Canadiens vs. Oilers: Jordan Harris scores twice as Montreal routs Edmonton

MONTREAL — The Montreal Canadiens put on a show in front of a young matinee crowd on Super Bowl Sunday, thrashing the Edmonton Oilers 6-2 at the Bell Centre.

Jordan Harris scored two goals, while Jonathan Drouin notched two assists to lead the offensive onslaught. Jake Allen stood tall to deny Connor McDavid and Co., making 29 saves for the win.

Leon Draisaitl and Evander Kane scored for the Oilers, and Evan Bouchard chipped in with a pair of helpers from the blue line. Stuart Skinner allowed six goals on 30 shots in the loss.

Unlikely scorers the heroes once again

After their leading goalscorer Cole Caufield went down with a season-ending shoulder injury in late January, the Canadiens had to figure out where the goals were going to come from without their star sniper.

Since then, Montreal has had a number of more obscure names rise to the challenge, and Sunday's win was a prime example. Defenceman Jordan Harris, who entered the game with only two tallies in his career, doubled his career goal total with a pair against the Oilers, including a nifty solo-effort for his second of the game.

Alex Belzile, a call-up from the AHL's Laval Rocket, buried his first NHL goal in his 19th-career game at age 31. Christian Dvorak, who has struggled offensively this campaign, finished a beautiful play by Kirby Dach on the penalty kill for his eighth goal of the season, and 200th point of his career.

Meanwhile, rookie standout Rafaël Harvey-Pinard continued his torrid scoring pace since he earned a call-up to big club, scoring his sixth goal in his ninth game of the season.

McDavid's points streak comes to an end

Entering Sunday's contest, Connor McDavid was as hot as ever, registering at least a point in 15 consecutive games.

The Canadiens refused to become yet another one of the phenom's victims, keeping the Oilers captain off the scoresheet. In a team-high 23:51 time on ice, McDavid was a minus-3 and, despite a whopping seven shots on net, could not solve Jake Allen.

In true McJesus fashion, however, he did come painfully close to scoring yet another highlight reel goal.

Canadiens lethal on special teams

Montreal is one of the worst teams in the league, and one of the reasons why they find themselves so low in the standings is their poor numbers on both the power play and penalty kill. They are bottom in the NHL in power play efficiency (15.4 percent) and third-worst when down a man (72.5 percent).

Uncharacteristically, the Habs did much of their damage to the Oilers with their special teams, scoring two power-play goals and even notching a shorthanded tally. They also held Edmonton — the league's best man-advantage unit — to only one goal on six opportunities, including a huge 5-on-3 kill in the second period (Evander Kane scored just after the second penalty ended).

Habs trade assets raising their stock

It's no secret that the Canadiens intend on being sellers at the deadline, as the 2022-23 campaign is shaping up to be yet another rebuilding year for general manager Kent Hughes.

Montreal has a number of intriguing names to deal at the deadline, with a handful of players set to become unrestricted free agents at the end of the year. Of those names, Jonathan Drouin and Evgenii Dadonov played particularly well, tallying three assists between them. Josh Anderson and Joel Armia — both under contract for a few more years but garnering more and more interest as the trade deadline approaches —also registered a goal and an assist, respectively.

Whether teams deem this small sample size worth a flyer at the deadline is up for discussion, but at least the players are making it easier for their bosses to find them a new home come March 3.

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