Jonathan Drouin signed autographs for the youth of the Pee-Wee team from Ukraine for several minutes on Tuesday morning. In the evenings he wrote his name somewhere else on a tally sheet.
• Also read: [EN IMAGES] A dream day for the Ukrainian pee with the CH
• Also read: Chicago Blackhawks: Coach Luke Richardson reviews his time in Montreal
• Also read: “I’m 34 and I find myself on a recovery team” -Patrick Kane
Drouin led the offense with three assists in Tuesday’s 4-0 win over the Chicago Blackhawks at Bell Center. He was involved in goals from Justin Barron, Joel Armia and Christian Dvorak.
“It always feels good when you get points,” said Drouin. As an attacking player you can’t lie, you have to collect points. It’s part of my role. I help my team when I find the score sheet. But I have to thank my linemates Dvorak and Armia. i have fun with them »
On those three occasions, the No. 27 used his good view of the game to feed his teammates and destabilize the Hawks’ ramshackle defense.
Still looking for a first goal of the season after 31 games, the Quebecer can be heartened by the idea that he has had five assists in his last three games since returning from an upper-body injury. Going back a little, the former Tampa Bay Lightning now has 12 assists in his last 12 meetings.
Help his own cause
At the contractual level, too, Drouin is aware that he is helping to shape his future. He’s in the final year of a five-year pact that has averaged him $5.5 million.
“This is my last year under contract,” he recalled. If a team wants to pick me up in the future or by March 3rd, I have to demonstrate things. But right now I only have one job to do and that is to help Canadians. »
more defenders
For the second time this season, CH recorded its third win in a row. Since returning from the All-Star Game hiatus, Martin St-Louis has had a perfect record with three wins over the Islanders, Oilers and Hawks in three games.
In the Perfection category, Jake Allen had his first shutout of the season. But the New Brunswick native didn’t have to sweat too much, parrying just 22 shots. He had not had a shutout since November 2, 2021 against the Detroit Red Wings.
As in the last two games, the Habs benefited from the performance of their defenders with goals from Barron and David Savard. In the last three games, defenders have scored six of the team’s 14 goals.
“There are no specific instructions from the coaches, but we also have to play our part offensively,” said Savard. We know this Suzie [Suzuki] and Caufield are our big guns. But with the loss of Caufield, the attack needs to be diversified even further. »
In the Blackhawks camp, Luke Richardson is finding it even harder now that rebuilding Chicago will be a long and painful process.
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The Dvorak Trio
Drouin (3 assists), Dvorak (1 goal, 1 assist) and Armia (1 goal, 1 assist) accumulated seven points in this win over the Hawks. Five against five they entered enemy territory, when their center wins almost all faceoffs, it’s easier too
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The Blackhawks
Patrick Kane puts it bluntly. At 34, he has no intention of going through this long rebuild. He also criticized the organization’s decision to trade young people like Alex DeBrincat, Kirby Dach and Brandon Hagel. The Hawks didn’t have life for this move to Montreal
First period
1-Mon: Justin Barron (2) (Drouin, Dadonov) AN-8:38
Penalties: Murphy (Chi) (displacement) 4:38
second period
No goal
Penalties: Armia (Mon) 4:34, Allen (Mon) (cleaned by Harvey-Pinard) 5:30, Kurashev (Chi) 14:02
third period
2-Mon: Joel Armia (4) (Drouin, Dvorak) 5:45
3-Mon: David Savard (2) (Belzile, Harris) 10:53
4-Mon: Christian Dvorak (9) (Armia, Drouin) 11:45
Penalties: Domi (Chi) 0:11, Johnson (Chi) (shift) 19:17, Pezzetta (Mon) (shift) 19:17
Shoot the net
Chicago 6-7-9-22, Montreal 6-13-12-31
Guardian:
Chi: Jaxson Stauber (P, 3-1-0) Mo: Jake Allen (G, 12-17-2)
Numerical advantages:
Chi: 0 in 4, Mon: 1 in 3
Referee:
Michael Markovic, Tom Chmielewski
linesman:
Derek Nansen, Jonathan Deschamps
HELP:
21 105
Michael Matheson
★★★
What we noticed…
Xhekaj’s shoulder
Arber Xhekaj followed the game against the Blackhawks from the press bridge along with the many injured people in CH. Xhekaj wore a splint on his right shoulder. Number 72 was injured in a fight against Giant Oilers defenseman Vincent Desharnais. The Habs have still not offered any information on the nature of his injury, only writing that he has an upper body injury and will be out indefinitely. Xhekaj has to see doctors again to get a more accurate diagnosis.
Wideman’s return
With the loss of Xhekaj, Chris Weitman regained a spot on the blue line. Before the Hawks’ visit, the American had missed his turn in eight of the last ten games. Wideman formed a duo with Johnathan Kovacevic.
Dadonov more involved
Evgenii Dadonov hibernated for a large part of the season. But number 63 is slowly coming out of his big dodo. Dadonov, author of an assist on the first goal of the game, Justin Barron’s on the power play, wrote his name on the archway for the third game in a row. He has four assists in his last three games. Kent Hughes and Jeff Gorton probably have grins, but they need more if they dream of acting the enigmatic winger, who has a salary of five million on the salary cap.
Almost perfect Dvorak
Christian Dvorak had a near-perfect night in the faceoff circle with a nine-for-10 record. He also scored his ninth goal of the season by defeating Jaxon Stauber late in the game.