Canadiens End 2024 on a Winning Note 

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Going into their last game of 2024, the Montreal Canadiens visited the Vegas Golden Knights in a rematch of the 2021 Western Conference Final, where the Canadiens won the Clarence Campbell Trophy on their way to their eventual Stanley Cup Final loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Montreal just finished their best holiday season visit to Florida since 2009, when Jaroslav Halak was the starting goaltender. Because of this, there were no changes to the Canadiens lines. 

Related: Canadiens Finally Healthy & Back in the Mix

Vegas entered the game on a six-game winning streak and held an 8-2-3 all-time record against Montreal including a convincing 6-2 win in Montreal on Nov. 23. Cole Caufield entered the game sitting at 99 career NHL goals and was looking to hit the 100-goal mark. 

Game Recap 

The score after the opening frame was 2-0 for Vegas, but the score doesn’t tell the whole story. The first period was a strong start for Montreal, who controlled over 65% of puck possession and generated three high-danger chances while only allowing two. However, both came from small defensive errors and led directly to both Golden Knights goals, both by defensemen in Zach Whitecloud and Noah Hanafin. 

Zach Whitecloud Vegas Golden Knights
Zach Whitecloud, Vegas Golden Knights (Amy Irvin / The Hockey Writers)

The Canadiens came out in the second playing more physically and missed their opportunities early in the period. Vegas continued with their quick strike, transitional offensive style, capitalizing on any mistake or error in coverage. Five-on-five play was nearly even, with the Golden Knights holding a 53% in Corsi For. Vegas demonstrated why they are a good, veteran team as they dictated the pace of play and held the lead thanks to their ability to capitalize on Montreal’s few errors.  

Unlike the last meeting, Montreal wasn’t getting outclassed in this game to this stage. What helped get the Habs back into the mix and cut the lead to 2-1 was Cole Caufield’s 19th goal of the season, and his 100th in the NHL.  

Vegas continued to take control of the game; puck-possession-wise. Yet, it was the Canadiens’ top line that continued their strong play, setting the tone late in the third period. The fourth line took advantage of that tempo and tone and it led to their strong forecheck creating a turnover that Emil Heineman buried for his ninth goal of the season. Only two minutes and 11 seconds later, Kirby Dach scored his fifth of the season (and third in three games) to give Montreal the lead late in the final frame. 

Montreal held on in the last five minutes. After Vegas pulled their goalie, called a timeout and threw the kitchen sink at Samuel Montembeault, who made an absolute highlight-reel save off Victor Oloffson in the closing seconds. With that, Montreal takes a rare come-from-behind win. That gives them three consecutive wins, all on the road. This is more than just luck, they were well-earned victories. This gives the Canadiens an undefeated record in the three-game stretch to end 2024. This is even more impressive considering all three wins were against the three clubs that had won three of the last four Stanley Cups.

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