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Dans les coulisses

CH loses shootout to defending champions

Samuel Montembeault celebrated his 27th birthday in superb style on Monday evening. He was on a trip to Vegas! But he could have given himself a better present by beating one of the NHL’s best teams: the Golden Knights.

Here’s the starting line-up for both teams.

Montreal got hammered with shots early in the period. The good news was that Samuel Montembeault answered every Vegas attack, including a sequence where Juraj Slafkovsky suffered a dangerous turnover.

Montembeault’s work was finally spoiled by Paul Cotter. His shot from the blue line was deflected and completely surprised the Quebec goalie, who was in the wrong place to make the save.

After 20 minutes, Vegas was leading 1-0.

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If anyone is performing well this season, it’s Sean Monahan. This time, he didn’t really need to pull out all the stops because Adin Hill handed him the goal on a silver platter.

I’ll let you see for yourself.

The Golden Knights needed just over 15 minutes to get their first shot on goal for the Canadiens in the second period. That’s something we’ve rarely seen from the CH in recent seasons. To do that against the defending champions is simply insane.

Unfortunately for the Canadiens, they weren’t able to take the lead during those 15 minutes. The good news was that the score was still neutral and the chances of a win were still very much alive.

But Vegas proved to be very opportunistic. William Carrier gave the Golden Knights the lead late in the second third on their second shot of the period.

After two periods, the Golden Knights still had the lead. This time, it was 2-1.

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The Canadiens gave it their all in the third period, and the man who gave it his all was probably Josh Anderson. He was out on a mission, trying to get his first goal. He had three good scoring chances in the first two-thirds of the period, but nothing worked.

Adin Hill had an answer for everything. Almost anything…

Nick Suzuki picked up a puck behind the Vegas net and managed to get back in front of the net to tie the game.

A nice way to salute the team that drafted him!

The CH needed extra time for a third straight game.

Suzuki was caught in overtime hooking Jack Eichel on a breakaway. That’s right! Penalty shot! Fortunately for the captain, Samuel Montembeault stood up to Eichel.

Montembeault booked his best save with the tip of his pad at the end of overtime. A thing of beauty. We needed penalties for a second straight game.

Suzuki did it again in the shootout with his usual classic feint to foil Adin Hill. But Jonathan Marchessault tied the game on the very next shot.

This allowed Shea Theodore to score in the fourth round to give Vegas the win.

The Canadiens lost 3-2.

Montreal will be back in action next Thursday with a visit to the Coyotes’ Mullett Arena. It’s another late-night game, with a 10 p.m. broadcast.

Extensions

– And it’s far from over.

– The Canadiens got off to an excellent start.

– Wow!

– Quite surprising.

– Caufield decided to tackle tonight.

– An ace in the face-off circle.