Makar, Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen play. It was the only puck that got past Dobes in the first frame though, and after 20 minutes, Colorado had a 1-0 lead and an 8-4 edge in shot. This was not good news for Montreal since the Avs were one of only three teams that haven't lost when leading after the first frame. Meanwhile, the Canadiens were 1-11-1 when trailing after the first stanza.

Although the Habs could only muster four shots, they came close to scoring when Caufield, Nick Suzuki and Juraj Slafkovsky were able to execute their little "give and go and go play", but Blackwood stood tall. The first line has run that play so often in practice now that they've got it perfected, the only thing is the finish.

The second frame was eerily similar to the first, at the halfway point in the game, the Canadiens only had six shots on net. Thankfully, they woke up in the second 10 minutes of the middle frame and had 12 shots by the end of it.

If Montreal had trouble getting the puck to Blackwood's net, they played a pretty solid defensive game. After 40 minutes, Dobes had only faced 13 shots, but he did make a couple of big saves, including one in the dying seconds on Rantanen. The youngster looks very calm and collected in net, he appears very confident and not at all star struck by Colorado's all-star players.

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The third period was hotly contested and the Canadiens dominated much of it. They were finally rewarded when Cole Caufield scored his second goal in as many days on a two on one to send everyone back to square one.

Colorado tried to get their league back and were quite aggressive in the last few minutes but Dobes wasn't having any of it making big save, after big save. Even when Kaiden Guhle was assessed a two-minute minor, the youngster didn't flinch and stopped everything.

The rookie goaltender's awareness is quite impressive, not only is he making the saves, but he's also looking to relaunch the attack right away. He nearly caught the Avs in a change in the third but Brendan Gallagher was offside.

In overtime, Guhle took off on a breakaway as his penalty expired, but Blackwood stopped him. Colorado saw most of the puck until Lehkonen was about to take off on a breakaway, Guhle neutralized him but he crashed into Dobes, earning himself a two-minute minor. The Canadiens were unable to score on the man-advantage, and as the penalty ended Lehkonen took off on a breakaway but was denied by Dobes. After 65 minutes, it was still 1-1.

In the shootout, Caufield scored before Dobes stopped Drouin. Suzuki lost possession on his shot, but again, the Canadiens goalie bailed them out by smothering Rantanen's attempt and Dach won it for the Habs. The Canadiens put an end to Colorado's winning streak and are the first team to beat them after trailing twenty minutes in.

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These are the two main stories from the Canadiens' road trip; Dach's awakening and Jakub Dobes' performances. Granted it's a small sample, but the young man has played two championship caliber teams and given a single goal in 125 minutes and a couple of shootout rounds. Better yet, he's done it looking like he didn't even break a sweat. Furthermore, tonight, he was ran into twice and it had no effect on him whatsoever.

For those who questioned Martin St-Louis' decision to send Samuel Montembeault against Chicago and Dobes against Colorado, it looks like the bench boss knows the kid loves challenges. The confidence he shows in net, the way he nudges players with his stick, the way he threw the puck out of his glove after stopping Drouin in the shootout, he loves both the pressure and the spotlight and it shows. That's a supremely important trait for a goaltender in Montreal and while it's early, he's given the organization plenty of reasons to believe he's for real.

After five road games in multiple time zones, the Canadiens are now heading back home where they'll take on the Vancouver Canucks on Monday night.

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