This edition of the Hidden Game is dedicated to veteran NHL linesman Michel Cormier, a 50-year-old native of Trois-Rivières who has been at this racket since the 2003-04 season and has officiated more than 1,300 regular-season games.
While it might be NHL referees who are in the spotlight, whether positive or negative, it’s the linesmen who do the grunt work with little fanfare, not only handling faceoffs, but breaking up fights.
Cormier took a shot off the leg in the second period, went down. in a heap and had to be assisted to the clinic at the Bell Centre on Saturday night, obviously in considerable pain. He didn’t return for the third period, leaving three officials to handle the contest between the Canadiens and Dallas Stars.
We can only hope Cormier wasn’t injured too severely.
How’s that for gratitude: The Stars recalled forward Matej Blumel from their AHL affiliate for this game. The 24-year-old native of the Czech Republic would have made his NHL debut, only to be a healthy scratch. But at least he got to stay in an NHL hotel and was rewarded with a two-hour bus ride to Ottawa following the game. The Stars were scheduled to play the Senators on Sunday night before concluding their five-game road trip Tuesday at Toronto.
Blumel, for anyone curious, is the Texas Stars’ leading scorer, with 18 goals and 32 points this season.
News you need (Part I): Canadiens sniper Patrik Laine, who returned on Saturday after missing four games with flu-like symptoms, had never scored on goaltender Jake Oettinger. That ended with Laine’s ninth goal of the season — all on the power play — at 15:14 of the second period to open the scoring.
News you need (Part II): Dallas captain Jamie Benn is one of only five NHL players who doesn’t wear a visor, although we’re not quite sure why anyone would play without sufficient eye protection.
Before the start of the 2013-14 season, the NHL mandated all players with less than 25 games’ experience in the league must wear visors.
Benn joins Nashville’s Ryan O’Reilly, Zach Bogosian (Minnesota), the Islanders’ Matt Martin and Toronto cement-head Ryan Reaves playing without a visor.
There’s still a few bugs to iron out: That spanking new Bell Centre scoreboard over centre ice? It had the visitors with a 24-20 edge in shots — in the game’s second minute. It took the computer geniuses operating the gadget another four minutes to fix the problem.
He came to play: Canadiens goalie Samuel Montembeault held his team in the game, especially through the goal-less first period, when Dallas had a 16-7 edge in shots. We knew it would be his night when he stopped the wonderfully named Sam Steel after only 34 seconds. Steel, who could play the villain in a James Bond movie, given his name, broke down the right wing alone.
Somehow it didn’t seem fair Montembeault, and the Canadiens, lost 2-1 in a shootout.
We love physical hockey: In the game’s third minute, Josh Anderson on Thomas Harley, seconds before Arber Xhekaj took out Arttu Hyry behind the Canadiens’ net.
Great moments in officiating: How was it Anderson received a double minor for roughing, but the Stars’ Mathew Dumba received only a minor in the first period? Both players were mixing it up, giving as good as they took.
News you need (Part III): The Canadiens generated only three shots through 11 minutes. Would this be a good time to mention Dallas has surrendered the third-fewest shots in the league, averaging slightly more than 26 per game?
Shots are over-rated: That must have been some pep talk Canadiens head coach Martin St. Louis delivered between periods. Montreal held an 8-2 shots advantage through nine minutes of the second period.
He can hit, too: In the 14th minute of the period, Laine looked like a locomotive when he took a run and absolutely annihilated Oskar Back. Perhaps Finnish native Laine doesn’t like Swedes?
Dumb penalty: Colin Blackwell tripped Cole Caufield, leaving the Stars two-men short for 1:27 and, eventually, resulting in Laine’s goal.
Momentum … schmomentum: Only 2:20 following Laine’s goal, Benn tied the game.
News you need (Part IV): Laine becomes the first Montreal player since Yvan Cournoyer in 1970-71 with nine power-play goals in his first 14 games.
Another dumb penalty: We’re not sure why Mavrik Bourque found it necessary to slash Joel Armia in the third period. The play occurred in the neutral zone.
Strange, but true: This was the fourth consecutive game in which the Canadiens went to overtime.
News you need (Part V): The Canadiens were seeking their first four-game winning streak since Feb. 23, 2022. Back to the drawing board.
Quick stats: The Canadiens had a 30-8 advantage in hits, but won only 43.9 per cent of their faceoffs. Juraj Slafkovsky had seven hits. Kirby Dach had four shots, while Laine and Jake Evans each had three. Montembeault’s save percentage was .971.
They said it: “It was good to be back,” Laine said. “I don’t feel awful. I feel like I had a pretty decent game. We had every opportunity … to win the game. I’m not going to gas myself out looking for hits, but if I have a chance I’m going to try to blow up somebody. I’m not here to try and take out everybody; it just happened.”
“There were parts of the game where we dominated and had chances in the third to put the game away,” Kaiden Guhle said. “We can’t win them all and we’re not going to dwell on this game. We’re not going to hang our heads. We shouldn’t feel too disappointed about our game.”
“We still got a point against a really good team,” Montembeault said. “That game could have gone either way.”