LAS VEGAS — Phillip Danault registered the first hat trick of his career in a 4-3 overtime win over the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday afternoon, and then he summed up perfectly what we’ve learned about his Montreal Canadiens through 37 games.
“I think this game is our whole image since the beginning of the year, since Day 1 of training camp,” he said of Montreal’s third-period comeback and its 47-shot effort against Marc-Andre Fleury and the 20-15-2 Golden Knights. “We bring hard work, speed and character. I think it’s been all these characteristics so far this year and we brought them again tonight. Big win on the road.”
Yes, it was. Perhaps Montreal’s biggest of the season, registered in a city that can be impossible to play in for a team coming to town with tired legs and time to kill.
They don’t call it Sin City for nothing.
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Las Vegas could have gotten the better of the Canadiens, who were playing their third game in three and a half days, starting at an unusual hour, and facing off against a Golden Knights team that had an 11-3-1 record at T-Mobile Arena through nearly half a season.
They flew in late Thursday night after a 2-1 win over the Arizona Coyotes, and Canadiens coach Claude Julien cancelled practice and gave them a day off on Friday. There was no time for a morning skate prior to the 1:00 p.m. local start of Saturday’s game, either.
“I have to show confidence in my players and let ‘em know that hopefully they can handle themselves well,” Julien said after the win. “Hopefully they enjoyed the day in Vegas yesterday. It was (resting for) the night that was important. And when you look at the way we played today, you know they did the right thing yesterday and they were ready to play this afternoon.”
Were they ever. The Canadiens pushed the pace through the first period — out-shooting Vegas 17-9 and out-chancing them handily. Had Fleury not turned a miracle — with Danault’s first goal of the afternoon giving the Canadiens one to match the one scored by Golden Knights forward Brandon Pirri — the game would have been out of hand before the puck dropped for Period 2.
Goals for Jonathan Marchessault and Pirri, and one more from Danault, made it 3-2 Vegas at the end of the middle frame, leaving the Canadiens a herculean task to accomplish against a team that came into the game 13-0-1 when leading after two periods.
When you see the way Danault tied the game with 1:25 remaining — while Montreal’s net was vacated and an extra player from their side was on the ice — you can’t help but agree with his post-game assessment of his team’s season to date. His effort on the play mirrored theirs through most of their games.
Former Golden Knight Tomas Tatar, who was traded to the Canadiens prior to the season, found some open space down by the goal line and he used it to find Max Domi by the side of Fleury’s net. And then Domi waited for Danault to get into position in the crease before sending the puck to his stick.
One whack from Danault off of Fleury’s pad, another off the post, and a final one that sent the puck and half of his body over the goal line gave him his third tally and sent the Canadiens bench into a frenzy.
“I was willing to eat that puck and bring it into the net if I had to,” Danault said.
It’s that kind of determination that’s allowed Montreal to maintain its grip on a playoff spot for all but a few days through the first half of this season.
As of Saturday, the Canadiens are riding into their Christmas break five points clear of the next best team in the Eastern Conference, nipping at the Boston Bruins’ heels from the second wild-card position and having established the NHL’s 12th best record (19-13-5).
“We’re where we want to be, meaning we want to be in the running for a playoff spot,” said Julien. “I’ll tell you what: We’re a decent team, but honestly I still think there’s lots of work to be done. You see the game [today] and you see some of the other (less good) games and we’re working on consistency and the little details, and that’s where we gotta keep getting better in the second half.
“When we all play hard together, we’re a fast team but we’ve also got to be able to play smart defensively. I thought we did a pretty good job tonight against a team that really excels on the offence and transition game.”
Holding the Golden Knights to just 26 shots on goal — and just a few quality opportunities — was evidence to support Julien’s point.
Brendan Gallagher, who helped set up two of Danault’s goals, liked what he saw too. He hopes to see more of it when play for the Canadiens resumes in Florida on Dec. 28.
“I think we’re learning a lot about ourselves,” he said “We gotta continue to build on that and we understand the way we need to play in order to be successful. When we skate, we give every team in the league trouble, and that’s got to be our strength. When we get away from that, we’re a bad team, and I think we’re starting to understand that.
“For the most part this year, we’ve been skating, we’ve been moving our feet. It puts teams on their heels, and when we can come at teams like that line after line with the speed we have I think it’s got to be the identity of our group. I think it’s why we’ve been getting the results we have so far.”
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