ARMIA GIVES CANADIENS SHOT IN ARM WITH RARE APPEARANCE IN TIEBREAKER
Joel Armia might have seemed like an unlikely choice for a shootout, but Canadiens coach Claude Julien said he was the right man at the right time. Armia, who had never taken a shot in a shootout, gave the Canadiens a 4-3 win when he beat Thomas Greiss with a quick shot on the glove side in the fifth round of the tiebreaker Monday night. “I knew what I wanted to do out there,” said Armia, who had seen the first nine shooters fail when they tried to deke the goaltenders on ice that was less than ideal for fancy stickhandling. Julien said he thought Armia would have an edge because he’s a right-handed shot and he was able to get to the glove side on Greiss, who catches with his left hand. “We kind of knew the glove side was the place to go and you saw the lefties go to the backhand,” said Julien. “We had (Charles Hudon) on our list, but he was a left shot and we opted for Army, who has a quick release.” At the other end of the ice, Antti Niemi thwarted five Islanders, stopping three shooters and forcing two others to shoot wide. Niemi improved his record to 3-1-0 and two of those wins were by shootout. He has faced eight shooters this season without giving up a goal. “I try to be patient, to stay on my feet as long as possible,” said Niemi. Niemi was scored on three times in the first period, but Julien gave him a pass. “I don’t blame him at all for the three goals,” said Julien. “We didn’t defend well, but we came back and he did the same thing the rest of the game.” Niemi made a game-saving stop on Mathew Barzal on a 2-on-1 chance in the second period and did his part to help kill off four Islanders power plays, including one in overtime when he made two saves. The Canadiens outshot the Islanders 27-16 over the final two periods and bounced back from a 3-1 deficit. Julien had a simple explanation for the Canadiens’ bounceback after a sluggish first period. “The alarm clock went off in the dressing room,” Julien said. “I think the guys forgot it was a seven o’clock game versus the 7:30 we’re used to on weeknights. I thought we had a slow start. We weren’t good and we couldn’t continue to be that way. The guys responded and we played a real solid second period and got back in the game and we found a way to tie it in the third. Not every game is going to be perfect, but how you react in certain situations is important.” It was another big night for Max Domi. He scored a power-play goal for his eighth of the season and assisted on a goal by Jonathan Drouin. The Canadiens’ other goal came on a deflection by Artturi Lehkonen, who scored his last goal on opening night in Toronto. “(Domi) seems to enjoy covering a lot of ice,” said Julien. “It’s natural for him to skate the way he’s skating. But skating as much as he is right now, it’s giving him the confidence to do what he’s doing. He’s shooting pucks, he’s attacking with confidence. Did I know that was going to happen? Absolutely not. We try things that might work and if they don’t, we change. But so far, it’s worked for us. “You have a centreman who gives you offence every shift and it’s given us a player you can work with (in Drouin). They read off each other. Dru has less ice to cover and he’s getting more opportunities. He hit a crossbar in the third, he missed an open net and he scored a goal. “Those things are encouraging and Domi is playing a big role in his resurgence.”