Tuesday's game between the Canadiens and the Devils will not go down in history. Despite a very ordinary performance from the Habs, they were up against an opponent even worse than they are. A three-goal lead was not enough for Alain Nasreddine's squad and the Canadiens ended up winning the game 5-4 in a shootout.
It was the first win of the season for Charlie Lindgren. The 26-year-old goaltender looked bad in the first half of the game, but his fighting spirit and character regained the upper hand in time to help his team win. Since his recall from the Laval Rocket, Lindgren has been left on the bench more often than not and it showed. He seemed fairly rusty, as evidenced by his poor positioning which led to the Devils' first goal scored by Miles Wood.
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Despite everything, the Habs scored four goals in a row and went to overtime. With no one scoring in OT, Ilya Kovalchuk got the game winner in the shootout with a perfect shot, but he also helped Lindgren stop his friend Nikita Gusev. The Habs keeper told Eric Engels after the game that Kovalchuk had correctly predicted the deke Gusev would use, which made his job much easier.
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In addition to being a spark plug on and off the ice, Kovalchuk is very involved and loved by his teammates. He showed great leadership in helping his young teammates and quickly became an important piece for the team. We don't know what the future holds for him, or what Marc Bergevin's plans are for him, but for now, Kovalchuk has been a perfect fit for the Habs and a fun player to watch!
