Post Game 12: Ticked off Tampa

The Tampa Bay Lightning are always a tough matchup for the Montreal Canadiens. Add in the fact that Tampa Bay blew a 4-1 lead against Toronto the night before playing in Montreal, the outcome Tuesday night at the Bell Centre was predictable.

The Lightning got four first period goals, including one just 22-seconds into the game and beat the Canadiens 5-3 in a game where the final score didn’t tell the whole story… It wasn’t close.

Even with a late third period push by Montreal, the game was over 13-minutes in after Michael Eyssimont scored a terrible goal from behind the goal line on Jake Allen, forcing Montreal to make a goaltender change. Funny enough, Allen was named the Molson Cup winner for October given to the team’s best player.

Although that goal was a bad one to give up, the game was not on Allen. It’s on the team as a collective who didn’t look ready to start the game or match the intensity of the opposition. It doesn’t help that Tampa Bay is more experienced and talented as well.

“We have too many pockets where we let our foot off the gas, miss an assignment, we don’t manage the risk, it’s a combination of many things,” said head coach Martin St Louis after the game. “Teams go through that, you just got to tighten it up.”

Just eight days after St Louis praised his team for playing their best game since his appointment as head coach, they’ve lost three straight in regulation and all to teams who played the night before.

Pluses:

Montreal didn’t quit, even though it would have been easy to mail it in for the third period and look ahead to Thursday night in Detroit. Instead, they pushed and made the Lightning sweat just a little bit. They won the final frame and showed the never say die attitude that has been a constant this season.
Sam Montembeault wasn’t expecting to play but was solid in relief. Named the third star of the game, things probably get out of hand with a lopsided score if he doesn’t come in and make some big saves, especially in the second period. Also made a highlight reel right pad save on Brayden Point
Christian Dvorak scored in just his second game back. The goal was in garbage time, but it’s always good to get that first one out of the way when coming back from a long injury.

Minuses:

The slow starts, particularly on the scoreboard. That’s six straight games where Montreal allows the first goal. “We kind of dug the hole too fast and weren’t able to fill it up so it’s something to learn off of for sure,” said Tanner Pearson.
The struggles continue for Mike Matheson and Jordan Harris. Even though one of the goals was a powerplay marker, the pair managed to be on the ice for all four first period goals. Matheson is logging too many minutes and the workload is affecting his play.
Terrible discipline, best outlined by Arber Xhekaj taking taking two penalties and putting Tampa Bay on the powerplay when Montreal had clear momentum, just because he wanted to settle a score with Tanner Jeannot. “Whatever you do on the ice, the actions you take have them taking care of the team mentality, not necessarily what you want to do at that time; what does the team need you to do at that time,” said St Louis. “I thought we were pretty good at that and to me that slipped away.”
When the goalies don’t steal the game, the Canadiens don’t have a shot to win. Allen wasn’t at his best but at some point the team will have to learn to win without the goalie standing on their head.

Montreal’s next opponent is in Detroit on the road taking on the Red Wings.

8th Nov 2023 0

Post Game 11: Slafkovsky gets his shot

The Montreal Canadiens wrapped up their three game road trip with a 6-3 loss to the St Louis Blues on Saturday night.

It looked like a prime spot for the Habs to pick up their first win on the trip against a lackluster offense. Instead, many of the things that have plagued them all season, caught up with them again.

Pluses:

Juraj Slafkovsky was promoted and got first line minutes. He scored his first goal of the season but it was a powerplay goal after a nice give and go play with Alex Newhook. Good patience in tight and solid finish. The former first all overall pick did look more involved and engaged throughout the game. It’s just one game but encouraging nonetheless.
Martin St Louis continues to polish the apple… “He looked comfortable and for me, I thought whenever he was on the ice, I felt like something was happening.”
Brendan Gallagher now has four goals in 11-games this season. The line featuring Tanner Pearson, Sean Monahan and Gallagher has been the most consistent for the Canadiens. If one thing is evident, it’s the fact that all three are the healthiest they’ve been in years.
Montreal didn’t take any penalties…? Go ahead, double check the box score, it’s true.

