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Juraj Slafkovsky scored his first goal of the season in the 6-3 loss to the Blues.
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Juraj Slafkovsky broke his season-long goalless drought, but it wasn’t enough as the Canadiens ended their road trip with a 6-3 loss to the St. Louis Blues on Saturday night.
Slafkovsky joined Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield on the top line and it paid immediate dividends. The 2022 first overall pick had four shots on net after only getting 10 on the season entering the game.
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But the Blues had way too easy a time penetrating the porous Habs defence and it showed on the scoreboard. Jordan Kyrou and Brayden Schenn each lead the way with three points.
Mike Matheson was -3 on the night, while Justin Barron was -2.
Christian Dvorak played his first game since undergoing knee surgery last March. He was -1 in 14:53 of ice-time.
Kyrou got things going on offence in the first. After Schenn missed on the initial break, Kyrou jumped in uncontested to score on the Schenn backdoor pass.
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Slafkovsky responded with a power play goal. He completed a nice give-and-go with his former linemate Alex Newhook (go figure) to tie it up 1-1.
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The Blues regained the lead late in the first. Robert Thomas was allowed to walk into the slot and fire a shot past Sam Montembeault through a screen to give St. Loo a 2-1 advantage.
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In the second, the Blues made the Habs pay once again after some sloppy neutral zone play. Newhook turned it over along the boards, and Kyrou completed the passing play to Saad for the 3-1 marker.
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The Habs cut the lead to 3-2 before the end of the second period. Sean Monahan fed Brendan Gallagher alone in the slot, and he beat Joel Hofer for his fourth of the season. It’s early, but Gallagher is on pace for a 30-goal season.
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The Blues blew the door wide open in the third, starting with Alexei Toropchenko on the shorthanded breakaway after Barron blew a tire at the point. Was it tripping? The refs kept their whistles silent.
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Just over three minutes later, Schenn effectively sealed the deal for St. Louis with the tap-in to complete a slick passing sequence. The home team were up 5-2.
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Kasperi Kapanen added an empty netter, but the Habs got one back before the end. The top line with Slafkovsky showed some chemistry. Caufield from the point had his shot tipped in by Suzuki to make it 6-3.
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But the damage was done, and despite a promising showing from Slafkovsky with the team’s two best offensive players, the defence had a rough night. According to Hockey Stat Cards, Jordan Harris emerged relatively unscathed, but Matheson spent most of the night caved in, as was Barron. It was even a rare off night for steady Eddy Johnathan Kovacevic.
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It was probably Montreal’s worst showing since the Minnesota Wild game, and after coming from behind in entertaining fashion against the Blue Jackets and Jets, the Habs have now lost three straight. Life doesn’t get easier with the Tampa Bay Lightning in town on Tuesday.
This is still a very young defensive corps. Only Matheson has more than a year under his belt, and he hasn’t looked right since leaving last Saturday’s game with a lower-body injury. Could something still be up?
3. “(Slafkovsky) might fit in better with Monahan and Gally, move Pearson up to top line. Put Dvo on 4th line, move Evans up with Andy and Newhook.” -Bob Taylor
2. “A very tough road trip.” -KeithH MacCausland
1. “Mike Matheson. He’s either Larry Robinson or Janne Niinimaa. No in between.” -Marc Taillefer
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