Three Takeaways From Canadiens Dominant Shutout Victory Over Oilers

The Montreal Canadiens shut down the Edmonton Oilers' attack at the Bell Centre on Monday, claiming their second shutout victory of the season, 3-0.

On a night when the franchise honored Pierre Houde for being the recipient of the Foster Hewitt Award, the Canadiens followed the ceremony with one of their best performances of the season.

With their third win in four games, Montreal seems to have turned the page after a season-high six-game losing streak. Let's discuss the important notes from their latest victory.

An Impressive Shutdown Performance

When Connor McDavid goes anywhere, his opponents aim to shut him down. However, many have attempted and failed since he became the fourth fastest player to 1,000 points just a few days ago.

On Monday, McDavid was kept in check by his captain counterpart, Nick Suzuki, who shadowed the reigning Conn Smythe Trophy winner every time he was on the ice.

Of course, the Oilers leader, one of the league's fastest skaters, could easily carry the puck into the Montreal end, but after crossing the blue line, he ran into a wall of Canadiens players who took away his time, space, and options.

Reminiscent of their shutout victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on opening night, when former 69-goal scorer Auston Matthews was pointless, Montreal executed with perfection against the Oilers. They played one of their absolute best games in recent memory against a team many picked to win the Stanley Cup.

Montembeault Shines Against Stanley Cup Contender

There have been many questions surrounding Sam Montembeault's play this season. Whether it's momentum-killing goals against, his inability to make timely saves or his overall inconsistency, he was brilliant when needed on Monday night.

Even though most of the NHL has figured out the mostly one-dimensional Oilers' attack, led by McDavid and snipe from the goal line Leon Draisaitl, Montembeault was up to the task whenever these two were on the ice.

The Canadiens' goalie didn't have to steal this win; instead, he just needed to make the stops when called upon, especially on the man advantage, while watching his teammates take care of the rest. At times, it looked effortless, while other times, he earned his keep.

Although Montembeault stood on his head to earn the shutout against the Maple Leafs, on Monday night, he was solid from start to finish and made those key saves to keep an offensive juggernaut off the scoreboard.

A Complete Game Effort

When people wake up on Tuesday morning, one of the questions on their mind will be, "Where are these Canadiens on a nightly basis." Of course, the NHL regular seasons will have peaks and valleys. Some nights, the team will look like Stanley Cup winners, and other contests will look like draft lottery contenders.

As the Canadiens rebuild continues, fans have seen more draft lottery performances, but Monday will go down as one of the best complete-team efforts this decade. It sounds unbelievable to say that since Montreal took more penalties, outshot by five, and lost more face-offs.

However, head coach Martin St-Louis drew up a game plan to shut out the Oilers, and the players executed that plan flawlessly. Thanks to blocked shots, big hits, and sticks in lanes, Edmonton failed to generate anything substantial in the attacking zone.

For Montreal, Monday night's win was a big triumph over a contender, while for the Oilers, it was a crushing defeat to a team that "shouldn't" be at their level. Yet, the Canadiens showed no one is superior to the other on any given night, especially when everyone sticks to the plan.

Canadiens & Wild Trivia Answers

How did you score in our Game Day Trivia quiz? Here are the answers.

1. 1981

2. Trevor Linden

3. Mats Naslund

4. Saku Koivu

5. Richard Sevigny

6. Shayne Corson

7. Jaroslav Halak

8. Steve Shutt

9. 32

10. Chris Nilan

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