Tag: Slafkovsky

Post Game 50: One line team

It’s official.

The Montreal Canadiens are a one line team.

But that line exceled Tuesday night in Washington, beating the Capitals by a score of 5-2.

The team seemed to come together in the first game without Sean Monahan who was traded to the Winnipeg Jets during the bye week. They took advantage of a disheveled looking Capitals team in the first period, jumping out to a 3-0 lead.

Although Washing pushed back in the second and third periods, the deficit was too great to overcome especially with Sam Montembeault once again showing flashes of a potential star goaltender of the future.

Pluses:

  • Cole Caufield continues getting points. Everyone thinks of the goal scoring prowess when it comes to Caufield, but his passing continues to be underrated. The pass to Nick Suzuki on the opening goal of the game was pure filth.
  • Nick Suzuki didn’t looked burnt out from having to attend the all-star game. Two goals for Montreal’s captain who will be leaned on even more heavily (if possible) with the subtraction of Monahan.
  • Juraj Slafkovsky… Nicest two goals of his career. Also, first two goal game for the number one pick of the 2022 NHL entry draft. Games like this will influence people to believe Montreal made the right pick.
  • Michael Pezzetta goes post and in leading to Charlie Lindgren getting the hook. This game was not on Lindgren, the Capitals were a disaster in front of him.
  • Sam Montembeautl… Feels like we can just copy and paste his name in the plus category after a win. His back-to-back saves on Dylan Strome and Rasmus Sandin… Pure larceny
  • Brandon Gignac… Welcome to the NHL, here’s 15-minutes of ice time on the second line. Didn’t look out of place, but many areas to clean up.
  • David Savard …. BOOM! Most blocked shots again with four, and one of the blocks took a sure goal away from Max Pacioretty.

Minuses:

  • An absolute fire drill in their own zone at times, especially in the second period.
  • Tough game for Tanner Pearson who took two penalties and looked sluggish.
  • On paper, this team is thin. Alex Newhook’s return and Brendan Gallagher’s suspension coming to an end in three games will help, but the Canadiens will go as far as the top line will take them. At some point, it’s going to be too much for them to handle and the losses will pile up. But at least for one night, they took advantage of a team that looks like they are in complete disarray.

Next up for the Canadiens is a home date at the Bell Centre against the Dallas Stars on Saturday afternoon at 1pm.

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Post Game 34: Missed opportunity

The Montreal Canadiens were unable to take advantage of suspect goaltending and a disjointed Carolina Hurricanes team losing 5-3 Thursday night in the first game back after the holiday break.

Jordan Harris returned to the lineup after missing 15 games with a lower-body injury. He played on the right side with Jayden Struble and had a quiet night. Strubble meanwhile, continues to excel and it’s going to be hard to take him out of the line up any time soon. It’s going to be a battle between Johnathan Kovacevic and Harris for playing time.

Pluses:

  • The Canadiens like they usually do, started from behind and battled their way back into the game. After Carolina quickly jumped out to a 2-0 lead, Montreal overcame the deficit to even the game at two. They also came back and tied the game after trailing 3-2, but couldn’t find a way to play with the lead at any point.
  • It was one of those games where Mike Matheson was fumbling the puck and it looked like a grenade on his stick. Naturally, that’s the type of game where he scores a beautiful highlight real goal that should have received a little more attention.
  • A Josh Anderson breakaway goal! In this economy… Anderson continues to streak and it’s true for some players, the goals come in bunches.
  • Mitchell Stephens scored for a second straight game and the goal seemed to go right to his legs. All things considered, the fourth line was effective.
  • Martin St Louis won another coach’s challenge… Obviously credit the video crew upstairs, but it was a gutsy called and it worked out. If it didn’t go their way, it could have been a swing point in the game.
  • Cool story to have the three players who played at North Eastern all in the lineup for the first time.

Minuses:

  • Cayden Primeau was just average… This goes in the minus category because when the Canadiens don’t get stellar goaltending, they rarely win.
  • Terrible start and terrible third period. Carolina was vulnerable in the third period and Antti Raanta looked extremely shaky, but Montreal couldn’t muster up much offensively.
  • Really tough game for Justin Baron who was on the ice for three of the four even strength goals and was directly responsible for two of them. He could be an option to be scratched if Martin St Louis wants to go back to Kovacevic next game.
  • High hit that wasn’t needed by Stephan Noesen on Juraj Slafkovsky. This hit was to the head and should have resulted in a penalty, which it didn’t. Slafkovsky was removed from the game by spotter for a potential concussion. The test came back negative and it appears that he will be fine. But the NHL should look at the play because it wasn’t necessary.
  • This game was a missed opportunity for Montreal to get some points because the brutal schedule increases in difficulty with Tampa Bay, Florida and Dallas coming up. Carolina played the previous night, have been very inconsistent with their play and had a goaltending between the pipes that has near zero confidence…

Next up for the Montreal Canadiens will be a match-up with the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday night at 7pm.

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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.

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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.

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