In the Habs room: Montreal now a little thin on the net after Jake Allen was injured

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The Canadiens are in a tough spot when they head to Boston on Sunday for the second half of a straight series.

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Montreal lost 3-2 in overtime to the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena on Saturday night, but suffered a more significant loss when goalkeeper Jake Allen left the game with a concussion. Allen, who has been the workhorse in goal in the absence of Carey Price, was injured when Dylan Larkin was pushed into him late in the first period.

There was no immediate word on the severity of the injury or a set schedule for the return, but the Canadiens announced after the game that Cayden Primeau was removed from the Laval Rocket and will join the team on Sunday in Boston.

In the moments after the incident, it appeared that Larkin was bearing the brunt of the collision, but he continued to play and scored two goals, including the winner of overtime. He found the weak point in Samuel Montembeault’s game when he scored both goals from acute angles along the goal line, putting both shots behind the goalkeeper’s back.

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The Canadiens appeared to blame Larkin for the hit with Ryan Poehling, saying it was one of the worst cases of goalie interference, while Chris Wideman said he knew Larkin and “is not that type of player.”

You are correct in that regard because Larkin was not the guilty party in this incident. Jeff Petry, who was trying to catch up on the play after he got caught pinching, gave Larkin a shove and couldn’t avoid Allen.

Montembeault gave up goals on the first two shots he faced earlier before settling down to stop the next 22 shots before Larkin’s winner. Coach Dominique Ducharme said the Canadiens contributed to the first two goals by flipping the puck.

“I don’t think we fell asleep, but those two goals gave them life,” Ducharme said. “They got the momentum, but we had some mistakes. I liked the way we played in the third. There will always be ups and downs in a game. “

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The Canadiens got at least one point for the third game in a row, but there must have been some disappointment in losing to a team they comfortably beat in their first two games in Montreal.

Montreal had 37 shots on goal and it was the players in the bottom six who provided the offense.

Poehling, who is two games behind Laval Rocket, opened the scoring with his first goal since January 2020.

“It’s been a while since I scored one and it felt good,” Poehling said. “I think our line is doing a good job and the coach had confidence in us. He had us out there with four minutes to go. “

The tying goal was scored by Wideman, who benefited from a blind pass from Artturi Lehkonen, who was sprawled behind the goal line after crashing into the scoreboards.

Lehkonen had been pushed hard against the board before sending the puck behind him into Wideman’s slot.

“I am still in awe of the passage; it was on his butt, ”Wideman said.

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