The Montreal Canadiens hosted the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday night, hoping to provide a much better effort than they did […]
The Montreal Canadiens hosted the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday night, hoping to provide a much better effort than they did in their previous outing, a 5-4 overtime loss to the New York Rangers.
Even though a lack of discipline almost sunk the Habs early, they proceeded to put together one of their best games of the year, resulting in a 4-1 win.
Jakub Dobes, who was chosen to start ahead of veteran Samuel Montembeault, stopped 26 of the 27 shots sent his way to secure the victory.
Let’s dive into the highlights!
Demidov Options
Far be it from me to criticize professional athletes, the ultimate irony given my penchant for eating entire tubs of cashews in one artery-clogging sitting.
But it’s fair to say Ivan Demidov could probably make a life a little easier on himself by taking advantage of high-danger scoring opportunities, as he did on the powerplay versus the Oilers.
It was particularly noteworthy since Demidov had failed to register a shot in the last two games.
He’ll learn to be greedy as he gains more confidence in the NHL, but in the meantime, he just has to fight his natural instinct to set up his teammates with high-difficulty passes, which seems to take control of him in the same way as a salmon returning to its spawning stream.
Ivan Demidov shoots, Ivan Demidov scores.
— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) December 15, 2025
1-0 #GoHabsGopic.twitter.com/JZYW35orRX
Exceptional Status
I’m not quite sure what it is, but Connor McDavid doesn’t dominate outright every time he faces the Canadiens.
He’s only very, very, very, very good, which is well below his standards.
On Sunday night, McDavid made one of the nicest passes of the game, which isn’t uncommon.
However, rather than setting up his own teammates, the puck landed directly on Joe Veleno’s stick, before finding its way to the back of the net.
Connor McDavid sets up Joe Veleno with a perfect pass.
— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) December 15, 2025
2-0 #GoHabsGopic.twitter.com/6y2ElSmpot
Broken Away
All things considered, the Montreal Canadiens enjoyed one of their best second periods of the year, as evidenced by their endless stream of breakaway chances.
We don’t want to look a gift horse in the mouth, because high-quality scoring chances are always difficult to come by, but Martin St-Louis may want to focus on breakaways at practice this week.
Nick Suzuki was stopped twice by Stuart Skinner, a continuation of his underwhelming results in the shootout over the course of the last calendar year.
Habs are 0 for 218 on the breakaway tonight. pic.twitter.com/CUY4K5wLt2
— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) December 15, 2025
Power In The Play
The breakaways may have been an issue versus the Oilers, but the special teams were not. On top of putting together a solid effort to kill an early, extended 5v3 penalty in the first period, the powerplay units went to work, scoring two of Montreal’s three goals.
Suzuki extended his points streak to six games with his powerplay goal in the third period, though we have to give a heavy dose of credit to Juraj Slafkovksy for his excellent pass.
Nick Suzuki scores off a great pass by Juraj Slafkovsky. 3-0 #GoHabsGopic.twitter.com/2qnYBQfEuH
— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) December 15, 2025
The Oilers eventually spoiled Dobes’ shutout bid with a powerplay goal, but it must be said that the Canadiens responded quite well, as Alexandre Texier took advantage of a solid defensive play by Jayden Struble to give them a late 4-1 lead by scoring off the rush.
Considering the cost of acquisition, Texier has been a great addition to a lineup that desperately needed a somewhat reliable source of secondary and tertiary scoring.
Alex Texier scores off the rush with a great shot, good work by Jayden Struble to break up the play.
— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) December 15, 2025
4-1 #GoHabsGopic.twitter.com/jg9lvj0Rc3
The Montreal Canadiens are back in action on Tuesday, facing the Philadelphia Flyers at the Bell Centre. The puck drop is scheduled for 7 pm ET.
All Montreal Canadiens statistics are 5v5 unless otherwise noted, via Natural Stat Trick.
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