Mikhail Sergachev scored the 3-2 overtime winner for the Utah Hockey Club over the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday at the Bell Centre.
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It was the first game in history between the Canadiens and the new club from Utah, formerly known as the Arizona Coyotes.
Mike Matheson was a late scratch with a lower-body injury. In his place, Jayden Struble scored his second goal in as many games. Kaiden Guhle and Lane Hutson picked up the slack in terms of ice time, with each exceeding 26 minutes on the night.
The Habs were outshot 29-13. The club has only reached 30 shots on goal twice this season.
Montreal took three straight penalties in the scoreless first period. In the second, they found themselves in more penalty trouble, and this time Utah made them pay. Right after a penalty on Alex Newhook expired, Dylan Guenther beat Montembeault with a cannon for his 10th of the season.
Less than two minutes later, Struble responded with a hard shot of his own. Tied 1-1 after two periods. At the end of the period, David Savard got a 10-minute misconduct for doing what some of the Liveblog commenters wish they could’ve done: chirp at the officials.
In the third period, Montreal took their first lead of the night. Christian Dvorak threw the puck on net from the corner and Newhook pounced on the loose puck to make it 2-1.
It didn’t take long for Utah to storm back. Logan Cooley set up Jack McBain off the rush with a slick feed to tie it up 2-2.
With overtime looming, Sergachev and former teammate Brendan Gallagher got tangled up in the corner, leading to a scrum on both sides. Gallagher lead both teams with 10 hits on the night, including one on the much bigger Sergachev.
Off to overtime we went. With 27 seconds left in the extra frame, Sergachev delivered the back door dagger against his former club. Utah skated away with a 3-2 overtime win.
Not a blowout by any means, but the numbers were not kind to Montreal, starting with the lopsided shot counter. Then there’s 11:29, the team-low ice-time for Juraj Slafkovsky. It was also a season low for him. He didn’t see the ice in the latter half of the third or overtime. It was even one second less than Joshua Roy, who made his season debut after being recalled from Laval.
On a more positive note, Natural Stat Trick had both teams closer in scoring chances (25-22 Utah) and high-danger chances (12-10 Utah).
The liveblog commenters spent most of the night telling the Habs to shoot more and not be so tentative. With Matheson out, they finally got to see Hutson on the first power play unit. They went 0-3 with zero shots on the man advantage.
3. “We were too slow especially in OT. So glad Bergie thought it was a great move to trade Sergachev for Drouin. Oh well let’s get another top 5 pick. Then we’ll have a better idea how this rebuild is really going.” — Habs SkiFan
2. “Not sure what the point is of having Evans on the ice in OT. I know he’s having a decent year but he’s a fourth-line centre on 99% of teams.” — Marc Taillefer
1. “Dead last in the NHL in shots. I mean … it’s not like Utah is a juggernaut. The fact we put up these pathetic performances against teams also rebuilding is major cause for concern. Out number one pick and $8 million dollar man is nowhere to be found, Dach is awful, and even Suzuki and Caufield look disinterested, out of sync and constantly coughing up the puck. Whatever system MSL is preaching … it ain’t working. Struggling is one thing and to be expected with a young team, but this isn’t a team that looks like they are improving. Young improving teams tend to lose but you see glimpses of what is to come. They make mistakes while still putting together a strong attack. This team is absolutely lifeless.” — Justin Miller