Minuses:

The road trip was tough one for Mike Matheson, capped off with his worst game as a Montreal Canadien. Not only was he fumbling the puck and trying to do too much, Matheson was directly responsible for three goals against. He needs to quickly regain his form from early in the season when he looked like Montreal’s best offensive defenseman since PK Subban.
The game was put away after a blatant missed trip on Justin Barron that led to a shorthanded goal. How the referees can miss something right in front of them, when it isn’t away from the play or puck is beyond me. Or they’re just to scared to make a call putting a team down two men. Brutal.
The Canadiens allowed six goals to a team that had only scored 19 going into the game. Nothing good from a team perspective, the compete was disappointing, they managed the puck poorly and were awful defending in their own zone.
First time this season Montreal looked like the team we saw most of last season. Not a good sign.
After a terrific start to the season, the Canadiens picked up one of a possible six points on the road trip. Things won’t get easier with tough matchups coming in the next couple weeks.

Next up for the Canadiens is a matchup with the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday night at the Bell Centre.

5th Nov 2023 0

Post Game 10: Cooley and the Gang

Wasn’t it predictable that the Montreal Canadiens would lose the first game they play following head coach Martin St Louis saying they played their best game of the season?

Probably… They were okay but not great against an Arizona Coyotes team that has looks like one of the more improved teams early this season and lost 3-2. Montreal should have been hungrier against an opponent that played the night before.

“We did have a push (in the third) unfortunately they responded and pushed back,” said Brendan Gallagher. “But if you look at the game as a whole, they were the better team.”

Pluses:

Brendan Gallagher scored his third goal of the season on the powerplay. Nice shot after a passing play with Alex Newhook and Tanner Pearson. It was Gallagher’s 400th career point and puts him on pace for 25-goals this season.
Monahan continues his torrid start with his first goal at 5-on-5 this season. He took the puck right into a high danger area, and fired past Connor Ingram. The third line was dangerous once again.
Jake Allen, again. Seems like the same story every time he’s between the pipes this season. Gave his team a chance to win and looked locked in.

Minuses:

Patience is wearing thin with Juraj Slafkovsky. Looked lost again, was a spectator most of the night. Time for new linemates, or a new team (Laval)… What’s the hold up? Everyone can see it at this point. It’s early, but it’s hard to make an argument that Logan Cooley won’t be a better player than Slafkovsky.
The second line in general, black hole. They got pinned in their own zone and created little offensively with the exception of a Josh Anderson solo rush here and there. Newhook has to go back to the wing and should play with Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki when Christian Dvorak returns.
Rafael Harvey Pinard got hurt twice, the second injury knocking him out of the game.
Another five powerplays given to the opposition and the winner was scored on the powerplay.
A beautiful offensive play was taken off the board because of the stupid ability to challenge offsides. Still hate that you can challenge offsides…
Mike Matheson has looked off for two games and it’s not a coincidence it’s after he missed time in Saturday’s game and didn’t miss any time after being labelled day-to-day. Something is bothering him.
Talking about Matheson, what a stupid play by Clayton Keller, clipping Matheson when he couldn’t protect himself. It wasn’t a head shot and they called a penalty, but it was dirty.

The Montreal Canadiens next opponent will be the St Louis Blues Saturday night at 7pm, wrapping up their three game road trip.

3rd Nov 2023 0

Post Game 9: Is this for real?

The surprising start to the season continues for the Montreal Canadiens.

They didn’t win Monday night in Las Vegas, but they were the better team, controlled play and deserved better. The defending Stanley Cup Champion Golden Knights won in a shootout 3-2 but the Habs gave them everything they could handle.

There’s always reluctancy to celebrate morale victories but this game is an exception. The Vegas Golden Knights are the standard and Montreal was right there with them.

