Tonight was the Canadiens’ last game before the holiday break.
For the occasion, it faced the Blackhawks and Connor Bedard.
Here is Martin St-Louis’ line-up:
Tonight’s lineup
Tonight’s lineup#GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/UhJCezAEoR
– Montreal Canadiens (@CanadiensMTL) December 23, 2023
And the visitors’ :
Blackhawks in up-warms:
Reichel-Bedard-Donato
Kurashev-T. Johnson-Raddysh
Foligno-Dickinson-Blackwell
Beauvillier-Entwistle-R. Johnson
Phillips-Murphy
Tinordi-Crevier
Korchinski-Zaitsev
Mrázek
Söderblom
– Mark Lazerus (@MarkLazerus) December 23, 2023
The Canadiens got off to a poor start.
Despite the brilliance of Cayden Primeau (and Jayden Struble), the Hawks scored twice to take a two-goal lead.
In the first period, Ryan Donato gave the hosts the lead.
Ryan Donato has a very good shot when he uses it.
Another world class pass by Connor Bedard sets him up. #Blackhawks 1-0 pic.twitter.com/A44osLM8Yy
– Vinnie Parise (@VinnieParise) December 23, 2023
And in the second, Jason Dickinson doubled the lead.
Jason Dickinson with a Goal vs. Montreal Canadiens – Yahoo Canada Sports https://t.co/jRNmw9kQv3
– Montreal Report (@MontrealReport1) December 23, 2023
But Montreal came back into the game. The unexpected Mitchell Stephens scored his first goal in a Tricolore uniform.
It was his first NHL goal since March 2020. Back then, he found the back of the net with the Lightning.
Mitchell Stephens’ goal tonight pic.twitter.com/q9XhR6EFrO
– HFTV (@HFTVSports) December 23, 2023
Josh Anderson, who finally seems to have broken the deadlock, scored his fifth goal of the season.
2-2.
A nice exchange of gifts 
Secret Santa: Monny 
#GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/Se1h0IN63Q
– Montreal Canadiens (@CanadiensMTL) December 23, 2023
Juraj Slafkovsky is on a roll.
Yesterday, he picked up two points and tonight, he also collected a goal and an assist.
First, he gave the Habs the lead.
Juraj Slafkovsky is going to be a good player in the NHL.
It is taking some time for him to be a consistent offensive threat but he scored a goal tonight in Chicago!
Keep working, kid! #GoHabsGo #Blackhawks
pic.twitter.com/MRtqvHGAUP
– Vinnie Parise (@VinnieParise) December 23, 2023
And he fed his captain late in the third period.
Montreal goal!
Scored by Nick Suzuki with 06:49 remaining in the 3rd period.
Assisted by Cole Caufield and Juraj Slafkovsky.
Chicago: 2
Montreal: 4#MTLvsCHI #Blackhawks #GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/PMiiajXwyf
– NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) December 23, 2023
Final score: 5-2 Montreal.
Jake Evans thought he had given the fans wings, but the goal was disallowed due to offside.
10 seconds later, Jake Evans scores to give the Habs a 5-2 lead.
The floodgates, they are open. #GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/A7W8yIqXEZ
– Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) December 23, 2023
Instead, it was David Savard, in an empty net, who scored his team’s fifth goal.
David Savard scores the ENG. 5-2 #GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/PYcuCUYFVL
– Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) December 23, 2023
This is the Tricolore’s seventh regulation-time win of the season. They are now tied with the Sharks in that regard.
The team goes on vacation until December 28. A well-deserved break.
They’ll then face the Carolina Hurricanes and try to extend their streak of games with at least one point to six.
Overtime
– At one point in the game, Cole Caufield left the game. Fortunately, he returned. He’s the one with the primary assist on Suzuki’s insurance goal.
Caufield right leg?
What do you see? Little bit of a weird weak push off there. https://t.co/vcBlRfJdYN
– Brian Wilde (@BWildeMTL) December 23, 2023
– Jayden Struble continued to make a name for himself.
Jayden Struble just destroying dudes
What a unit pic.twitter.com/J4uxwqqyy1
– Scott Matla (@scottmatla) December 23, 2023
– Another strong game from Mike Matheson.
Sweet moves by Matheson. He’s been playing excellent hockey for the last stretch. #GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/DdEhTVroXr
– Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) December 23, 2023
– What can we say about Cayden Primeau? Again tonight, even though he wasn’t very busy, he was solid. He turned aside 19 of 21 shots.
– They’ve been on fire for a few games now. A true first trio!
Nick & Cole & Juraj tonight pic.twitter.com/c0qT11aFFD
– /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) December 23, 2023
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