The Montreal Canadiens played with desperation and determination in the third period but couldn’t find a game tying goal and lost 2-1 to the Nashville Predators on Sunday night at the Bell Centre.
Both teams were playing the second game of a back to back but battled hard and didn’t show signs of fatigue. It turned into a goaltending battle with Juuse Saros getting the better of Jake Allen.
Special teams also played a big factor in the loss, Nashville got a powerplay goal in the first period while Montreal was 0-for-5 with the man advantage.
Pluses:
- Vintage Brendan Gallagher who was disruptive and was a thorn in the side of the Predators. He went crashing into the Saros on a couple of occasions, once resulting in a goal being waived off for goaltender interference. Gallagher mustered up a career high 10-shots on goal.
- Jake Evans finally scored! While it wasn’t played up as much as the Josh Anderson goal-less drought, Evans hadn’t scored since opening night in Toronto. He got a fortunate bounce before putting a backhand past Saros during the second period. The goal gave Montreal life.
- Jake Allen hasn’t been lucky when it comes to wins and losses but he was solid for Montreal and the goaltending in general has been on a run of solid play.
- Dave Savard returned to the lineup, playing in his first game since blocking a shot on October 23rd in Buffalo.
- Great play at 5-on-5 in the first period.
Minuses:
- Busy night for the referees… If the officials go unnoticed, it’s a good night. Well they were front and center all game. And they called an bench minor for unsportsmanlike conduct to boot!
- The penalty kill needs some adjustments, it’s not working. There’s no way Colton Sissons should be able to just stroll into the slot and stand in front of the goaltender completely untouched.
- Been a tough couple games for Kaiden Guhle and Justin Baron. Hopefully the return of David Savard can lessen their workload.
- The PP was 0-for-5… “Tonight I feel we lost momentum because our PP didn’t execute,” said head coach Martin St Louis.
- Most of the scoring chances come off the rush, the Canadiens have to find a way to establish more zone time and create chances off the cycle.
- Both teams are in a rebuild and are going through a transition. It feels like like the Predators are miles ahead of the Canadiens however because they have several game breakers like Filip Forsberg and Roman Josi which Montreal does not.
The Montreal Canadiens will have a light schedule this week, their next game is on Wednesday night at the Bell Centre against the Nashville Predators.
thehabsblog.com 
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