MONTREAL 鈥� Jake Allen's second shutout in as many weeks felt less frantic than the first.聽
The Montreal Canadiens' starting goalie blocked 22 shots in a 3-0 win over the visiting Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday. 聽Allen made 45 saves last week in San Jose for his first shutout as a Hab.
Allen felt his teammates were more in control of Tuesday's game.
鈥淚 thought it was our best game of the year,鈥� Allen said. "We were solid all over the ice and it looked easy for us, to be honest, and that鈥檚 the way it should be when we鈥檙e all playing as one. I was really impressed with how they played.鈥�
Nick Suzuki had a goal and two assists and Josh Anderson scored his third of the season for Montreal. Brendan Gallagher scored an empty-net goal.
Alex Nedeljkovic was busy in Detroit's net conceding two goals from 41 shots.
A decisive win at home for the Canadiens (3-8-0) helped ease the sting of losing three of four on their West Coast road trip.聽
鈥淚t's been frustrating, obviously, but the only way to get through it is to keep working, keep grinding away,鈥� Anderson said. 鈥淥nce you do that, you're going to pull a lot of guys into the fight with you.鈥�
Canadiens head coach Dominique Ducharme was satisfied with both the result and the way his team played Tuesday.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 the way we play, that鈥檚 our team,鈥� Ducharme said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what we need to do and it鈥檚 the first time that we do that for 60 minutes. We saw glimpses of that but we need to do that for 60 minutes. It's not more complicated than that.鈥�
The Canadiens want to continue that through their next four home games. The New York Islanders are in town Thursday.
鈥淐onsistency, I think it鈥檚 such a general word, but it鈥檚 success,鈥� Allen said. 鈥淚f you鈥檙e consistent as a group every single night, the chances of winning are on your side.
鈥淵ou鈥檙e not going to feel good every game. It might be 30 per cent of the games all year you鈥檒l feel amazing, but for the rest you just have to find a way to put it together as a team and that鈥檚 exactly what we have to do Thursday."
Montreal scored 2:06 after the opening puck drop. Suzuki earned his first of the season batting in his own rebound.
Anderson doubled the Canadiens鈥� lead midway through the first period. The winger entered Detroit鈥檚 zone from the left side all alone and his shot from the faceoff circle was no match for Nedeljkovic.
Montreal forward Jonathan Drouin took a shot in the head from teammate Brett Kulak. Drouin hurried to the locker room and didn鈥檛 return to the game. He was sent to the hospital for further evaluations.
鈥淚t鈥檚 always worrisome but the news is encouraging,鈥� Ducharme said. 鈥淗e will get evaluated again tomorrow morning, but as of now, it鈥檚 encouraging.鈥�
Added Anderson: "I went to go check on him in the first period, but he was off to the hospital getting checked on and then I saw him after the game, everything was going well. Obviously he's going to get looked at tomorrow. He just went there for cautionary reasons, but it looks like he's OK. Any time you see that is very scary.鈥�
Detroit head coach Jeff Blashill was displeased with his team's performance at the Bell Centre.
鈥淭hey were better than us from the first shift all the way to the last shift,鈥� Blashill said. "They played like it was a playoff game, we played like it was an exhibition game.聽
"That isn鈥檛 even close to what we can do to be successful. We weren鈥檛 even in the hemisphere of what we needed to do.
After allowing the two early goals, Nedeljkovic rallied in the second and third periods to give Detroit a chance at a comeback.
With Tyler Bertuzzi (unvaccinated) and Dylan Larkin (personal reasons) out of Detroit's lineup, the Red Wings (4-4-2) couldn鈥檛 solve Allen.
鈥淥ur execution wasn鈥檛 good enough, our work ethic wasn鈥檛 good enough,鈥� Blashill said. 鈥淚t was a 2-0 game, we had a chance to come out and have a great third period against a team that鈥檚 just come off a West Coast trip, that lost a player early in Drouin and we didn鈥檛 even come close to mustering up the effort.鈥�
Gallagher's empty-netter sealed Montreal鈥檚 second win of the season over Detroit.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov, 2, 2021.
Tristan D'Amours, The Canadian Press
