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Armia Finds Scoring Touch | Habs Notepad

Chris G
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Armia Finds Scoring Touch | Habs Notepad
Joel Armia, Montreal Canadiens (Photo by Getty Images)

Habs News: NHL, Montreal Canadiens, Cole Caufield, Joel Armia, Martin St. Louis, Laval Rocket, Trois-Rivieres Lions

Joel Armia, Montreal Canadiens (Photo by Getty Images)

ROCKET SPORTS MEDIA | LAVAL, QC. — The St. Louis Blues visited the Bell Centre on Saturday to face the Montreal Canadiens. Despite allowing the first goal for the sixth consecutive game, the Canadiens managed to head into the third period in a 2-2 tie.

Cole Caufield gave the lead for his team early in the third with his 23rd goal of the year. It was the first time that Montreal had the lead in a game since facing the Dallas Stars on Dec. 23rd. The lead lasted 1:53 before the Blues tied the score again.

Caufield’s goal tied his total from the 2021-22 season and his 50th career goal. The 22-year old reached the plateau in his 117th game. Only Maurice Richard, Jean Believeau and Bernie Geoffrion required fewer games to reach 50 goals quicker in a Canadiens uniform. He also became the player with most goals through 40 games for the Canadiens since Stephane Richer in 1987-88.

The teams exchanged goals one more time before Josh Anderson netted the winner with 8:30 remaining.

“It always feels good to win. Our team needed that and we earned it,” Martin St. Louis said following the 5-4 win. “We were happy with the first but we were losing 1-0, but we stayed on the task. I liked our play in the defensive zone. We were harder to play against than recently and we looked more like ourselves.”

Armia Finds Scoring Touch

Joel Armia was Montreal’s first star of the night versus the Blues with two goals bringing his total to three goals in the last two games. Armia had not scored any goals in the previous 26 games that he played.

“I approached the game more from a simple way. Get on the forecheck, get my legs going,” Armia answered when asked if he changed anything.

St. Louis scratched Armia in the final game of the road trip in Nashville before slotting him back in against the Rangers. “I made sure I’m ready to go whenever I play next. That was my mindset,” the forward said about sitting out.

Prior to these two games, Armia was not happy with his performance. “I don’t feel like I played that well. Sometimes you need to look in the mirror and demand better for yourself.”

“Armia has been outstanding the last couple of games and very dominant in the offensive zone and creating those chances for himself and he’s getting rewarded,” Anderson said.

Suzuki is confident that it’s just the beginning for his teammate. “It’s been a tough stretch for him but it’s nice to see him scoring goals. Once the first one goes in, it’s a big relief off your shoulders and I’m sure his play is going to keep ramping up.”

Power Play on Same Page

The Canadiens power play has struggled for the entire season and has consistently been ranked at the bottom of the league. On Saturday, Kirby Dach ended his 10-game scoring drought with a power play goal in the second period.

St. Louis feels that a struggling power play affects the confidence of the top producers. He was happy with the unit’s performance against the Blues.

“The best power plays are those where the five guys on the ice are working with the same brain. They all know where they going and [Saturday] we looked like that. It takes only one guy to not know where the play is going and then you have no more play,” said the coach on Sunday. “It’s a game of chess, not checkers.”

Rocket Lose Twice

The Laval Rocket ended their four-game homestand on Friday by hosting the Manitoba Moose. Laval was down 4-1 with 5:43 remaining in regulation when Jean-Francois Houle pulled Cayden Primeau for the extra attacker. The Rocket responded with three unanswered goals to force overtime. Manitoba did not let the win slip away and recorded the 5-4 victory 2:46 into the extra period.

“We’re happy we got the point. Obviously, when you have a nice comeback like that it would be nice to get that extra point. Every point is a point right now. I liked the character that this team showed to come back from 4-1,” Houle said.

Laval began a three-game road trip on Sunday in Toronto against the Marlies. Despite outshooting the Marlies 58-17 and receiving seven power play opportunities, the Rocket were defeated 4-2.

“It’s really disappointing. We faced a really hot goalie that made big saves. We have nothing to be ashamed of. I think we played a really good game, and limited their chances five-on-five,” Houle told BPM Sports.

“We had chances, we had shots, we had scrums around the net. I just think too many of those second chances that we couldn’t get up in the air enough,” added Corey Schueneman.

Laval’s road trip continues with games in Rochester on Wednesday and in Syracuse on Friday.

Lions Lose Weekend in Newfoundland

The Trois-Rivieres Lions were in Newfoundland to face the Growlers in a three-game weekend series. On Friday, the scored was locked at 3-3 early in the third period when Trois-Rivieres added two goals and head to 5-3 win.

“First, [goalie Philippe Desrosiers] was simply excellent in this game. Second, I found that we were really disciplined in our system. Newfoundland is explosive offensively and our 1-3-1 system slowed their players down. We did not allow them to deploy their offence as usual. I am proud of the team,” interim coach and general manager Marc-Andre Bergeron said.

On Saturday, Joe Vrbetic made his first start since Dec. 18th in the AHL. The goalie was pulled midway through the second when the Growlers had 4-0 lead with 14 shots on goal. Trois-Rivieres gave up four goals to Newfoundland’s power play in 7-3 loss.

“They have several players who have played together on the power play since the beginning. They are excellent. On our side, we had a plan, but we were not mentally in the right place to hold such a team in check. It cost us dearly. At five against five, we were able to match with them,” Bergeron said.

On Sunday, the Lions came out on the losing end of the match where they were awarded 10 power plays. Trois-Rivieres converted on two of them as Newfoundland won 6-3.

“The Growlers are patient, and on our end, we couldn’t find a way to stay good enough for long enough to stop them,” evaluated Bergeron.

The Lions head home to host the Orlando Solar Bears on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday at Colisee Videotron.

(Quotes courtesy of Le Nouvelliste)

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