Finally, Carey Price got his long-overdue goodbye from the Montreal Canadiens fans. After taking Toronto by storm over the weekend, the netminder returned to his own stomping ground to say farewell to those who watched him become the legendary goaltender he became over his 15-year career. Before the game, the Anahim Lake, BC, native fielded questions from the local media, but that will be the topic of another article because it deserves its own space, not just a passing mention.
As expected, Price received a roaring welcome from the crowd after a tribute video, and he had to wait quite some time before the crowd finally let him speak. By then, the man who was never rattled when he stood between the posts was on the verge of tears on the ceremonial carpet. True to himself, the former netminder gave a short but heartfelt speech with plenty of thanks to go around. When he turned to the Habs players and said, “To the boys, this is your time; enjoy it,” the crowd erupted in yet another cheer, and the goaltender gave a final thank you, this one in French, to the crowd who cheered him on the ice for years but still adore him off the ice.
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Given that the evening was dedicated to Price, it was fitting that the fans were treated to a goaltending battle between two of the league’s best young netminders. There weren’t many shots, but there were certainly some big ones and big scoring opportunities. After 40 minutes, the score was 0-0, and the Wild had 14 shots while the Habs had 17.
Still, Fowler made numerous saves with a Minnesota Wild player alone with him, and whenever that happened in the first 40 minutes, the Canadiens netminder shot the door quick as a cat and stayed calm. On one particular sequence, the goaltender stopped a first shot and then frustrated Michael McCarron on the rebound, stretching his leg just enough to touch the puck. In the second frame, Ryan Hartman benefited from a couple of lucky bounces to get in all alone on Fowler, and the result was the same.
As for Jesper Wallstedt, he stopped Texier one-on-one as the Frenchman turned on the Jets to overtake a defenseman, but he couldn’t beat the keeper. Nobody beat the goaltenders until Josh Anderson mishandled the puck, handing Bobby Brink a breakaway that he buried. As for the Canadiens, they tied the game with less than two minutes left as Suzuki jumped on a rebound to push it in. Fowler stopped 22 of the 24 shots he faced, while Wallstedt stopped all but one of the 28 shots he faced.
While the Canadiens dominated the faceoff circle, winning 65.5% of the draws, the Wild mastered shot-blocking, with 23 to the Habs’ 12. While the Habs were good at establishing possession off the faceoffs, Minnesota was good at recovering the pucks either with blocked shots or sound defensive play.
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When the Wild scored on the breakaway, the Canadiens had been cycling the puck in their zone for a good long while, but couldn’t find free shooting lanes, and as often happens, when you can’t capitalize at one end, the puck finishes in your own net.
When Montreal got power play opportunities, it was the same story: the Habs were cycling the puck, and Minnesota wasn’t giving them the shooting lanes they wanted. They were kept to the outside, looking for a certain type of opportunity that didn’t come.
While Montreal managed to tie the game with barely any time left, there was enough time for Cole Caufield to be assessed a two-minute slashing call after battling for the puck and the defenseman’s stick exploded. The Habs held off the Wild for the final 57 seconds of regulation; the four-on-three overtime was fatal. It took 21 seconds for Kirill Kaprizov to find the back of the net from a slap shot in overtime.
Needless to say, the Canadiens weren’t best pleased with some of the penalties called, not only Caufield’s but also Anderson’s hooking call in the third. Martin St-Louis in his post-game scrum explained:
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It’s a shame we didn’t get a chance to take the game to overtime at even strength; it’s disappointing. It was two good teams tonight; it’s a shame that it ended that way.
On the Caufield penalty, St-Louis added:
I thought Hughes sold the penalty; he created the broken stick.
It’s quite rare that the Canadiens’ coach comments on the referees without saying that the referees have a tough job, but he did say it’s a fast game on a follow-up question.
As for Anderson, he was clearly trying to hold back as he spoke to the reporters:
“You kind of look at the stat sheet. You know, we’re the most penalized team. We talk about it all the time. I mean, some of them, it’s…I’ll leave it at that, honestly. It is what it is.”
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In 18 games, the Habs have now been assessed 73 penalties; that’s not quite the highest total in the league; the Florida Panthers have 80, but it’s not that far off either. The broken sticks are quickly becoming a plague on the game. The number of times sticks break on the ice is quite concerning, especially since a stick can have some wear on it and break even more easily when there is contact. Still, that’s a reality all teams must deal with.
The 2-1 overtime loss at least allowed the Habs to take one point from what was a very good game, a battle between two top teams. Montreal’s next game is Thursday night against the Boston Bruins, and given how well Fowler played, it wouldn’t be shocking to see him back in net in the city where he played college hockey.
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