Breaking news: Jake Evans stars in Habs win

First period

• The fourth line starts, which shouldn’t be surprising after they scored 19 seconds into the last game.
• Thanks to their effort, it’s another good start for the Canadiens, with two shots in the opening minute.
• Alexandre Carrier gets a shot on his second shift. You know he would like to score a goal. He has 11 in his career.
• Patrik Laine just made two muscle movements in the offensive zone. One to poke the puck past a player in the corner, another to poke it back to the blue line to his teammate. An efficiency of effort.
• Montreal’s 10th shot before the game even hit its first commercial break comes off the stick of Emil Heineman, who beats Cam Talbot five-hole to open the scoring.

• Laine again does just enough to win the puck, then flings it across to Jake Evans. Evans sets up Matheson, Matheson tries to guide a pass to Evans, but the timing is off, and Evans doesn’t get a good shot off.
• Detroit has started to take control since the goal.
• And Patrick Kane ties the game.
• The referees have allowed Montreal to get away with a couple of things that are normally called penalties. You don’t say that often.
• Montreal’s fourth line is by far its best tonight. I’m going to promote it to third for the next game thread.
• Kirby Dach won’t get away with a high stick on Ben Chiarot on a two-on-one, so Detroit will go on the power play.
• Samuel Montembeault just cradles a floating puck between his shoulder blades to freeze the puck. Sometimes that soccer practice pays off.
• Jake Evans gets a short-handed chance and makes it 2-1. He’s looked excellent every time he’s touched the ice in the first period. Maybe that will be the second line.
• Jeff Petry ties the game just after the power play expires.We’re in for a high-scoring one tonight.

Second period

• Detroit is the team on the front foot to open the second period.
• Laine’s play wasn’t efficient as he chased Moritz Seider around the defensive zone, and he’ll sit in the box for two minutes. Seider sold that one well, but Laine’s stick was in constant contact to make it an easy call.
• The penalty is killed.
• Laine just flipped a backhand pass right onto the tape of Alex Newhook in the slot, Newhook waited a second before taking the shot, and that allowed the defence to shut him down.
• Montreal just hemmed the Red Wings into their own zone for a good 90 seconds, but Juraj Slafkovský was upset with how he was treated by Seider and ends up taking a cross-checking penalty.
• Another good kill keeps the game tied.
• Montreal has looked good through the middle part of the period, but they need a goal to show for it.
• They do get their first power play of the night, however. Laine time.
• It took a while, but Laine got a couple of shots off. He had to brush some snow off his stick blade after neither one went in.
• With two minutes to play in the second period, Montreal has already reached its average of 24 shots. So (hopefully) they’ll beat that in the third.

Third period

• Another strong start for Montreal.
• …Until Detroit counters with a goal out of nowhere as Lane Hutson gives the puck away and then can’t cut off the pass to Tyler Motte. That’s a rough one for him.
• Larkin flips Armia onto his back. You and I would think that’s a slew foot, but we’re not NHL officials.
• It might take another good fourth-line shift to get Montreal back into a tie.
• And Evans makes Talbot spill a shot to the crease, but that’s as close as they get on that play.
• It is the fourth line that helps tie the game, but the goal comes from a wrist shot from Arber Xhekaj.

• Evans needed some assistance from the ref to get to the bench as that goal was being scored. Let’s hope he’s okay because he’s been great in this game.
• Hutson draws a hook with a drive to the crease. An assist on a go-ahead goal would make up for that gaffe on the 3-2 goal.
• Evans is back. Just another attack on that poor head of his that needed some repairing.
• Patrik Laine fires a shot that shatters the stick of Seider, and it still has enough momentum to go in. Punisher of Pucks (and Sticks) indeed.

• And, yes, a Hutson primary assist. This has to feel good for him after having so many setups go by the wayside in the opening third of the season.
• 30 shots for Montreal. It’s been a very good game from them.
• Kaiden Guhle loses his stick in the defensive zone, and eventually gets called for a hold. One more big shift from Evans will be required here.
• The penalty is killed, as are the final moments at six-on-five, and Montreal wins the first game of the home-and-home 4-3.

EOTP 3 Stars

3) That would be good player development.

2) The good news is they just added a defensive defenceman for the right side.

1) Let’s look forward to his next 300 games.