Habs News: NHL, Montreal Canadiens, Martin St. Louis, Jordan Harris, Jake Allen, Justin Barron, Tyler Pitlick, Michael Pezzetta, Luke Richardson, Jonathan Drouin, Laval Rocket, Trois-Rivieres Lions

ROCKET SPORTS MEDIA | LAVAL, QC. — Hours after his team’s elimination, the Canadiens signed Jordan Harris to a two-year, entry-level contract beginning this season.

The deal is for $750,000 per season at the NHL level, and $70,000 at the AHL level. Harris will obtain a signing bonuses of $92,500 each year, and the contract also contains performances bonuses in the second year, to a maximum of $425,000.

The defenceman spent the last four seasons with Northeastern University in the NCAA. If Harris decided not to sign with the Canadiens by this summer, he would have been a free agent.

Kent Hughes and Martin St. Louis both have previous relationship with Harris. St. Louis’ son, Ryan, was a teammate of Harris, and the Canadiens coach has seen him play several times this year. “He’s a really good skater, defends himself with his feet, and he also has a physical side. With his speed, he’s able to angle players and be physical,” St. Louis said.

Despite being listed at 5-feet-11-inches, St. Louis feels that Harris’ skating plays bigger than his size because of his skating, that St. Louis described as elite.

The 21-year old is expected to join the Canadiens this week, and remain until the end of the season.

Allen Stops Leafs

It only took 36 seconds for Toronto to get on the board on Saturday. The Maple Leafs capitalized on a turnover by William Lagesson and converted it to a one-timer goal by Auston Matthews. The Canadiens took advantages of their rare opportunities and ended up with a 4-2 victory.

“We were quickly on our heels in the first, the last 3-4 minutes of the first were good. We tried to carry the positives, and make a couple of adjustments, and I think our second period was good. The third period was difficult, we had to kill three penalties. We never had the chance to play our game because of the penalties in the third period. We were opportunistic. It’s a great team victory thanks to great individual efforts, and that’s what it takes sometimes to win games,” St. Louis said.

Toronto outshot Montreal 51-18. The 33-shot differential was the largest on home ice in Canadiens history. “In games against a good team like that, your goalie has to be your best player, and he was tonight,“ St. Louis said about Jake Allen.

Allen’s 49 saves marked a regular season career high, and he also tied Jocelyn Thibault, and Carey Price for most saves by a Canadiens goalie in a regular season game against the Leafs.

“He stole the game, and made big saves, especially one against Mitch Marner on a one-timer. He was exceptional and kept us in the game,” added David Savard about Allen.

Barron Debut in New Jersey

On Sunday, the New Jersey Devils had a 2-0 lead before Josh Anderson put the Canadiens got on the board with his first goal in 10 games. Rem Pitlick tied the game with 42 seconds remaining in regulation to force the game into overtime. The extra five minutes did not determine a winner, and Yegor Sharangovich gave the Devils the 3-2 win in the seventh round of the shootouts.

“I felt like we got better as the game went on. It was our third game in four nights. I’m happy the way the guys fought and crawled back and almost won it,” St. Louis said.

Justin Barron made his debut in a Canadiens uniform, and was on the ice for 17:55 in a pairing with Joel Edmundson. “I think he managed his game really well, he managed the puck really well, he used his partner really well, and defended himself well. It was a good first impression,” the coach evaluated.

“I think he did a good job. He didn’t make any errors, and did his job well. He has a very good future, he has poise with the puck, he doesn’t get rid of the puck right away and takes time to make the right play,” added Sam Montembeault.

Barron was thrown over the boards for 2:49 of the overtime period. “He’s an offensive guy, so you put those guys in that kind of scenario with a lot of space and time. They going to do offensive things. I wasn’t surprised that he was going to do do just fine in that scenario,” St. Louis explained his decision.

More Injuries

Tyler Pitlick and Michael Pezzetta both suffered upper body injuries during Saturday’s game against the Maple Leafs, and did not accompany the team to New Jersey. Jesse Ylonen was recalled from Laval on an emergency basis on time for Sunday’s match.

#Habs Michael Pezzetta in the dressing room. @AllHabs @RocketSports #GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/BGpQr88b3T

— Chris G (@ChrisHabs360) March 27, 2022

Assistant coach Luke Richardson was placed on COVID protocol prior to Saturday’s game. Alex Burrows managed the defencemens ice times on the bench during the weekend.

The Canadiens provided an update on Jonathan Drouin‘s status after TVA Sports reported that the forward’s season was over as surgery would be required on his wrist. The organization advised that Drouin aggravated his injury last Monday against Boston. Surgery might be needed but the forward will be seeking a second medical opinion, after his isolation period expires, following close contact with someone with COVID.

Rocket Win Twice

The Rocket concluded the five-game homestand with a pair of victories over the weekend. On Friday, Cedric Paquette scored twice and added one assist to lead Laval to 5-1 win against Lehigh Valley.

“We scored goals at the right time tonight. I thought our players played hard, and Paquette was excellent tonight. He scored some big goals, and [Kevin] Poulin made some key saves at the right time,” Jean-Francois Houle said.

On Saturday, newcomer Nate Schnarr broke a 3-3 tie with 4:45 remaining in regulation to allow the Rocket to win 5-3 against the Penguins. “The guys gave quite the effort, the entire lineup starting from the goalie up to the forwards. Everyone competed,” Houde said.

“I thought it was really good,” Schnarr evaluated his first week with the team. “Just adapting to the system, I think there’s still a couple of learning points for myself.”

The Rocket collected nine of possible 10 points during the homestand. Paquette has been the team’s best player since joining, and is currently on a four-game scoring streak. “When I came here, I said that I want to have fun, bring back my confidence, and that’s what I’m doing right now. It’s been a good two weeks so far.”

This week, the Rocket will be in Winnipeg to face the Manitoba Moose on Tuesday and Wednesday, and then will head to Abbotsford to face the Canucks on Saturday and Sunday.

Sami Niku will rejoin the team in Winnipeg after taking a leave to join his wife for the birth of their child.

Lions Slide Continues

The Trois-Rivieres Lions were in South Carolina for a tripleheader against the Stingrays over the weekend. On Friday, the Stingrays scored twice on the power play, and blanked the Lions 3-0.

“When you score two goals in three games, you can’t win many games. Some guys have to make a difference, but that’s not the case right now. I have only one line that has had sustained time in the offensive zone,” Eric Belanger said.

On Saturday, Trois-Rivieres scored three times to during the third period that resulted to a 5-2 victory. Alexandre Fortin led the team with two goals in that game.

“This victory is good for everyone. We haven’t won our share of games recently with the changes and the injuries. It does show though when we have a slightly more complete lineup,” coach said postgame. “What I liked about our game is that we stayed in our game plan despite the fact that we were scored at the end of the second period. As we have been fragile, it could have been negative. In third, we didn’t panic and we got the job done.”

The Stingrays needed overtime on Sunday to defeat the Lions. Fortin, assigned from the Rocket on Tuesday, scored another two goals in Trois-Rivieres’ loss.

“I told the guys after the game that I was proud of them. Even though we trailed, we stayed focused to tie and force overtime. We worked hard and we didn’t give up,” Belanger said.

With only two wins in their last 10 games, the Lions slipped out of a playoff spot for the first time this season. Trois-Rivieres will try to turn it around during their six-game homestand beginning on Tuesday.

(Quotes courtesy of Le Nouvelliste)

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By Chris G., Senior Writer
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