I kid, but my overall point is that more than just respectable in the wins and losses columns, the Canadiens are fun again. Did they play great defence in front of Jake Allen through the first 40 minutes last night? Absolutely not. Even without Jack Hughes, the Devils were gifted a ton of excellent scoring chances by missed coverage and bad turnovers, but starting the game strong and capitalizing on chances allowed the Canadiens, as they have done so often lately, to lean on Jake Allen to hold the fort.
The Canadiens’ dynamic duo got things started, with Cole Caufield carrying the puck into the offensive zone before passing it off to Rem Pitlick just inside the blueline, then driving the net. Caufield took both Devils defenders with him, and opened a massive gap for Pitlick to whip the puck across the ice to Nick Suzuki, who was in the spot that he loves to shoot from, and beat former Canadiens goaltender Andrew Hammond clean.
