Still a brilliant month...even if the end was a little too sour!
Kirby Dach scored the game-winner for the Montreal Canadiens with 9:51 to go, and Sam Montembeault was strong with 27 saves in a 3-2 win over the Golden Knights Tuesday afternoon. The win is Montreal’s fourth in a row, and six out of their last seven.
Zach Whitecloud and Noah Hanifin scored for Vegas who had their six-game winning streak come to an end. Adin Hill had 19 saves for his first loss in net since December 17th at Edmonton.
The first period started on a pretty even level between both teams for the first two minutes. Then came Zach Whitecloud, on the team’s second shot of the game, capitalized off some smooth stick handling from Tomas Hertl for his second of the year, and first since October 9 against Colorado.
The Vegas Goden Knights started in control
Vegas started to take a firm hold, collecting five of the game’s next seven shots. The closest Montreal came to an equalizer was a Josh Anderson deflection with 7:23 to go that Adin Hill was well positioned to absorb. The fact they went shotless for nearly 14 and a half minutes became a point of concern for the Golden Knights. With 11 seconds in the period though, Noah Hanifin put those to rest on a wrister for his sixth goal of the year.
The second period started just how you’d like if you were in the lead: not terribly exciting. The Canadiens continued mounting chances on Hill that were as threatening as a basket of kittens. Cole Schwindt came close to 3-0 Vegas at the 12:35 mark, if not for the shoulder of Sam Montembeault. The same happened with a Tomas Hertl shot a few minutes later that caught the post.
After those golden chances, another long shots drought popped up for the Golden Knights, starting in the last 6:45. Then Cole Caufield took advantage of an opening brought on by a pass that beat Hill with 2:33 left(and probably many others, honestly). Things got just as fun as one thought it might be.
Then came the third period...
Much of the third looked like a tennis match, with both teams trading momentum every few minutes. Each goalie notched a superb highlight reel save to rob a goal. Emil Heineman broke the back-and-forth just before the eight-minute mark, scooping up the rebound from a bit of a funky-looking shot by Denis Savard to tie things up. That ratcheted the nerves in T-Mobile Arena up a notch or three…
…which became five seconds later thanks to Kirby Dach on a backhand that beat Hill five-hole. It was one he should’ve stopped to give Montreal the lead. It also marked the first time for Vegas they’ve been down at any point in any game since the Wild game on December 15.
From there, the Canadiens shut the door on Vegas offensively for most of the period. It wasn’t until they pulled the goalie for the empty net that the Golden Knights finally mounted a charge to tie things. That included one by Victor Olofsson that missed beating Montembeault's glove side by a few precious inches and ended things.
Next on the Marquee:
After a night of palate cleansing and (if it’s your cup of tea) resolution-making, the Golden Knights are back at T-Mobile Arena on Thursday night at 7 P.M. against the Philadelphia Flyers. If there’s ever a game to dust yourself off and get back to business to start 2025, this would be a good game. Heading into their game later tonight at San Jose, they’ve allowed 4+ goals in eight out of 12 games this month. That included an ugly 7-3 loss to in-state rival Pittsburgh on December 23.
Until then, in honor of the New Year and to help out your own individual palate cleansing…