In the Habs Room: Jake Allen turns in a Price-like, but losing, effort
Jake Allen #JakeAllen
DETROIT — There’s something about playing the first game of the season at home that brings out the best in a team.
The Canadiens experienced that on Wednesday when they shocked the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-3 in the season opener at the Bell Centre. And the Detroit Red Wings turned the tables on the Canadiens on Friday night as they delighted a near-sellout crowd of 19,515 at Little Caesars Arena by beating the Canadiens 3-0.
It should be noted the final score is deceiving. In one respect, it represented the reality of a game that Detroit dominated. At the same time, the Red Wings were clinging to a 1-0 lead until they ensured the win with two empty-net goals.
Montreal was in the game because Jake Allen, who insists he’s not looking to replace Carey Price, turned in a Price-like effort. He stopped 37 shots and kept the game from getting out of hand when he tied his own team record by stopping all 25 shots he faced in the first period.
“It was their home opener and they had a lot of energy,” Allen said. “They had us in our zone pretty well, but we got out of it 0-0 and that was the main part. We kept ourselves in the game. They have a good team over there and we were on our heels a little bit, no question. But you have to weather those storms. You have to win the game within the game.”
The first period was made more difficult when Kaiden Guhle, who was playing on the first defence pairing with David Savard, left the game midway through the period after being taken into the boards by Oskar Sundqvist. He returned in the second period, but the Canadiens finished the frame with five defenceman.
“It’s tough,” Allen said. “When that happens, you try to slow the game. That’s the biggest thing because guys are out for an extended period of time. (Savard) was out there shift after shift after shift and that’s when you have to understand we’re down to five D, we’re on our heels and, even if it’s ugly, it doesn’t matter, you have to get through that period.”
With Michael Matheson joining Joel Edmundson on the injured reserve list, the Canadiens are having to rely on a young and inexperienced defence corps.
“I think these guys should look at this as an unreal opportunity,” Allen said. “A few of these guys wouldn’t have these opportunities if we didn’t have these injuries. It’s how guys get their shot in this league. That’s how I got my shot.”
Coach Martin St. Louis said there were lessons to be learned from the loss and captain Nick Suzuki said the game emphasized the importance of patience after the Red Wings took away the rushes that were crucial against Toronto.
“They were in a 1-1-3 the whole game,” Suzuki said. “After the faceoffs, they just dropped back and we had to be more patient. We rushed a lot of stuff and ended up playing into their hands. In the second and third (periods, they didn’t come after us as much and we had time to make plays, but mostly we tried to rush it too much.
“I don’t think we can say it was a good game, we didn’t match their intensity,” Suzuki added. “They were kind of on us for the first period and a half and we relied heavily on Jake Allen to stand on his head.”
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