Mete shows his mettle in NHL debut
Victor Mete’s goal is to “stick around as long as I can” and the junior defenceman earned himself at least one more look at the NHL level after a solid performance Wednesday against the Washington Capitals.
Mete was outmuscled in front by Devante Smith-Pelly on the winning goal, but he stood out in his first game against NHL competition. The Capitals defeated the Canadiens 4-2, but it was a better showing than in Quebec City Monday when the Canadiens lost to a group of no-name youngsters representing the Boston Bruins.
Penalties and power plays dictated the action in the first two periods. The Capitals scored two power-play goals in the first period and the Canadiens came back with two of their own in the second period.
Mete produced the pass of the night as his setup from the point found Charles Hudon in the slot for a one-timer at 1:16 of the second period. The goal came against starting goaltender Philipp Grubauer after the Canadiens fired five shots during a 5-on-3 advantage, but failed to score. Mete showed poise moving the puck, but he’s still junior eligible and a long shot to play in the NHL this season.
“I was a little nervous to start the game, but after my second shift, I settled down,” said Mete, who will be returning to the Ontario Hockey League’s London Knights if he doesn’t stick here. “On the goal, I saw Charles in front and one of their guys was without a stick and I thought I could get the pass through.”
“I have to thank him for that one,” said Hudon. “He was very relaxed out there and I know what he was going through because I was there three years ago.”
The second-best pass of the night came from veteran Ales Hemsky, who slid a puck through the crease to find Max Pacioretty open for the tying goal against Pheonix Copley at 11:37. The goal came seconds after Jonathan Drouin rattled a shot off the post.
Drouin had a solid game in his Canadiens debut and coach Claude Julien said he’s only scratching the surface. He won seven of 15 faceoffs after an 0-for-4 start.
“He can do so many things well and you’re going to see him get better as he gets into game shape,” Julien said.
The Canadiens outshot the Capitals 16-6 in the first period, but gave up two power-play goals. Montreal finished with a 43-22 edge in shots.
It’s no disgrace if you give up a goal to Evgeny Kuznetsov on the power play, but it was far too easy for the Russian when he sprinted between Jordie Benn and Mark Streit to beat Carey Price to open the scoring at 5:07.
The Capitals added another power-play goal at 9:52. On this occasion, Kuznetsov was being shadowed by Brandon Davidson as he drove to the net. Jakub Vrana passed the puck into the slot and was credited with the goal when the puck deflected off Davidson’s stick.
Price played the first half of the game and stopped eight of 10 shots. Charlie Lindgren stopped 10 of the 11 shots he faced.