The Montreal Canadiens came painstakingly close to entering the Christmas break riding a four-game winning streak. Alas, a stunning winning goal by the Columbus Blue Jackets in the dying minutes of regulation on Monday (Dec. 23) spoiled the plan. Nevertheless, there was a lot to like about the performance despite leaving Nationwide Arena empty-handed.
Savard, Evans, Armia Shine
We made a similar point when extracting positives from Montreal’s weekend series versus the Detroit Red Wings, but the club’s less popular players are putting on a show these days.
The pleasant surprises began in the middle frame when Montreal stared at a 2-0 deficit. Lo and behold, defenceman David Savard – perpetually the subject of trade chatter – notched his first goal of the season. He displayed his IQ upon recognizing the benefit of driving to the net when Cole Caufield’s shot missed the target and bounced off the backboard. Savard deftly slotted the rubber past a helpless Jet Greaves.
Jake Evans, who tallied a trio of points over the weekend against the Red Wings, continued his impressive run. For that matter, his eighth goal of the campaign which levelled the terms 3-3 in the second period resembled his marker in Detroit. It was a breakaway produced in part by a fine neutral zone pass by Emil Heineman that set Evans on his way to light the goal lamp. Truth be told, the Torontonian has looked very good in recent games. Whatever the future holds for him, he’s reminding everyone of what he’s capable of.
Don’t look now, but Joel Armia’s 2024-25 resume is starting to look impressive. His sixth marker of the season came moments into the final frame when he batted in a pass from Evans (a spin-o-rama pass, no less) that went into the slot. That provided Montreal with a 4-3 advantage they would eventually relinquish but overall the performances from these players were mighty fine. In fact, looking at the stat lines from the match, the players who ended the evening with negative ratings were stars like Caufield and Nick Suzuki!
But then he falls victim to robbery in the third period. With the score tied 4-4 and Montreal pressing, Suzuki mailed Dach a pass as the latter settled himself in front of the crease. Columbus defender Dante Fabbro tried to make Dach’s life difficult, but not enough to prevent him from shooting. Greaves’ outstretched right pad repelled the beleaguered Habs attacker not once but twice.
One has to call a spade a spade. The stops were marvellous. Heroic. The kind of saves that provide a team with a lifeline, which they did since the Blue Jackets went on to win 5-4. That it happened to Dach, who could use a bit of luck these days, made it all the more heartbreaking. One begins to wonder what St. Louis is supposed to do with the 2019 third-overall draft pick. The Chicago Blackhawks dealt him in the summer of 2022, a mere three years after thinking he was part of the answer. It looks as though he can’t catch a break.
