Habs News: NHL, Montreal Canadiens, Marc Bergevin, Dominique Ducharme, Samuel Montembeault, Ryan Poehling, Laval Rocket, Trois-Rivieres Lions
ROCKET SPORTS MEDIA | LAVAL, QC. — The Canadiens bounced back on Saturday against the Predators, following an embarrassing loss against the Penguins on Thursday. Montreal had 5-0 lead through 40 minutes before Matt Duchene recorded a natural hat trick to cut the lead to two goals. Tyler Toffoli sealed the 6-3 victory with an empty net goal.
“We managed the puck well, placing them in free spaces, advance the puck and play north. I liked our engagement, and I think it’s positive,” Dominique Ducharme said. Saturday’s win snapped Montreal’s four-game winless streak.
“It’s been tough around here,” Brendan Gallagher said. “It feels nice to see some guys happy and smiling, and hopefully it continues.”
The Canadiens have largely dominated in the five games they won, outscoring the opponents 23-6. Their victories came against the Red Wings twice, Sharks, Flames, and Predators. Opponents have scored 43 more goals in Montreal’s losses.
“It shows that we’re able to be good. It’s being able to do it every night. It’s certain that you can’t be at your best 82 nights, but there must be consistency,” Ducharme answered when the numbers were read to him.
Marc Bergevin’s Evaluation
On Friday, the Canadiens announced that Marc Bergevin tested positive for COVID-19, and is being monitored by the organization’s medical staff. The positive news is that Bergevin has been feeling better, after having several symptoms such as headache and bodyaches on Thursday night. In order to monitor the spread of the virus, the players and coaches will be tested daily for 10 days following Bergevin’s confirmed test.
The general manager went on a media tour on Friday and Saturday, discussing several topics about the disappointing start of season. Bergevin did not see the players engaged since the start of training camp, and feels that it carried over to the start of the season.
Ducharme warned the players that it would be a challenge to be engaged before and during training camp. The warning did not translate to results on the ice, and it led to the coach sending a message to the players in Buffalo, after the second game of the season.
“It’s been three months since (the Canadiens’ players) have been told that they are good and beautiful, that they are extraordinary. At some point, it’s like telling your child not to get his hands on the stove, he will eventually try it to really understand it,” Ducharme said at the time.
Bergevin believes in Ducharme, and that the team’s poor start is not only on one person. When asked about the possibility of making a trade, Bergevin answers that other general managers call and ask for Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield. Those calls are short, because Bergevin identified them as players that are in Montreal to stay.
Bergevin provided no new information about his future, but maintains that he has a good relationship with Geoff Molson, and his expiring contract does not impact his day-to-day work.
New Formation
On Saturday, Ducharme decided to deploy 11 forwards and seven defencemen to face the Penguins. The last time that the Canadiens used this format was at the tail end of last season, when they ran out of recalls from Laval.
“It gave us some options on defence pairings, and up front it’s much easier to double up a guy once in a while that is going well, and reward him with extra time,” the coach explained the decision.
The forwards seem to enjoy this formation. “You’re always on top of it, you have to be ready at any moment, because you don’t know who’s name is going to be called. It was pretty hectic, you have no time to think. You just go one every three shifts and it was kinda nice to get in the rhythm,” Ryan Poehling said.
“I felt like everyone was involved, everyone felt like they were able get engaged in the game and everyone contributed,” Gallagher added.
Ducharme was not ready to commit if he will repeat the format for Wednesday’s game against the Bruins, but when the team has won only five of 20 matches, it’s likely that they will repeat a winning formula.
Montembeault First Win
Sam Montembeault earned his first victory in a Canadiens uniform on Saturday stopping 33 pucks. Family and friends were in attendance to watch his first start at the Bell Centre.
“He played really well. You’re happy for a lot of guys, he’s definitely a big part of that. He made some big saves at key times throughout the game for us, and was a big part of the win,” Gallagher said.