Montreal’s locker room was in good spirits post game, and head coach Martin St Louis gave the team high praise.

“Since I got the job this is the best game I’ve seen start to finish,” said St Louis after the game. “Even if you don’t get the result, it’s a game where we raised our standards.”

Pluses:

Nick Suzuki is rolling and the chemistry with Cole Caufield is back. Sorry for suggesting a whole week ago that they should be split up…. It’s going to be interesting to see what they do with the first line when Christian Dvorak returns. Monahan? Newhook? There will be a couple more options at least. Oh, and how about another goal in the shootout? Seriously, is he the best shootout player in the league?
The Canadiens continue to get solid goaltending, Sam Montembeault matched what Jake Allen did a couple nights ago. He was particularly great in overtime with a penalty shot save on Jack Eichel (he stopped him again in the shootout) and a right pad save on Alex Pietrangelo.
Kaiden Guhle looks like a stud top-4 defenseman right now. Looks like the game is coming easy to him.
Sean Monahan won 19 of 23 faceoffs… lol. And he scored shorthanded.

Minuses:

Another tough one for Juraj Slafkovsky. It’s just not happening for him.
Two crossbars for Alex Newhook, he deserved better.
Josh Anderson looked like he was flying, but still hasn’t scored.
Brendan Gallagher getting time with Suzuki and Caufield… No.

The Montreal Canadiens have a couple days off before taking on the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday night.

31st Oct 2023 0

Post Game 8: Habs do it again

The Montreal Canadiens have another team leaving Bell Centre wondering, “what went wrong?”

For consecutive games, the Habs were able to overcome a 3-1 deficit and win a game in which they never had the lead, 4-3 the final over the Winnipeg Jets Saturday at the Bell Centre.

Nick Suzuki had the winner in the shootout, while Justin Barron, Sean Monahan and Joel Armia scored goals in regulation.

“Really bad start for us in the second period but I like how we responded,” said Suzuki following the game. “We didn’t quit, we’re a team that likes to keep pushing when we’re down and I think we showed a lot of character coming back from down 3-1.”

Pluses:

The Canadiens don’t win this one without some heroics from Jake Allen. If there was a competition to get the bulk of work between the pipes, early on it’s not even close. Allen’s 43-saves earned him third star of the game honours, and it he should be been the first star. He currently leads the NHL in goals saved above expected.
Great to see Kaiden Guhle back in the lineup and he picked up right where he left off. The young blueliner was terrific at both ends of the ice, picking up two assists and leading all Montreal skater’s in ice time.
There’s no way it’s been easy for Armia, being sent down to Laval to start the season and then waiting in limbo for a week after a call up to the big club. It seems like he’s popular with his teammates and there was a little extra on the celebration on the bench when he capitalized off a nice pass from Guhle.
The powerplay got another one! That’s five straight games.
For a second straight game the penalty kill came up huge after a late penalty that carried into overtime.

Minuses:

Juraj Slafkovsky struggled mightily. In fact, it may have been the worst game he’s played in the NHL. When he has the puck, it looks like he’s guessing. The play is going to fast and he’s managing the puck extremely poorly. They don’t want to send him to the AHL but if his play continue to be this bad when Christian Dvorak returns, they won’t have a choice. And let’s be clear, it’s not the end of the world if he gets some big reps and minutes on the farm. It doesn’t mean he’s a bust and it won’t shatter his confidence. Let him develop his game away from the spotlight, like most players who are only 19-years-old get to do.
The start to the second period was comical, two goals allowed in 18-seconds on boneheaded plays with the puck.
Mike Matheson left in the third period and is day-to-day with a lower body injury. Good thing it doesn’t appear to be serious, because a long term injury would be devastating.

Montreal heads on the road for their first extended trip of the season. It all begins on Monday night in Las Vegas taking on the Golden Knights at 10pm.

29th Oct 2023 0

Post Game Seven: Habs find a way

The Montreal Canadiens showed their resiliency once again, beating the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-3 in overtime Thursday at the Bell Centre.

