MONTREAL — In front of friends and family, Jordan Harris recorded his first career two-goal game. It was special feeling to cap off a special weekend for the Montreal Canadiens, particularly their defencemen.
After beating the New York Islanders 4-3 in the first of back-to-back matinee games, Montreal capped off the weekend with a convincing 6-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday.
With Mike Matheson and Justin Barron adding goals on Saturday, Montreal's defencemen scored four of the 10 total goals over the past two games. Harris said it comes down to the ability of Montreal's blue line to play a complete game.
“The D-men are hot right now, hopefully we can keep it up,” Harris said. “But I feel like it really starts with us defending. I feel like we've done a good job defending and jumping up on the rush and I feel like a lot of our D-men have those skill-sets to make plays offensively."
Alex Belzile, Josh Anderson, Rafael Harvey-Pinard and Christian Dvorak added goals for Montreal (22-27-4). Evgenii Dadonov and Jonathan Drouin each recorded two assists.
Jake Allen made 30 saves.
“It’s not only the result, it’s how we won that’s important,” said Habs coach Martin St. Louis. “We keep trying to build, there’s a lot of engagement and a big buy-in from the guys to keep playing together offensively and defensively. The break helped us but I think it’s a progression.”
The 31-year-old Belzile opened the scoring for the Canadiens with his first NHL goal at 8:14 of the opening frame. Belzile took advantage of some confusion between Oilers defenceman Brett Kulak and Skinner and scored on a wrist shot from the high slot.
He received an ovation from the crowd as public address announcer Michel Lacroix called his name.
“It was unbelievable,” Belzile said. “I've watched it in my head many times, and recently I had scoring chances as well, but I kept convincing myself that it's gonna come for real. There's a lot of mental behind it and I'm just so so so happy and so glad that it happened. To hear my name from the Bell Centre, It was unreal.”
“A lot of people will never reach their full potential because they give up a little too early,” St. Louis added. “Belzile is playing really good hockey for us and I’m really happy. I know he scored today but he also had an impact (on the game).”
Leon Draisaitl and Evander Kane scored for Edmonton (30-19-5). Connor McDavid was left off the score sheet, ending a 15-game point streak.
Stuart Skinner made 24 saves as the Oilers recorded their first regulation loss in 12 games. They were on a 9-0-2 run heading into Sunday's contest.
“I thought both teams got what they deserved,” said Oilers coach Jay Woodcroft. “Montreal played a very good game, credit to them, and I didn't think we were very sharp at all so we got what we deserved.”
One of the few happy moments for Edmonton was reserved for defenceman Vincent Desharnais, who played his first game in his home province in front of a group of 40 friends and family members.
“I appreciated it a bit more in warmups,” Desharnais said. “I saw my brother, my niece, but when the game starts it’s an arena like any other and I have to do my job.”
Montreal doubled its lead in the second period when Dadonov found Harris with a pass from behind Skinner’s net. The blue liner completed the one-timer from a tight angle.
Anderson gave the Habs a commanding 3-0 lead on the power play when he grabbed a rebound from Dadonov’s shot and tapped in his 15th of the campaign.
Edmonton woke up from a slow opening frame with two goals in the second period. Draisaitl hopped on a Zach Hyman rebound to score 30th goal of the season on the power play.
Just as Montreal successfully killed a two-man power play, the Oilers cut their deficit to one. While being defended by Justin Barron, Kane surprised Allen with a swift wrist shot from the right face off circle.
The Habs nipped Edmonton’s comeback attempt in the bud by bumping their lead back to two goals late in the second period. Harvey-Pinard redirected Mike Matheson’s slap shot to register an eighth point in nine games.
Harris completed his two-goal game at 2:58 of the final period by beating Skinner with a wrister from the left faceoff circle.
Montreal added insult to injury with a shorthanded goal against Edmonton’s league-leading power play. Kirby Dach found a wide open Dvorak in the slot to give Montreal a 6-2 advantage, electrifying the Bell Centre crowd.
INJURY REPORT
Following a fight with Desharnais, Canadiens defenceman Arber Xhekaj left for the locker room with an apparent right shoulder injury. The Canadiens announced during the second intermission that Xhekaj suffered an upper-body injury and would not return to the game.
“It happened quickly, he didn’t say anything so we just went at it and then he fell and I stopped,” Desharnais said. “I saw that his shoulder or his arm seemed to hurt. Obviously, you don’t want to see that. I never play to injure anyone and I think it’s just bad luck and I hope he’ll be OK.”
BELZILE MAKES HISTORY
At 31 years and 165-days old, Belzile became the oldest Hab to score his first NHL goal since Hockey Hall of Famer Herb Gardiner in 1926. Belzile also became the seventh-oldest player in league history to open his account.
UP NEXT
The Canadiens will host the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday.
The Oilers will welcome the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 12, 2023.
Tristan D’Amours, The Canadian Press
Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version had the incorrect position for Oilers defenceman Vincent Desharnais.
