Down their best forward and sitting their star goalie, it seemed like the Habs were in for an uphill climb.
The Canadiens began well, pressuring hard and fairly consistently through the opening five minutes. That momentum came to an end when Greg Pateryn got called for high-sticking at 6:37 on just the second whistle of the game.
While on the power play, Robby Fabbri went into Al Montoya, who went down holding his head. Though it initially looked scary, Montoya remained in net, and came up with a big play in the moments that followed — helped out by a heads-up play by an equally-sharp-looking Alexei Emelin.