Montreal Canadiens Game Reactions: A Brett Hart Type of Loss

It only fits that the Montreal Canadiens would break their three-game winning streak on the anniversary of one of the biggest WWE controversies ever.

Two teams were walking into the Bell Center Thursday night with streaks. The Montreal Canadiens had won their last three games, while the Minnesota Wild lost their previous three. In normal circumstances, the Habs would’ve been the obvious choice to win. Not only are they oozing confidence, but the Wild had played the night before.

Unfortunately, these were not normal circumstances. The Habs were without their top line center in Jonathan Drouin and Shea Weber. The uncertainty around Drouin was common knowledge, but Weber came as a surprise. Apparently, the 32-year-old sustained the injury at the end of practice on Wednesday, and no one thought it was severe enough to sit out for a game.

The Montreal Canadiens lost this game in a way that makes you stand with your hands in on your head while you stare at the ceiling. It’s almost perfect that the loss came on the 20th year anniversary of the Brett Hart fiasco in the WWE. If you don’t know the details, Hart was involved in a championship match against Shawn Michaels, but the chairman of the company ruined it for him costing Hart the championship belt. Imagine that the refs are the chairman of WWE.

The magic number to get to that second wild card spot is now three, and other teams in the East added to their season total. The Habs next game will be on Saturday night against the Buffalo Sabres. That’s a game that the team should win, but that can all change based on the team’s injury status. I would call back the ailments to Drouin and Weber and make it such that they were never there, but I’m not a ref.

Thoughts and Observations

There were one too many knocks on the Montreal Canadiens in this game. Yes, they didn’t have two of their best players on the ice, but that isn’t an excuse to start the way they did. The Habs didn’t get their first shot on goal until about four and a half minutes into the first period. Before that, they were just holding on.

Then the bizarre things started to happen. Alex Galchenyuk, who had another solid game, sent the puck into the slot which was then deflected by a Wild player. The puck arced over to a streaking Karl Alzner who got his blade on it to make it 1-0 Habs. Awesome! What a way to sta-what? No goal?

The ref by the net waved off the goal immediately indicating that it was called a high-stick. It was pretty close, which made it more likely that the call would stand. The goofiness continued with ‘that’ penalty.

You’d think that would be it for the reviews, but another one came in the third period. The Habs were down 2-0 and desperately needed to get something going to tie it up. Claude Julien put Charles Hudon and Artturi Lehkonen together with Galchenyuk at center (I know) to generate offence. Galchenyuk carried the puck into the zone than made an unbelievable backhand pass to Lehkonen who fired it on net. Hudon was in front and potted in the rebound to cut the lead in ha-WHAT!?

The refs didn’t signal anything, but the Minnesota Wild challenged it for goaltender interference. Was Devan Dubnyk interfered with? He was knocked down and didn’t have a chance to make the save. Was Hudon responsible? Not. Matt Dumba pushes his own goaltender down and takes his position. Last I remember you don’t get called if a player on the goaltender’s team is responsible for the contact.

Called back goals was the half of it. There’s this absolute gem from the first period. Minnesota was spending time in the Habs zone. Joseph Morrow attempted to get the puck out of arms reach of Nino Niederreiter, but instead, he just fell. Apparently, Morrow is the real-life version of Professor Xavier from X-Men, because he sat two minutes for tripping.

You can’t hang the entire loss on the officiating though. The Montreal Canadiens didn’t make it easier for themselves with poor defensive play despite the fact that Charlie Lindgren was having another phenomenal night. The rookie goaltender stopped 32 of 34 shots including a huge stop on Eric Staal.

Jeff Petry struggled this game again. The highlight of his night was on the power play after an ill-advised pinch led to a shorthand scoring chance with Michael Grandlund and Jason Zucker who then got the game’s first goal. That wouldn’t be the first time Zucker would score as he left the Bell Center with his first career hat-trick (warned you he could do some damage).

Zucker’s second of the game came from lazy play along the boards by Max Pacioretty. He lost the puck battle on the wall which led to Niederreiter getting the shot. Jordie Benn was in front of the net with Zucker but did nothing to ensure that Zucker couldn’t make contact with the puck.

The lack of Drouin and Weber was noticeable this game. It’s no excuse though; the Montreal Canadiens need to be player overall even if they don’t return right away. In some ways, the fate of their season depends on it.

Next: Responsibility for the Turn Around

What did you make of the game? Did you agree with the calls? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.