Samuel Montembeault was very proud to pull up his shorts to reveal the beautiful big trace of puck on the top of his thigh. ” It’s because of him. If you give him time, his shot is very heavy. »
“Him” is Joel Armia, the unexpected hero of the Canadiens’ 6-2 triumph over the uninspired Washington Capitals on Thursday. The kind of memorable victory for the bravest supporters of the Habs, those who can now boast of having lost a cap for him. Armia indeed signed the second hat trick in the victory.
We’re talking about an unexpected hero because before that magic Thursday, Armia had scored exactly 17 goals since the pandemic changed our world. Seventeen goals in 140 games.
On the other hand, it should come as no surprise that he scores a hat trick. The refrain is familiar, but Armia is endowed with enviable skills, enough for Buffalo Sabers scouts to fall in love with him in 2011 and draft him 16th overall. These skills were seen in particular in his first two months in Montreal, in the fall of 2018, but also during the 2021 playoffs.
“It seems so easy for him,” said Rafaël Harvey-Pinard, his linemate Thursday. Everything is natural. His hands, his throw… he’s a sniper. We saw it tonight. His goals were on shots that you don’t often see in a game. »
On some rare evenings, Armia looks like the player described by Harvey-Pinard. “Probably when I win battles and create chances,” the Finn believes. I know I can also score. But too often I am my own worst enemy by being too hard on myself.
“It happens when I miss chances, if I lose a battle. I’ve always been like that. I need to handle this better. »
Armia says he is working on it with Jean-François Ménard, the Habs mental preparation specialist. Martin St-Louis also tries to “talk to him a lot” to help him. “Less good players have a lot of confidence and very good players who have fragile confidence,” recalled the CH head coach.
“As simple as it sounds, you can’t play a perfect game,” Armia recalled. I have to understand it. Everybody makes mistakes. You can’t mope over these mistakes. »
Michael Matheson is another who took advantage of the visit of the Capitals to fatten his statistics. The Quebec defender had three assists to set a career-high in an NHL season with 33 points in just 45 games. His production rate since the All-Star Game is staggering: 25 points in 28 outings.
Without taking anything away from Matheson, it is important to remember that his points were amassed in a context where the Habs are playing without stakes. His 25-point streak in 28 games began at the All-Star Game break, when the team was virtually eliminated. However, history has taught us that at the end of the season in the water, we must be wary of players who start piling up points at an unusual rate.
Consider Rem Pitlick, who scored 21 points in 37 games after the All-Star Game break last year. When the counters were reset last fall, he became a fringe player. Alex Galchenyuk, at the end of the 2015-2016 campaign, had scored 19 goals in 32 games after the break, en route to his first-eventually only 30-goal season.
Conversely, Jeff Petry had hatched offensively in the second half of the infamous 2017-2018 season. It was his first of four straight 40-point seasons. What he had demonstrated that spring was not sham and to see Matheson skate, it is tempting to believe that he could experience the same type of outbreak as Petry.
Either way, blacking out the score sheet, even at the end of the schedule, doesn’t hurt anyone. “When you have offensive success, Armia recalls, it allows you to relax more, it puts you in a positive state of mind instead of focusing on negativity. »
The Canadian will play two of its last three games against rivals (Boston and Toronto) who can no longer move in the standings by the playoffs. It is therefore possible that these games without stake for the series will allow some to improve their statistics. But it is only next fall that we will distinguish what was the beginning of something and what was only an upturn in spring.
Two assists and success on faceoffs. He also got one of his assists on a faceoff won. He has six points in his last seven games.
His clumsiness with the puck forced the CH to spend long sequences in its territory.
That’s the time between Nick Suzuki’s goal on Thursday and Rafaël Harvey-Pinard’s goal on March 30. In real time, some 167 hours have passed, but it would be dishonest to count the days off in the lethargy of the CH.
The Canadian scored two shorthanded goals on Thursday night. That’s as much as in the previous 37 matches combined! On the first goal, Joel Edmundson spotted Nick Suzuki, hidden behind the Capitals defense. The captain of the Canadian escaped, then thwarted Darcy Kuemper with a masterful feint. The second was the work of Joel Armia, a shot in the slot after a face-off won by Jake Evans. Let’s take this opportunity to highlight the good evenings of Evans (60%), Suzuki (57%) and Chris Tierney (78%) in the face-off circle.
Rafaël Harvey-Pinard was back in action after a two-game absence to treat an injury. He was composing a new trio, with Nick Suzuki and Joel Armia. The young Quebec striker had a good game, with an assist and a differential of 2. He particularly stood out in numerical inferiority, when he blocked a powerful shot from Alexander Ovechkin, which he then converted into two against one with Nick Suzuki. Did it pinch? ” No. The puck hit me in a good place this time! »
With his game rather erased, Johnathan Kovacevic is rarely found in our observations. But against the Capitals, he participated more in the attack than usual. He finished the night with six shots on target — a personal best. For the first time in the last 12 games, he also went over 20 minutes.