“I think we’re a resilient group but if you constantly have to come back from behind it just takes a toll on everybody,” said Montreal Canadiens’ coach Martin St Louis.

Montreal never had a lead and had to overcome 2-0 and 3-1 deficits to force overtime. In the extra frame, a little more Cole Caufield magic was on display when he sniped his second game winner of the week.

“I think that was all Marty, he fired us up and said some things that needed to be said,” said Caufield about the greater urgency showed in the second period. “I love how we responded with the first shift and a goal, it obviously got us going and I thought from there we played a full 45-minutes after that.”

Pluses:

Nick Suzuki scored, finally. It took Montreal’s captain seven games to get his first goal of the year and maybe it will be a spark and more will follow. Suzuki capitalized on an egregious Boone Jenner turnover and made no mistake with time and space to pick his spot. He also picked up two assists in the game.
It might not always be pretty, but it was another two powerplay goals for the Montreal Canadiens. Mike Matheson scored a powerplay goal on a nice fake that froze the four Columbus penalty killers, opening up a shooting lane. And Caufield with a set play, a shot/pass to Monahan who had great positioning in front of the net and tipped the puck in.
Justin Barron had another strong outing logging big minutes. His defensive game is coming along and though he might not play as much when Kaiden Guhle comes back from injury, he’s getting precious reps and experience.
Sam Montembeault made some huge saves, but none bigger than a pair in overtime while killing a penalty. The second save on Zack Werensky looked like a sure goal and robbed Columbus of an extra point in the standings. The balancing act with the three goaltenders will continue to be a big talking point if all three keep playing well.

Minuses:

Terrible start that forced Montreal to chase the game. Last week the issue was how they were finishing games, tonight it’s how they started. They’ll play a full 60-minutes at some point…
Juraj Slafkovksy had his worst game of the season. Couldn’t make a play, couldn’t breakout and was taking too long to make decisions. It’s just one game, but the game seemed to be moving way too fast for him.
Josh Anderson can’t buy a goal while on a breakaway. Twice he was all alone with Elvis Merzlikins and couldn’t finish. Anderson is still searching for his first goal and only has one point on the season. He had a strong game but the production is not there.
It was the worst officiated game of the season. The bad calls went on both sides, Kevin Pollock and Cody Beach… Come on! Be better… Enough with the excuses. It’s a fast game, it’s hard being a referee. Wah, Wah, Wah. Make a mistake or two, fine. But you know you’ve made too many mistakes when it’s a talking point after the game.

The Montreal Canadiens will host the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday night. Good timing for the Habs, the Jets have won three straight.

27th Oct 2023 0

Game Six Post Game: Predictable

The Montreal Canadiens were tasked with dealing with the league’s best powerplay and one of the best offenses in the league, in the second game of a back-to-back. Montreal competed hard and had moments, but lost 5-2 to the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday night at the Bell Centre.

“We fought, we had a tough start to the third and they were on top of us,” said Canadiens’ head coach Martin St Louis after the game. “We couldn’t get some room and it could have been easy to quit, but we didn’t quit and to me that’s a really good habit because if you quit you guarantee one thing, you’re not going to get what you want.”

This loss is no difference than the other three losses this season, special teams were difference.

Pluses:

Mike Matheson scored what will likely be the nicest goal of the season by a Montreal Canadien. He went end-to-end, shifting gears before darting up the middle, getting a breakaway and finishing off the play past New Jersey Devils goaltender Vitek Vanecek. It’s still hard to comprehend why Pittsburgh dealt him to Montreal for Jeff Petry, Matheson might be Kent Hughe’s best trade to date.
Cayden Primeau was good, not great. But he’ll be on the highlight reels as well. In his first game of the season, Primeau made an incredible first period save lunging to his right and sprawling out to deny Ondrej Palat of what looked like an easy goal.
Another game, another goal for Justin Barron. After being a healthy scratch for the first three games of the season, he’s had a big impact and is getting more minutes every game. And with the injury to David Savard and the lack of right handed shooting defenseman with the Canadiens, more opportunities are on the horizon.
It’s a lot of fun watching Jack Hughes play live.

