The Golden Knights run into some bad luck against the Montreal Canadiens
The Montreal Canadiens looked like they were ready to play against the Vegas Golden Knights on Friday. While the Golden Knights peppered Sam Montembeault with shots all day, the Canadiens held the line. The result? A 4-1 loss to Montreal.
Montembeault stopped 30 of 31 shots, frustrating an aggressive Golden Knights team throughout the night. That included a stellar first period where he stopped all 11 shots. The win bumps Montreal to 13-7-3, giving them 29 points. The loss drops Vegas to 10-6-8, leaving them at 28 points.
Eventually, some things must change for the Vegas Golden Knights. Sure, getting the loser point numerous times is nice on the surface. It provides you with a nice cushion in case you break out. But that's the thing with Vegas. You can only do it so many times before games like Friday's contest happen.
When is that breakout going to happen? Who will step up and take the reins for the Golden Knights? Are we still waiting for Mitch Marner to break his goalless slump? Will it be someone other than a defenseman to make the magic happen?
Let's be honest. The Golden Knights are an enigmatic mess right now. That's been the story since "Opening Knight," where they blew a 5-3 lead to lose in the shootout. But let's dive into the postgame takeaways and see the good and the bad. What went down for the Golden Knights on Friday.
The Golden Knights get more aggressive offensively against the Montreal Canadiens
The Vegas Golden Knights started Friday's game on a more positive note, outshooting the Canadiens in the first period, 11-6. They've turned up the pressure despite Montreal holding a 1-0 lead from a 6-on-5 goal. The majority of that onslaught came from Jack Eichel (three shots in the first, seven overall) and Tomas Hertl (four shots in the first, seven overall).
The problem? They haven't buried many chances. You can attribute that to a strong showing from Sam Montembeault, who stopped 30 of 31 shots. Still, Mark Stone has shown that he's an absolute boon in the offense with a goal.
One can say that having the Captain return to the team has been an overall net positive for Vegas. Suddenly, the Golden Knights are crashing the net more and finding better looks. It's just that nothing was turning up for the Golden Knights all night. If they can start banking on solid opportunities, they'll offset numerous problems.
Montreal's weapons overwhelm the Golden Knights
It wasn't just the 6-on-5 goal from Zachary Bolduc that hurt the Golden Knights. It was also Cole Caufield turning a bad angle into a massive advantage, getting Montreal's second goal. It's been the story for the Canadiens throughout the season, getting help from their top scorers.
Entering Friday's game, the Canadiens had the third-best attack in the league (3.45 goals per game). When you have big names like Caufield burying opportunities, that's problematic.
It's especially rough when you're without your top goaltender. While Akira Schmid has had nice moments for Vegas, the netminder wasn't on his best game on Friday. If that's the case throughout the season, it'll be tough for Vegas to dig themselves out of deficits, especially when the goalie isn't clicking.
Avalanche eager to extend point streak in clash vs. Canadiens
The Colorado Avalanche's winning streak ended at 10 games, however their run of consecutive contests with at least a point continued after a 3-2 shootout loss on Friday afternoon.
The Avalanche still have just one regulation loss this season, and they don't have time to dwell on their winning streak ending. They host the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday afternoon to complete a back-to-back set.
Montreal also is playing its second game in as many days but heads into Denver after recording a 3-1 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights on Friday.
It was the first game defenseman Mike Matheson played since signing a five-year, $30 million contract extension with the club. He had an assist in Friday's game, which was Montreal's third win in a row after a 1-4-3 stretch.
The Canadiens, who started this win streak with a home victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs last Saturday, squeaked by the Utah Mammoth on Wednesday on a late goal by captain Nick Suzuki.
Suzuki set up a goal on Friday to add to his team-leading totals in assists (20) and points (27).
"I'm just trying to do my best out there," Suzuki said. "I get to play with a lot of great players every single night and you know they've helped me get to where I am today so I'm definitely grateful for that."
Montreal has six players with 15 or more points, including leading goal-scorer Cole Caufield, who netted his 14th of the season on Friday. He is second on the team in scoring with 25 points and is the only player with more than seven goals.
Colorado likely will face goaltender Jakub Dobes, who is 8-2-2 with a 2.89 goals-against average in 12 games.
The Avalanche most likely have Mackenzie Blackwood in net after Scott Wedgewood was in the crease against the Minnesota Wild on Friday. Minnesota scored 12 minutes into the second period, ending a combined shutout streak of more than 220 minutes.
Blackwood had two of those shutouts, stopping 61 shots in the two games. He is starting to look like the No. 1 goaltender after making his season debut on Nov. 1.
That was the last loss for Colorado until Friday, but its point streak extended to 15 games (12-0-3) heading into Saturday.
The Avalanche needed a late goal by captain Gabriel Landeskog to extend Friday's game past regulation, and it went to a shootout, where they are now 0-3 on the season.
"Shootout, you can flip a coin. Overall, a really good road effort from our team, big point, move on and get ready for (Saturday) against Montreal," Colorado coach Jared Bednar said.
The Avalanche have won seven straight games on home ice and are 9-0-2 overall there.
Nathan MacKinnon, who assisted on Landeskog's goal, leads the NHL in goals (19) and points (41).
Cale Makar also got an assist on Friday and leads all defensemen with 31 points (nine goals, 22 assists).
-Field Level Media
