Matias Macelli ramped up his speed through the neutral zone, took advantage of a set play from Jakob Chychrun to Lawson Crouse, and then blew right through coverage to bust in all alone on Samuel Montembeault and score on the Arizona Coyotes’ 25th shot of Monday’s game.
It was allowed by the Montreal Canadiens with 12:38 remaining in the second period, if you happened to miss this contest due to its 10 p.m. ET start and were wondering what it was like for the visitors to Mullet Arena. That it was 26-year-old centre Christian Dvorak burned for it, and not one of Montreal’s more inexperienced players, says much about the type of sequence this team is currently on.
If the veteran, who spent the first four of his seven seasons in the NHL with the Coyotes, hadn’t scored Montreal’s second goal just minutes before Macelli struck, the Canadiens wouldn’t have halted their losing streak at three games with this 3-2 win.
But the result can’t blur the truth, which coach Martin St. Louis said (after Saturday’s loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning and once again before Monday’s game) was most important to face in order for the Canadiens to continue to grow as a team.
“You’re not going to get the results that you want all the time,” the coach said after the morning skate. “Let’s be honest and truthful about why we’re not getting it and address that before moving forward. I think that’s what we’re doing. It’s amazing how we felt we had it all figured out after the first period of the Ottawa game (last week) and then for the last eight periods it’s three losses in a row. So, sometimes you think you have it all figured out and then poof it’s gone for whatever reason.
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