The Canadiens haven’t played hockey in a long time (by NHL standards) so the biggest concern coming into their two game weekend was how up to speed the team would be after their in-season vacation.
The answer simply was that they seemed fully up to speed. Jesperi Kotkaniemi got the scoring started early, and Phillip Danault added a second goal to continue their strong play. Even with a highly disappointing end result, the Canadiens were far and away the better team on the Bell Centre ice on Saturday. Hockey however is, as Daniel Bryan likes to say, “fickle” and being the better team isn’t a guarantee of a win.