Habs News: NHL, Montreal Canadiens, Jake Allen, Jeff Petry, Jonathan Drouin, Laval Rocket, Trois-Rivieres Lions
ROCKET SPORTS MEDIA | LAVAL, QC. — On Saturday, Auston Matthews scored twice in 27 seconds during the first period to give the Maple Leafs an early lead. While they were down by one goal in the third period, the Canadiens were short two players for 1:44 while forwards Tyler Pitlick and Nick Suzuki sat in the box for their respective penalty boxes. Montreal’s penalty kill units prevented Toronto’s dangerous offence to score, but was not able to capitalize on the momentum to tie the game before the final whistle as Toronto wound up winning 3-2 at Scotiabank arena.
“We came out a little slow, a little sloppy, and obviously, they capitalized on the turnovers. I thought we played pretty good later on in the first period, and then carried it over to the rest of game. We had some big kills that kept us in the game,” Josh Anderson said postgame.
“I’m happy with the way we fought, even if we didn’t get the result we hoped for. We stayed in the game, we killed big penalties and we got a chance at the end of the game to tie the game,” added Martin St. Louis.
Allen Sidelined
In addition to losing the game, the Canadiens lost Jack Allen on Saturday with a lower body injury. The injury occurred as Allen was trying to stop Matthews from scoring his first goal of the night.
On Sunday, the Canadiens recalled Cayden Primeau from Laval to dress for Monday’s game against the Winnipeg Jets. No timeline has been provided by the organization for Allen’s absence.
Allen returned to the Canadiens lineup on March 17th after missing 24 games with a lower body injury suffered on January 12th in Boston. “He’s been through a lot this year, coming back from an injury and the process of him getting healthy, and he’s looked unbelievable since he’s been back. It’s a tough bounce for him,” Anderson said.
The coach added that Allen is a role model with daily habits, and preparation. Allen has been a mentor to Samuel Montembeault. “He’s great, he’s a great teammate. He’s always really supportive of me. I think his mentality, even in practice or during the games, he fights for every shot, he never gives up. So, that’s a great example for me to bring into my game.”
Carey Price accompanied the team during last week’s short road trip and every day he looks closer to returning to game action. “When Carey is ready, he will play. Regardless of whether Jake is injured or not, we will not rush Carey’s return to play because of the situation. We will stick to our game plan with Carey,” cautioned St. Louis.
Petry Returns
Jeff Petry returned to action on Saturday, after missing seven games with a lower body injury that occurred against the Panthers on Mar. 24th. The veteran was paired with his longtime partner Joel Edmundson.
“At the start of the game, I had trouble covering the gaps. I didn’t take part in a lot of practices and we didn’t take part in a lot of simulated zone entries, so it was difficult. But after that, once I found my bearings, it was fine,” Petry evaluated his return.
Kent Hughes has mentioned that he will trade the defenceman if a deal that works for the organization can be completed. A family decision was made by the Petrys in January to remain in Michigan, while Jeff returned to Montreal to finish the season. Petry has not seen his family in-person since early February. He’s been able to connect with them using technology. It’s not an easy situation for the father of three boys, with the couple expecting a fourth boy in the summer.
During his initial press conference, Hughes said that he’s not in the business of selling low. Hughes had discussions with other teams at trade deadline about the defenceman, however nothing materialized. Trading a player with term such as Petry is hard to accomplish at the deadline, regardless of the circumstances. The general manager will try to accommodate Petry in the offseason.
This season has been Petry’s worse season since joining the organization. If he finishes the season strong, it will help the general manager find a trade partner. St. Louis told the veteran that he wants to help him become the defenceman that he previously was. Petry has all interest to remain engaged in the process in order for Hughes to find a new home for him.
Drouin Undergoes Surgery
The Canadiens announced that Jonathan Drouin underwent surgery on his right wrist on Friday. Drouin aggravated his injury on March 21st and sought a second medical opinion before proceeding with surgery. Recovery time is expected to be up to four months and he is expected to be ready for training camp in the fall.
Drouin’s season has been cut short for the third consecutive year. This season, the 27-year old collected 20 points in 34 games, averaging 17:06 of ice time.
Rocket Solidifying Playoff Spot
The Rocket extended their win streak with a pair of victories over the weekend at Place Bell. On Friday, Sami Niku and Raphael Harvey-Pinard paired up on the tying and winning goal as Laval defeated Rochester 4-3 in overtime.
“I really liked our first period. The second period, we had just too many turnovers, but we didn’t play bad. Too many turnovers that cost us with a couple of goals. If we only allow 19 shots every night, we’re going to win a lot more games than we’re going to lose. We found a way to win a very important game,” Jean-Francois Houle said.
On Saturday, Utica took a 3-0 lead at the 9:20 mark of the first period when Houle called a timeout to settle his team. The team responded with three goals to tie the game through 20 minutes, and scored two more times in the third period as Laval went to a 5-3 victory.
“Sometimes as a coach you have to try to change the momentum and for us it was the right time to do it,” Houle explained his decision to call a timeout.
Alex Belzile, Tobie Paquette-Bisson, and Tory Dello all returned to the lineup on Friday following their respective injuries. Meanwhile, Gabriel Bourque left the game with an injury.
On Saturday, Cedric Paquette left the game with an upper body injury. Since joining the team, Paquette has scored seven times in nine games. Goaltender Kevin Poulin was not available due to a non-COVID related illness. No timelines provided for the absences.
The Rocket are currently second place in the North division and will look to solidify their playoff spot this week on the road when facing division rivals Senators on Monday, and Americans on Wednesday.
Lions Extend Win Streak
The Trois-Rivieres Lions were in Worcester for a doubleheader against the Railers over the weekend. On Friday, the Lions exploded with three goals in the third period to go on to a lopsided 6-0 victory.
“It’s a big win. We had offensive contribution from everyone,” Eric Belanger said.
On Saturday, the Lions had a 2-0 lead with 5:37 remaining in the third period, when the Railers scored two times in 1:02 to force overtime. Worcester completed the comeback with the winning goal scored 1:29 into the extra period.
“The Railers started strong, but afterwards I think we had the upper hand. In the third period, they had more energy than us. I thought we were going to finish the job after killing the penalty, but a defensive error allowed them to score,” Belanger said following the 3-2 loss.
Laval assigned defenceman Josh Brook to Trois-Riviers to get his conditioning back to the same level as teammates following his long absence due to injury. On Friday, he scored one goal, took six shots on goal, and registered a plus-3 rating. The following night, he took three shots and finished plus-1.
“He has to have fun playing and he is going to have a lot of ice time. He was good on the power play and he scored a big goal. We see that it has been a long time since he played, as he had heavy feet at times. He really has to play to regain his confidence,” Belanger said following Brook’s first game.
Trois-Rivieres has four games remaining in the regular season. In order to clinch a playoff spot, they need to collect three points or for Maine to lose two of their last three games.
(Quotes courtesy of Le Nouvelliste)
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