Gallagher, Danault, Tatar line up victory over Caps
Julien praises trio of forwards for crucial role in 5-2 win over Washington
QUEBEC The Canadiens’ No. 1 line was on display Thursday night as the Canadiens rolled to a 5-2 win over the Washington Capitals before a disappointing crowd of 11,296 at the Vidéotron Centre.
Brendan Gallagher, Phillip Danault and Tomas Tatar had a role in three of the Montreal goals and were the subject of praise from coach Claude Julien.
“They were a great line for us tonight and if we get three more lines like that, we’ll be OK,” Julien said.
“I think the first two games we’ve played, we’ve had the puck a lot,” Gallagher said. “That means we haven’t had to defend and if you talk to any forward, that’s pretty much what we want to do.”
That’s not to say that there’s no defence. The Canadiens put a lot of pressure on the Capitals and two turnovers at the blue-line led to Montreal goals, including Gallagher’s opening goal.
“We’re buying into the system,” said Danault, whose defensive play produced the turnover to set up that first goal.
The competition was less than stellar once you got past Alex Ovechkin, Evgeny Kuznetsov and Tom Wilson, but the Canadiens dominated at both ends of the ice. Montreal outshot the visitors 2813 and if there was one flaw in the Canadiens’ game, it was the penalty killing.
Then again, when you have Ovechkin lurking in the left faceoff circle, killing penalties isn’t going to be easy. Just ask goaltender Charlie Lindgren.
“On Ovie’s goal, you kind of see first-hand how good he is,” said Lindgren, who was beaten on an Ovechkin slapshot and then gave up another power-play goal to Connor Hobbs with Ovechkin and Kuznetsov earning assists. “Their power play is obviously very good.”
Lindgren had an interesting night. There were less than five minutes remaining in the first period when he saw his first shot, and that was a bit of a surprise because the defence was a patchwork of players, most of whom are long shots to play in the NHL this season.
The only member of the group with a one-way contract was David Schlemko. Xavier Ouellet has some NHL experience, but has a two-way deal, as does Rinat Valiev. Simon Després is on a professional tryout and is nearly two years removed from his last NHL game. The other two defenceman — Czechs David Sklenicka and Michal Moravcik — were playing their first games on North American ice.
“Three or four of those guys are guys I’ve never seen before,” Lindgren said.
Julien noted that Schlemko struggled last season, but said he never hit his full stride after dealing with a hand injury early in the season. The coach expressed confidence that Schlemko would be on the roster opening night and said that his play was akin to the strong performance by Mike Reilly Wednesday night against Florida.
Gallagher said the defencemen were taking advantage of the opportunities afforded them in the early stages of the training camp.
“There’s an internal competition going on, but you don’t have much time,” Gallagher said. “Those guys back there are playing good hockey. They ’re skating and moving the puck as part of a unit of five.”
One other player who is trying to make an impression is veteran Joel Ward, who is on professional tryout. He set up Michael Chaput for the Canadiens’ second goal, which was also the result of a turnover. He has size and experience, but he’s also 37, which means that he may not fit on a team that’s skewing younger.