“I had chills. I used to be simply listening to the gang that was so loud. I used to be having fun with it,” mentioned the scrappy rookie after scoring his first NHL hat-trick.
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In the course of the early phases of the pandemic, Rafaël Harvey-Pinard delivered pizzas out of his father’s restaurant in Jonquière, whereas by no means dropping his aspiration of finally making it to the NHL.
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Saturday night time on the Bell Centre, the diminutive rookie winger dealt with supply of a special sort, producing the primary three-goal recreation of his big-league profession within the Canadiens’ 8-2 evisceration of the horrible Columbus Blue Jackets.
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If a brand new star was born on this late March night, it was a reluctant one; Harvey-Pinard having to be coaxed by Brendan Gallagher to come up on the crew bench and salute the gang following his twelfth aim this season in solely his twenty ninth recreation. Had he performed the whole season, Harvey-Pinard, recalled in mid-January from the Canadiens’ AHL affiliate in Laval, would have been on tempo for 34 objectives.
“I believed it was a superb alternative for me, with all of the accidents,” Harvey-Pinard mentioned of his promotion. “It was an enormous alternative for me to have numerous ice time. I took it. I got here right here, in my thoughts I needed to make my place right here. I used to be going someday at a time, working 100 per cent. I’m nonetheless right here. I feel it’s optimistic proper now, however I have to maintain it going.
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“I acquired nice passes. I used to be in the precise place on the good time. I used to be in a superb place on the ice on a regular basis. That helped me to get these objectives.”
All three of Harvey-Pinard’s scores got here within the second interval, when the Canadiens outshot the Blue Jackets 17-5, whereas outscoring the guests 4-0, breaking open a recreation that was tied 2-2 following 20 minutes.
His first aim, which proved to be the winner, got here solely 13 seconds into the interval, when he transformed Mike Matheson’s rebound. Harvey-Pinard made it 4-2 seven minutes later, finishing a three-way play. Then, after Gallagher scored his first aim since getting back from a 32-game harm hiatus final Tuesday, Harvey-Pinard made it 6-2 with a power-play aim.
Seconds later, the hats beginning raining down from the gang, together with one which discovered its manner onto the blade of his stick.
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“It’s powerful to explain,” he mentioned. “I had chills. I used to be simply listening to the gang that was so loud. That was a superb second. I used to be having fun with it. That’s for positive.”
Harvey-Pinard, who twice scored two objectives in a recreation — in opposition to Detroit in his fifth match, and two contests later, in opposition to Ottawa — turned the primary Montreal rookie to provide a hat-trick in a single interval since Dick Gamble within the second interval in opposition to Chicago, again on March 2, 1952.
“I feel I’m doing higher and higher, however I nonetheless have to make my place right here,” mentioned Harvey-Pinard, a modest 5-foot-9 and 181 kilos. “I must be good, day after day, recreation after recreation. It’s going nicely proper now. I’m assured with the puck. I simply have to maintain it going.”
Harvey-Pinard’s story has been nicely documented. A seventh-round (201st total) draft selection by Montreal in 2019, the 24-year-old was in his third season with the Rocket, having scored 15 objectives and 25 factors in 37 video games, on the time of his promotion. He additionally produced a three-goal recreation Jan. 4 in opposition to Manitoba, not lengthy earlier than being recalled. Aside from a four-game stint with the Canadiens final season — he scored as soon as — this has been his longest NHL stretch. And it actually seems he’s right here to remain.
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“Even in the event you’re drafted within the seventh spherical, or in the event you’re not drafted, there’s not just one solution to get to the NHL,” mentioned Harvey-Pinard, who labored to pay his lease so he may come to Montreal that September 2020 to coach and skate with professionals. “You simply have to maintain grinding, maintain working exhausting and it’s potential. You simply should seize your alternative.”
Montreal additionally acquired objectives from Nick Suzuki, Jesse Ylönen, Alex Belzile and Mike Hoffman. Suzuki, the Canadiens’ captain, added three assists. Hoffman, enjoying with a full visor after being lower for 15 stitches under his mouth and 10 inside in opposition to Boston, added two assists. Defenceman Matheson, in the meantime, had three assists, was a plus-3 and, as traditional, did yeoman service, logging a team-high 22 minutes, 15 seconds.
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It was Suzuki’s forty eighth multi-point recreation, whereas the Canadiens produced their most objectives in a recreation this season in opposition to the beleaguered and defensively porous Blue Jackets, who performed at dwelling Friday night time. This marked the primary time Montreal scored eight or extra objectives in a recreation since final April 29, when it blitzed Florida 10-2 within the regular-season finale.
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