Since allowing two goals on the first two shots when he came into relief for Jake Allen on November 13th, Montembeault’s play has steadily improved. He was particularly strong in the first period on Saturday, making 15 saves including Nashville’s several dangerous scoring chances.
“Since the start of the season, from game to game, it’s going better, and I feel better. I’m happy with the progression, and the practices are going well. I just have to keep push in the same direction,” Montembeault said.
“He works hard every day to continue improving, and to see a young player like him be rewarded with a win, it’s an energy and confidence boost to continue,” Ducharme said.
On Sunday, Cayden Primeau was reassigned to the Laval Rocket, likely an indication that Allen will be in uniform in Washington on Wednesday.
Poehling Earning Spot
Ryan Poehling was named the first start of Saturday’s game with his two-goal performance. His goals came 37 seconds apart, the fastest by a Canadiens player since Guillaume Latendresse scored 31 seconds apart in November 2006.
Poehling has an impressive 33.3 percent shooting percentage this season. His teammate with the Rocket, Alex Belzile gave him some advice. “He always says ‘shooters shoot.’ It was kind of funny, he texted me after the game and said the exact same thing. That’s a true thing. You just got to get pucks to the net. The more you get there, the more they’ll go in. So, I think I’ve focused on that a lot,” Poehling shared.
After having a training camp that did not go as well as he wanted, Poehling has taken full advantage of his most recent recall to the NHL. Through six games, he has scored three times while playing on average 10:56 per game.
“I think mentally, I just feel better, knowing that I just have to have confidence in myself, knowing that if you screw up, stuff is going to happen and you just got to work hard, and the worst case scenario, you go back to Laval where you love. That’s helped me, and I think I’ve done a good job so far,” Poehling explained his confidence level.
Rocket Lose to Senators
The Rocket were in Belleville on Saturday to face the Senators. Laval capitalized on one of their six power plays, while Belleville scored two goals with the extra attacker on their way to 5-2 win.
“This loss is hard to swallow. I think we played really well five-on-five. We were good on the forecheck, and we created a lot of turnover. It was a weird game. We took two penalties in the second period that ended up in the back of our net,” Jean-Francois Houle said.
“I think we deserved better. We had our chances, but we allowed two quick goals. We had the advantage on five-on-five, and we hit two posts that cost us during the game,” added Laurent Dauphin.
Laval will have the opportunity for revenge as Belleville visits Place Bell on Friday for the first match of a home-to-home series.
(Quotes courtesy of 91.9 Sports)
Lions Split Weekend Series
The Lions visited Worcester on the weekend for a pair of games against the Railers. On Friday, Trois-Rivieres scored three goals in the second period and went on to win 4-1.
“This victory feels good. Right now, the goal is to regain our cohesion, our confidence. I think we played a good game without the puck, something that was lacking. The guys responded well to the adjustments. There are a number of good things that have been done. We stayed in our structure the whole game and we were better defensively. This is the kind of game I want us to play,” Eric Belanger said.
Trois-Rivieres was not able to carry forward Friday’s performance for Saturday’s rematch. After Olivier Archambault opened the scoring for the visitors, the Railers scored three unanswered goals in a two-minute span. The Lions were not able to get back into the game, and ended up on the losing end of the 3-1 score.
“It was very close because of our goalie Philippe Desrosiers. If it wasn’t for him, we would have been in deep trouble. We played like most of our games this year. We watched the game go by, made the same mistakes, and made turnovers that give them three goals,” Belanger said.
The Lions are last place in the North division, and Belanger is not satisfied of his team’s performance through 11 games. “There are several players that will have to look in the mirror again. I can’t put them all in the stands because I have to dress forwards. It will be rotations until there is one who gets the message,” said the upset coach.
This week the Lions will host the Reading Royals three times starting on Wednesday at the Colisee Videotron.
(Quotes courtesy of Le Nouvelliste)
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