Habs News: NHL, Montreal Canadiens, Andrew Hammond, Cayden Primeau, Ben Chiarot, Jeff Petry, Laval Rocket, Trois-Rivieres Lions, Bell Centre
ROCKET SPORTS MEDIA | LAVAL, QC. — The Canadiens played a pair of matinee matches at the Bell Centre for Super Bowl weekend. On Saturday, Patrick Laine broke the tie with eight seconds remaining in regulation to give the Blue Jackets a 2-1 victory.
“We had a lot of time in the offensive zone, and we had a lot of purpose in our offensive game in the third period,” Martin St. Louis said after the game. “We had people at the net, we sent the puck a lot on the net. I don’t know why we didn’t score more goals, because we had a lot of chances in the third.”
On Sunday, Canadiens had a 3-2 lead on the Sabres before allowing three unanswered goals on their way to 5-3 loss. The loss extended Montreal’s winless streak to 10 games. The last time that the Canadiens went 10 games without a win was in 1926.
“The last four days have been very intense with a coaching change, and a new philosophy. I know we haven’t won the last three games, but when I re-watch the games, we do so many good things, things that I brought to the team, and they’ve been able to execute pretty quickly,” St. Louis said.
Despite the losses, the coach is happy with his team’s performance. “I’m proud of their work, I’m proud of their buy-in, and execute the plan that I ask them, and we will continue to progress. There’s been a lot of progress in the last three games, it’s just that we haven’t won yet. We’re not far yet from turning these into victories, and feeling better.”
Petry Struggles Continue
After Thursday’s game, Jeff Petry praised the clarity of St. Louis’ expectations in the defensive zone. That night, he was on the ice for four of Washington’s goals, including one empty net goal. On Saturday, he took a bad penalty in the final moments of the regulation that allowed Columbus to score the winning goal on the power play.
On Sunday, Petry ended his 12-game scoring drought with his second of the season. Later in the game, he created a turnover that led to Buffalo’s eventual game winning goal.
“I know as a player after every game there’s 3-4 plays that I’d like to have back, but they’re finished, they’re gone, and you try to learn from those plays. I think Petry will learn from those plays, and we will talk about them, and we’re going to continue to clean up his errors. He also does a lot of good things, but he also does a lot of good things that people don’t talk about,” St. Louis said.
Help in Goal
Kent Hughes reached out to his friend and Minnesota Wild general manager Bill Guerin for help in goal. Prior to Saturday’s puck drop, the Canadiens acquired goaltender Andrew Hammond from the Wild in exchange for Brandon Baddock.
The 34-year old goalie has played 11 games in the AHL with the Iowa Wild this season, while recording a 2.44 goals-against average and a .908 save percentage. Hammond has played 56 career games in the NHL with the Senators and Avalanche, recording 2.31 goals-against-average, and .923 save percentage. His last NHL start was in March 2018 with the Avalanche.
Hammond’s acquisition finally allowed the Canadiens to assign Cayden Primeau to the Rocket. Primeau was pulled in three of his last four starts, allowing a total of 19 goals in those starts.
“All of this is part of development. He’s going to have some tough times up in the NHL, and even in the American Hockey League he might have some tough times, but it’s part of learning,” Jean-Francois Houle said on Saturday. “We’re going to try to rebuild his confidence, and Primeau will be just fine. He’s an outstanding kid, and an outstanding goalie.”
Hammond’s acquisition will also help reduce Samuel Montembeault‘s workload. Montembeault is playing with an injury that requires surgery. The organization is hoping that surgery can be avoided at least until Jake Allen or Carey Price return to action.
Montembeault had a great start on Saturday making 40 saves, and followed that up with 27 saves on Sunday,
Chiarot In Demand
The Canadiens placed Ben Chiarot on injury reserve prior to Sunday’s game with a lower-body injury. Corey Schueneman was recalled from the Rocket to replace him at the blue line.
Considering that Chiarot was able to finish Saturday’s game and a played a total of 22:57, the injury is likely minor. Chantal Machabee announced after Sunday’s game that he will be out for one week. With Chiarot more than likely traded by trade deadline, Saturday may end up being the defenceman’s last game in a Canadiens uniform. Hughes may decide to keep Chiarot on the sidelines until a transaction is completed.
The demand for Chiarot is high around the league. TSN ranked him second on Friday’s Trade Bait board, and Sportsnet reported that up to 12 teams are interested in his services.
Rocket Sweep Crunch
This weekend, the Rocket completed a three-games series against the Crunch at Place Bell. On Friday, Jean-Sebastien Dea scored the overtime winner in his first game back from injury to give Laval 2-1 victory.
“I thought Kevin Poulin made a lot of key saves, our penalty kill was really good. In the third period, a lot of guys sacrificed their body for the team and blocked shots, and as coaches we really appreciate that,” Houle said.
On Saturday, Laval completed the sweep with 5-1 win against Syracuse. “I’m very proud. I think our players played very hard. A lot of different players contributed over the three games offensively and defensively. All three were good team wins, and very proud of the effort that the players put forth,” Houle said on the sweep against division rivals.
Prior to getting traded, Baddock scored the tying goal in Friday’s game and was named the first star of the night. “He’s a player that was very appreciated in the dressing room, really liked by the players and the coaches. He’s a warrior and does everything for the team. It hurts, and creates a hole,” Houle said about the forward.
Laval has reached the midpoint of their season, ranked third in the North Division. The Rocket practice on Monday , and then begin a five-game road trip on Wednesday in Belleville, before heading to Syracuse on Friday, and Rochester on Sunday.
Lions Split Series
Trois-Rivieres was in Reading to face the Royals twice over the weekend. On Friday, the Royals broke the 4-4 tie with two goals in the third to win 6-4.
“There were mistakes on both sides, but we made a lot of them with and without the puck. The execution was not good. We were in the game, but we shot ourselves in the foot with the way we played defensively. It was difficult,” analyzed Eric Belanger.
On Saturday, the Lions snapped their four-game losing streak with a 10-4 win against the Royals. Trois-Rivieres’ offence exploded in the second period scoring seven times, including three shorthanded goals during the same penalty kill.
“I found our first period so-so, but there was a spark in the second with seven goals. When you score three goals on the same penalty, it obviously creates rhythm. The way we played was the reason for our success. We made a lot of adjustments. Our defencemen were very solid, and we did some good things without the puck,” Belanger said.
Trois-Rivieres was forced to play with nine forwards on Saturday as Alexis D’Aoust signed a professional tryout contract (PTO) with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms earlier in the day. D’Aoust leads the Lions with 15 goals this season. Earlier in the week, Anthony Nellis signed a PTO with the Manitoba Moose.
The Lions return to Colisee Videotron to host the Thunder on Tuesday, before heading back on the road to face Adirondack on Friday, and Maine on Saturday and Sunday.
(Quotes courtesy of Le Nouvelliste)
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By Chris G., Senior Writer
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