Minuses:

David Savard will miss 6-to-8 weeks. That’s two long term injuries and October isn’t over yet. When will the curse end?
Nick Suzuki has had a quiet start to the season. If he’s supposed to be Montreal’s version of Nico Hischier, this would have been a great game to stand out in. But for the most part he was invisible, lost in the shuffle. Everyone loves seeing Cole Caufield and Suzuki on Montreal’s top line and debates who the third member of the trio should be. Rather than blaming the third player on the line, Martin St Louis and the coaching staff will eventually have to look at breaking up the duo to try to find some kind of spark from their top players.
Remember how Tyler Toffoli loved scoring against the Vancouver Canucks during the bubble? Let’s hope Montreal isn’t his new target.
Special teams… Need we elaborate?

The Montreal Canadiens are back in action on Thursday night when they host the Columbus Blue Jackets at the Bell Centre.

25th Oct 2023 0

Post Game Five: Turning back the clock

They won’t be awarded style points, but the Montreal Canadiens found a way to escape Buffalo with two points beating the Sabres 3-2 on Monday night.

The win came at a cost, David Savard will be out indefinitely with an upper body injury. He blocked multiple shots on a penalty kill in the third period and didn’t play the final 8-minutes of the game. The shift itself was making the rounds on social media, it displayed a great example of sheer determination and sacrifice for the betterment of the team.

The Canadiens were outplayed by a Buffalo team that has underperformed this season. With the chaotic upcoming schedule, they’ll take wins any way they can get them.

Pluses:

Jake Allen followed up his terrific performance against the Washington Capitals with an even better outing against the Sabres. Tough angle on the Jeff Skinner goal, but he settled in after that and at times stood on his head including in the second period when Montreal was severely outchanced.
Brendan Gallagher scored for a second straight game and it was once again a typical Gallagher goal, right on the edge of the crease. The third line is developing chemistry with Sean Monahan and Tanner Pearson also having solid performances. But for Gallagher in particular has to feel good contributing while playing limited minutes.
Justin Barron gave the Canadiens something they haven’t gotten so far this season, a goal from a defenseman. It was a nice shot after the puck found him at the top on the right circle.
The points haven’t been there but Juraj Slafkovsky continues to stand out for all the right reasons. He was noticeable early, is getting a lot of touches on the puck and eventually the production will come.
While the powerplay looks disjointed and unorganized, it’s still back-to-back games with a powerplay goal!

Minuses:

Savard is the latest player to head to the injured list. That’s three injuries (two significant ones) in three games. Ouch!
Another goal against the Montreal Canadiens for Jeff Skinner… What’s up with that?! He now has 24-goals against the Habs in his career, more than he’s scored against any NHL team.
They handed the opposition another five powerplays, this early trend can’t continue.

The Montreal Canadiens gets right back at it tonight taking on Jack Hughes and he New Jersey Devils. Game time is 7:15pm ET with staggered starts around the NHL with the league attempting to pull of their own version of the NFL’s “Red Zone,” with what their calling “Frozen Frenzy.”

24th Oct 2023 0

Game Five: A less than ideal situation

Jake Allen will get the call in goal for a second straight game when the Montreal Canadiens take on the Buffalo Sabres tonight.

The start is well deserved, Allen was outstanding in a 3-2 overtime win Saturday against the Washington Capitals. The back-to-back games make it an easy decision for the coaching staff, Sam Montembeault will likely play tomorrow night against the New Jersey Devils.

But Montreal still has three goaltenders on the roster and at some point, something has to give. Three other teams are carrying three goaltenders. It’s more likely they’re afraid of the Lightning striking on the waiver wire than this being an actual plan.

