*Photo from Sportsnet*
It had been almost 4 years coming for Andrew Hammond, and he sure made the most of it. Jeff Petry scored, Rem Pitlick scored the winning goal, and the Montreal Canadiens defeated the New York Islanders with a 3-2 shootout win on Sunday afternoon.
Due to injuries to Carey Price and Jake Allen, combined with a struggling Cayden Primeau and Sam Montembeault, the Canadiens acquired Hammond in a trade with the Minnesota Wild, with Hammond playing for the AHL Iowa Wild. It was Hammond's first NHL start in nearly 4 years, his last start coming on April 22, 2018, which was a 5-0 loss to the Nashville Predators in game 6 of the first round.
Postgame, Hammond said that "If I wouldn't have been preparing for this moment over the last four years, and then I get it, I'd be living with a lot of regret. That's the only way I know how to approach it. If it had never happened, it'd be what it is, but obviously I'm very happy it did."
Furthermore, this was Hammond's first NHL win, not just start, since April 9, 2016, when his Ottawa Senators beat the Boston Bruins 6-1, with Hammond stopping 39 shots. Under new head coach Martin St. Louis, the Canadiens have a 2-3-0 record since February 9, when St. Louis took over.
The first goal of the game came from Petry, who's 3rd goal of the season came 9:01 into the game, making it 1-0 Canadiens, assisted by Ryan Poehling and Brett Kulak. Kyle Palmieri tied the game for the Islanders just 1:29 into the second period, with assists from Josh Bailey and Zach Parise. Montreal took a 2-1 lead when Josh Anderson scored with just 1:11 left in the second.
In the 3rd period, Brock Nelson tied the game for the Islanders with just 2:57 remaining in the game, forcing overtime, which led to a shootout. Both Anthony Beauvillier and Cole Caufield scored in the first round for the Islanders and Canadiens, respectively. The difference was a goal by Pitlick, and saves by Hammond on Nelson and Mathew Barzal.
St. Louis said of Hammond's win that "It's not luck that he's back. Of course, there's some unfortunate scenarios why he gets another chance, guys get hurt and it opens a window or a door for him to get an opportunity like that. If he doesn't take care of everything in the last two, three years, he probably doesn't get that opportunity."
In his first start of the season, Hammond put together a strong performance. He stopped 30 of the 32 shots on goal he faced from the Islanders. That was good for a .938 save percentage, not bad for your first start in almost 4 years. His record is now a perfect 1-0-0.
Across the ice from Hammond was Ilya Sorokin, who had less of a layoff between starts than Hammond. Sorokin saved 25 of the 27 shots that Montreal had, which was good for a .926 save percentage. With the loss, his record dropped to 15-11-6 in 32 starts.
New York head coach Barry Trotz said of the loss that "I can't put my finger on one thing, but I can say we can right the ship if we get four lines going and our pairs are all going well and we get goaltending, then you get that confidence, you get that ability to play. We don't have one line that can carry us, so we need at least three lines every night."
The Canadiens are right back in action on Monday night against the Toronto Maple Leafs, with Montembeault in between the pipes. The Islanders hit the road for a Tuesday matchup with the Seattle Kraken, with Sorokin the likely starter.
Comments
Post a Comment