Hidden Game: Canadiens suffer lopsided loss to visiting Golden Knights

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It was Hockey Fights Cancer night Saturday at the Bell Centre.

Naturally, this edition of the Hidden Game must be dedicated to all the brave, young children battling this dreaded disease — 12 of whom were brought onto the ice during a wonderful pre-game ceremony, taken by hand by the dozen Vegas and Canadiens players who comprised the starting lineups.

And kudos to Josh Anderson, who picked up his little tyke, clearly overwhelmed and intimidated by his surroundings, worried about his balance. We wish them all the strength and courage to overcome this.

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And now back to our regularly scheduled programming on a night during which the Canadiens wet the bed, losing 6-2.

News you need (Part I): Bruce Cassidy wasn’t good enough for the Washington Capitals and Boston Bruins, fired by both organizations despite leading the latter to the 2019 Stanley Cup final, losing to St. Louis in the seventh and deciding game. Cassidy, now the Vegas head coach, won his 400th career game last Thursday, at Ottawa. As for the Bruins, they recently fired head coach Jim Montgomery. And you thought the Canadiens were a mess.

News you need (Part II): The Canadiens have lost every game this season when allowing the first goal.

News you need (Part III): Jack Eichel, the talented Golden Knights’ centre, had a goal and two assists against Montreal, giving him seven goals and 32 points this season. He became the fastest player in Vegas history to reach 30 points, requiring only 21 games. Mark Stone needed 24 contests to reach that total in 2020-21.

We’re noticing a trend here: Vegas has now won seven consecutive games against the Canadiens. Curiously, the previous five had been decided by only one goal.

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News you need (Part IV): Vegas has now scored 81 goals this season. That’s good.

Quickest olé chant of the night: Some leather-lunged spectator started singing it in the game’s opening minute, perhaps fuelled by alcohol. By the second period, with the Canadiens trailing 5-0, many in the crowd were braying. Deservedly so.

We’ll always have those two-game winning streaks: For the second time this season, the Canadiens failed to win a third consecutive game. Montreal hasn’t won three straight since late last March. Two-game winning streaks work if a team’s capturing two of every three contests. The Canadiens clearly are not.

So much for the fast start: Playing for the first time since last Monday, Canadiens head coach Martin St. Louis had every reason to expect his team would come out flying against Vegas, who were playing its third road game in four days. Instead, the home team generated five shots through the game’s opening 12 minutes, and six in total following the first period.

First-period stat: Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki was credited with three of those six shots.

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Count much: Montreal was guilty of having too many players on the ice barely two minutes into the game.

He got his money’s worth: Vegas defenceman Nicolas Hague laid the lumber on Jake Evans, cross-checking him into goaltender Adin Hill, and received a minor penalty late in the first period.

News you need (Part V): Nicolas Roy didn’t draw an assist on Vegas’ opening goal, scored by Tomas Hertl, but was instrumental in the play, screening Samuel Montembeault.

News you need (Part VI): That was the first goal Montreal allowed in eight periods. It wouldn’t be the last on this night.

Giveaway of the night (Part I): Not only does Kirby Dach continue struggling offensively, his turnover in the defensive zone eventually resulted in the visitor’s second goal.

How not to check: Juraj Slafkovsky on that goal, scored by Callahan Burke. It was his first career goal. And, while we’re thinking of it, what kind of a hockey name is Callahan Burke? Guy should be running a hedge fund.

Giveaway of the night (Part II): Slafkovsky on Vegas’ third goal.

When it rains, it pours: The Golden Knights scored three goals in a span of 2:17 and required a modest 12:23 to score their five second-period goals.

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Second-period stat: Slafkovsky was minus-4 in the second period alone. The guy was on the ice for four of Vegas’ five goals and was relegated to the Canadiens’ fourth line by period’s end.

Pass of the night: Joel Armia to Emil Heineman on the Canadiens’ opening goal.

Nicest goal while falling to the ice: Heineman.

How not to take a breakaway: Armia had a third-period breakaway while Montreal was short-handed. Somehow, he managed to shoot wide. We understand Armia is a decent darts player. Hopefully, he’s more accurate at that.

Solo effort: Brendan Gallagher appears to be labouring at times — somewhat predictable considering the amount of punishment he endures while going to the net. But he did the heavy lifting on the Canadiens’ second goal, scored by Jayden Struble.

Stats of the night: Despite the 6-2 defeat, Anderson was a plus-1. Gallagher, Armia and Christian Dvorak were all even. Lane Hutson was minus-3. Montembeault’s save percentage was .800. He was replaced by Cayden Primeau for the third period. Primeau allowed one goal on three shots for a save percentage of .667.

They said it: “It was well deserved,” Slafkovsky said of his fourth-line role. “I probably have to work my ass off. There’s nothing else I can do right now. When you’re minus-4, I don’t even know what to say. I think it’s bad decision-making.”

“We played a pretty good game in the first and third,” Suzuki said. “We just let it slip away in the second. Some bad turnovers cost us. They’re a good team and they took advantage.”

“We answered the bell a little bit more in the third period,” Dach said. “There’s really good teams in this league where, if you take time off, they’re going to hurt you. We have to find a way to play a complete 60 minutes each and every night.”

“It’s obviously frustrating. You never want to get pulled,” Montembeault said. “He (St. Louis) wanted to change the momentum.”

hzurkowsky@postmedia.com

x.com/HerbZurkowsky1

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