To add to the drama, Tampa Bay general manager Julien Brisebois was in attendance at the Bell Centre watching Allen put on a goaltending clinic on Saturday night. Dave Pagnotta of The Fourth Period told TSN 690 that he doesn’t see a scenario where the Lightning would be able to fit Allen in under the salary cap.

“Due diligence and wanting to get a handle on things… I don’t suspect given their cap situation that Allen would fall into what their looking at,” said Pagnotta about the Lightning. “But maybe Montembeault with a 1-million dollar cap hit would fit better for them.”

The Habs aren’t pressed to make a move but at some point they have to be fair with Cayden Primeau who might be happy earning an NHL pay cheque but has every right to be ticked off at the fact that he hasn’t seen any game action two weeks into the season. Montreal plays four times in the next six days and if he doesn’t play in at least one of them, you have to wonder what’s the point of having him on the roster? You might be terrified of losing him on waivers, but as a former agent, Kent Hughes has to realize that sometimes it’s okay to give a player an opportunity elsewhere that just wouldn’t have materialized with the current set of circumstances.

Regardless of the way the next week plays out, nobody seems to like the three goalie rotation. Especially goalies.

“There’s no pros to the three goalie system,” said retired NHL goalie Martin Biron during an appearance on TSN 690. “The cons are trying to get them all game action.”

23rd Oct 2023 0

Post Game Four: Allen key

Things aren’t that bad.

The Montreal Canadiens blew a two goal lead in the third period but got a Cole Caufield overtime winner to beat the Washington Capitals by a score of 3-2 Saturday night at the Bell Centre.

The headlines have recently been dominated by the fact that the Canadiens are the most penalized team in the league and have had issues on special teams. But they’ve picked up points in three of the four games, including two wins. At the end of the season, they don’t ask how, they ask how many…

Pluses:

It was one of Jake Allen’s best games in a long time and he was definitely much better than opening night in Toronto. Montreal’s starting goaltender made 31-saves and was named the first star of the game. They don’t win this one without him. Allen made saves of the highlight variety, including a right toe save on a 2-on-1 robbing Anthony Mantha of what looked like a sure goal and an old school double pad stack after Alex Ovechkin took a fake shot and dished it off to Nicklas Backstrom. He had no chance at stopping either of Dylan Strome’s goals.
Brendan Gallagher scored…!? Even though he’s been one of the least used forwards this season, it probably came as a relief when he got his first of the year. It was a great play by Sean Monahan, stalling long enough and putting the puck at the net as Gallagher came crashing in. It was the most Gallagher goal one could imagine, right on the edge of the crease both puck and player going into the net. His contract will always be an issue but maybe a goal gets the fans off his back for at least a couple of days.
Easily Nick Suzuki’s strongest game of the year. He made a beautiful pass to Monahan on a powerplay goal in the first period (that’s right, the PP got one!) He assisted on Caufield’s OT winner, won almost 70 per cent of his faceoffs and was Montreal’s most used forward. Most importantly, Suzuki was much harder to play against than in the previous three games.
Martin St Louis continues to be a quote machine: “I like my team, I care about my team and I feel like there’s so much good going on, the last two days was just focused on the negative,” said St Louis post game. “I was asked a question (about Suzuki) and the easiest thing for me is not to say anything but I’m honest, I try not to lie.”

Minuses:

For the third time this season Montreal let a third period lead evaporate. While they escaped with wins against both Chicago and Washington following third period meltdowns, the lack of killer instinct demonstrates their inexperience and how early they are in their rebuild.
Penalties, penalties, penalties. They gifted Washington five powerplays and even though that’s a slight improvement from the previous two games, if this was the Washington Capitals of old rather than the old Washington Capitals, the outcome would have been different.

The light schedule comes to a screeching halt this week. After playing four games in the first two weeks of the season, Montreal will play four games in six nights. Next up will be the Buffalo Sabres on the road on Monday night.

22nd Oct 2023 0