Time off is owed to Canadian players

chicago | The Canadiens players were looking forward to these few days off. And they did everything to go on vacation with peace of mind.

• Read also: The Canadian players had light hearts and dancing feet: “It will give us momentum beyond Christmas.”

• Read also: Victory before the Christmas holidays

This 5-2 victory, achieved on Friday evening over the United Center, allowed the Habs to conclude the first part of the match away from the Bell Center with five points out of a possible six.

Nick Suzuki and his teammates will also be cheered when they have great success in the Eastern Conference standings. Incidentally, Martin St. Louis and his men returned home just three points off last place which allowed them to reach the playoffs. A much better position than last year (nine points).

This break comes at just the right time, because the Montrealers have poured so much of their energy into these three meetings. Two of them require an extension period. In each of the last two matches, the Canadian overcame 2-0 deficits.

Even I, who haven't played a single second, feel exhausted. And I think I have some holiday parties waiting for me when I get home. Evenings will not be easy to play against, says the other.

Slavkovsky sacrifices himself

But back to our cherubim.

To score their goals, Montreal had to stick their noses into traffic, work to recover loose pucks and force turnovers by applying pressure on the forecheck.

Moreover, for the second time in as many evenings, Juraj Slavkovski scored a goal with his skates a few centimeters away from the section of ice painted blue. Like the day before, he got two points.

“Someone has to go,” Slavkovsky laughed. Seriously, I would love to go there. Currently, I score goals near the net. Maybe we should start this way and then I can record more and more. »

And shortly before the game, Mitchell Stevens scored his first goal in a Canadian uniform by parrying a shot from Mike Matheson that was pinned practically in the same place.

Anderson, snoring

Suzuki's tenth goal this season came as a result of individual efforts. That's Slavkovskiy and Cole Caufield (whom the Canadian lost for a few minutes in the second half).

“This is the perfect example of failure before you teach. The players put in a great effort and we were able to finish the match.”

And there's Josh Anderson, who pulled the strings for the fourth time in as many games. In my opinion, Snoro has already developed the gift we gave him at Christmas, on page 84 of the Journal de Montreal on Saturday morning. We should have hidden it better.

The Canadian now has five days to recharge his batteries before facing the Hurricanes in Carolina on December 28.

In this regard, for the next three matches, I leave you in the care of a distinguished colleague and friend, Jean-François Chaumont, a man who would be happy to spend the year in a city other than Montreal.

happy Holidays!