Offense and character were on display as the Montreal Canadiens snapped a slump. Now they'll try to keep it going in their final outings before heading into their bye week.
Canadiens captain Max Pacioretty put his team on his back in Thursday night's 5-4 win against the Arizona Coyotes. Montreal (31-17-8) blew two leads and trailed heading into the third period before Alex Galchenyuk clinched the second point in overtime.
"To come back and show character after going down, to be able to come back and win that game -- it was an emotional game," said Pacioretty, who scored twice and added a pair of assists. "That's kind of what we needed to jumpstart something. Now we've got to build off that and hope for the same performance at home (Saturday)."
Montreal snapped its season-long four-game slide with the win and is eyeing a streak in the other direction as it gets set to host the St. Louis Blues on Saturday and visit the Boston Bruins on Sunday before its mandated bye week.
Streaks of any kind have been rare for the Atlantic Division leaders over the last month, who for the most part have alternated wins and losses since Jan. 9. That inconsistency has turned up the heat in the division, with the Ottawa Senators eight points behind while holding four games in hand.
But through all of Montreal's struggles of late, its captain has been delivering. Thursday marked his fifth multi-goal performance of the season and 11th multi-point game, the latter one shy of linemate Alexander Radulov's team-leading total. On the goal front, eight other Canadiens have double-dipped in a game this year, but Pacioretty is the only one to do it more than once.
A perennial 30-goal scorer, the 28-year-old has been on a tear since Dec. 1, netting 22 goals (in 33 games) to lead all NHL players during that stretch.
"Patch was a true leader (against the Coyotes), a true captain who took charge," coach Michel Therrien said. "He played a hell of a game and he deserves a lot of credit for that win."
While the Canadiens try to get back on track, the Blues are already there after relieving coach Ken Hitchcock on Feb. 1 and replacing him with Mike Yeo. St. Louis (28-22-5) has won four of its last five since making the change, sitting third in the Central Division.
"I think there's more commitment, more discipline," goaltender Jake Allen said. "I just think guys have jumped on and are playing hard for each other."
Allen has been especially key in the Blues' resurgence under Yeo. The netminder struggled in January, recording a 4.06 goals-against average and .841 save percentage. Mid-month, the team left him at home while it went on the road to give him a chance to regain his confidence.
It appears he has of late, going 3-1-0 in four starts in February and posting a minute 1.25 goals-against average and sparkling .958 save percentage.
"I like the way his game has been building," Yeo told the Blues' website. "Obviously he's got a couple wins and even in the loss to Pittsburgh, he played a strong game. That's the mentality that we're asking from him, that's the mentality we're asking for our group right now."
Vladimir Tarasenko scored the overtime winner for St. Louis in its win against Toronto on Thursday night to add to his already large lead in team scoring. The skilled sniper has 53 points on the season, 15 more than the nearest Blue in Kevin Shattenkirk. He also leads the way with 26 goals, with Paul Stastny's 15 tallies ranking second.
Stastny is doubtful for Saturday's game against the Canadiens, however, after suffering a lower-body injury early in the second period against the Maple Leafs. A primarily healthy club this season with just 69 man-games lost as recently as Jan. 27, Stastny is now the third player to go down in the last few weeks after Kyle Brodziak (foot injury, five weeks) and Robby Fabbri (ACL, out for the season).
"We talked about it before, that it's got to be a 'next man up' mentality here," Yeo told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "It's a tough loss, we said this with Robby (Fabbri), but we have more than capable players and so our focus is on the guys that are in the lineup. We take care of our job, we give him a chance to get better and obviously we'll be stronger once he gets back."
The Blues will conclude the first portion of their five-gae road trip tonight with a visit to Bell Center in Montreal. After tonight, the club will return home before hitting the road to Detroit. Jaden Schwartz led the Blues to a 3-2 win in their first matchup with the Canadiens this season after scoring the overtime game-winner on Dec. 6 at Scottrade Center. The Blues have dropped consecutive trips to Montreal but prior to that, they had won four straight. St. Louis has not only reversed their road play, but their play against the Eastern Conference, as they've won five of their last six inter-conference games.
What to Watch
Jake Allen has won three of his last four games, allowing just five goals in that set. What's more, Allen has posted his best numbers against the Atlantic Division, going 7-1-1 with a 2.01 GAA and a .932 SV%. Among goalies with multiple starts this month, Allen ranks second overall with a 1.25 GAA and third with a .958 SV%.
Milestones
David Perron - 5 shy of 100 goals as a Blue
Paul Stastny - 2 shy of 100 PIM as a Blue
Kevin Shattenkirk - 5 shy of 100 assists as a Blue
Jori Lehtera - 5 shy of 100 career points
Alexander Steen - 8 shy of 400 points as a Blue
Quick Hits
Mike Yeo has become the first coach in Blues history to win each of his first three road games
The Blues are 15 for 15 on the PK under Yeo
With his OT goal on Thursday, Vladimir Tarasenko (7) tied Pavol Demitra for the most OT goals in Blues history (reg. season)
Over their last eight road outings (since Jan. 14), the Blues share the league lead with a +11 road goal differential
This day in history:
1950 Gordie Howe scored his 1st NHL hat trick and added 2 assists in 9-4 win over the Bruins
1971 Jean Beliveau scored his 500th NHL career goal when he completed a hat trick in Canadiens 6-2 win over the North Stars
1975 Yves Belanger recorded his 1st NHL win and Red Berenson scored his 200th career goal in 3-1 win over Flyers
1984 Al Arbour becomes 5th coach in NHL history to reach 500 career wins as Islanders defeat Canucks 6-4
1984 Wayne Gretzky sets NHL short handed season scoring record at 11
1990 Brett Hull set the Blues consecutive game point streak at 20 games with an unassisted goal in 4-2 win over the Sabres
2000 Ray Bourque becomes 2nd defenseman in NHL history to reach 1500 pooints when he scored a goal in Bruins 5-2 loss to Rangers
