Canadiens Survive Goaltending Troubles To Finally Get A win

Montreal Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki had received a lot of criticism in the last few days after going pointless in his last four games, but this afternoon, he was ready. Unfortunately for him and the rest of the team, Cayden Primeau wasn't.

At the start of the game, the Canadiens had a league-worst 4.07 goals-against average, and it didn't get any better today. After the Habs were outscored 15-7 in their last four games with Samuel Montembeault in net, Martin St-Louis gave the net to Cayden Primeau, and it didn't go as both men would have liked.

The 25-year-old backup surrendered three goals to the Buffalo Sabres on just nine shots and five goals on just 14 shots, which is when the coach decided he had seen enough and pulled him early in the third frame. In the end, he left the game with a .643 save percentage, and it's safe to say the Canadiens' goaltending woes are far from over. Montembeault shut the door for the 16 minutes he spent in net, but he only had to stop four shots.

Still, the Canadiens found a way to win, just filling the opponent's net. Sniper Cole Caufield scored two goals on the power play, Suzuki got a brace, and Josh Anderson, Emil Heineman, and Christian Dvorak, in an empty net, completed the score in this 7-5 win.

Caufield's two goals were scored on the power play, and they were clearly drawn plays. The ace deflected a shot from the blue line, which was successful the first time around. When he missed the target on the second attempt, Slafkovsky sent him the puck back, and he scored then. This was his 12th goal, allowing him to take the goal-scoring lead back in front of Nikita Kucherov and Sam Reinhart.

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With an assist on Caufield's first goal, the captain grabbed his 300th point in his 389th game. It wasn't enough for him, though. He also added a pair of goals at the most opportune time, in the last minute of the second frame, and an assist on Dvorak's empty netter.

While today's offensive production was great, the game wasn't a masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination. The Canadiens won only 39% of their faceoffs, and in the second frame, the success rate was only 32%. It looks like the young Habs will need to get more private tutelage from former NHLer Marc Bureau.

There were a few goals that could be described as cringeworthy. When J.J. Peterka jumped off the bench and sped through to the net to score on the backhand five-hole on Primeau, Kaiden Guhle and Mike Matheson didn't look good. It almost seemed as if they were playing rock, paper, scissors to decide who should take him and just ran out of time.

Primeau's performance today and Montembeault's in the last few games are also concerning. While there have been rumours about Kent Hughes looking for help up front or on the blueline, he may be better off looking for an experienced netminder. It pains me to write it, but he was a seventh-round pick and the 199th selection at the 2017 draft; perhaps expectations for him were set too high.

In his post-game comments, St-Louis said his players finally had enough and came together for a win, mentioning he was proud of them. Of course, he was asked about the team's inability to protect a lead, and he said that it was emotionally hard for a group that has been fragile lately.

While the Canadiens got the result today, they will need to get better at protecting a lead. You cannot keep allowing goals seconds after scoring, and you think you'll be able to win many games.

The Canadiens must have felt like the noose around their neck was loosened today, but on Thursday, they'll be in Minnesota to take on a team that sits near the top of the standings. If they play like they did today, they may not get the opportunity to start a winning streak.

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