The only goal in the Canadiens’ 1-0 win over the Washington Capitals on Saturday underlines the importance of Tomas Plekanec.
He was coming to the end of a long shift in overtime and the safe play would have been to dump the puck into the Washington zone. But Plekanec saw Max Pacioretty steaming up the middle and he was an opportunity.
He hesitated as he crossed the blue line and had a step on defenceman Brooks Orpik for a split-second when Plekanec saw his opening.
“I held on to the puck as long as possible to give (Pacioretty) time to get to the crease,” Plekanec said. “We had the option (to dump in), but I figured we had a last chance to score and we gave it a try. It was a long shift, but the defenceman backed off and I had some open ice.”
Plekanec launched a pass that arrived at the crease at the same time as Pacioretty, who redirected it past Braden Holtby. It was Pacioretty’s 23rd goal of the season, his fifth game-winner and second consecutive winner. He also had the only goal in the Canadiens 1-0 win in New York on Thursday, again converting a feed from Plekanec.
Washington Capitals’ Matt Niskanen, centre, watches Montreal Canadiens’ Max Pacioretty, right, score game winning on Washington Capitals goalie Braden Holtby during overtime period NHL action in Montreal on Saturday, January 31, 2015.
“It was a long shift,” Pacioretty admitted. “But I saw Pleky hesitate and I knew we had a chance. I was glad I was able to score because he set me up a couple of times.”
Pacioretty was the subject of some good-natured ribbing from Plekanec on Thursday night when he hit a post on an empty-net attempt.
“He only scores empty-net goals when other guys set him up,” Plekanec said with a smile.
Coach Michel Therrien likes his players to keep their shifts short, but he had no problem with Pacioretty and Plekanec staying out a little longer.
“It was second-effort goal,” Therrien said. “Pleky made a second effort and it was a second effort from Max. They made the right decision to stay out there.”
We had the great Pricey behind us. It was a pretty tight game and we’re happy to win. — Canadiens’ Tomas Plekanec
Plekanec said it wasn’t the Canadiens’ best game, but it was another one of those games when Carey Price made the difference.
“We had the great Pricey behind us,” Plekanec said. “It was a pretty tight game and we’re happy to win.”
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Price posted his second consecutive shutout and hasn’t given up a goal since Patrick Eaves scored a power-play goal at 10:05 of the second period in the Canadiens’ 3-2 win over Dallas on Tuesday. His shutout streak has reached 133 minutes and three seconds, which prompted a reporter to ask Therrien if he’ll stick with the hot hand Sunday when the Canadiens play Arizona in another afternoon. Therrien said he’ll make that decision Sunday morning.
Price has been on fire since he lost a 4-1 decision in Dallas on Dec. 6. Since that loss, he has a 13-2-1 record with a 1.44 goals-against average and .953 save percentage.
