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Josh’s Take: Montreal Canadiens visit the Blue Jackets

By Joshua Delorme

COLUMBUS, OH - MARCH 28: Columbus Blue Jackets left wing Artemi Panarin (9) celebrates after scoring a goal in a game between the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Montreal Canadiens on March 28, 2019 at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, OH. (Photo by Adam Lacy/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
COLUMBUS, OH - MARCH 28: Columbus Blue Jackets left wing Artemi Panarin (9) celebrates after scoring a goal in a game between the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Montreal Canadiens on March 28, 2019 at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, OH. (Photo by Adam Lacy/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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Montreal Canadiens
MONTREAL, QC – FEBRUARY 09: Montreal Canadiens Columbus Blue Jackets (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images) /

The Montreal Canadiens played their most important game of the season on Thursday night in Columbus. With the Columbus Blue Jackets trailing Montreal in the standings by two points and also holding a game in hand, the Canadiens could not afford to lose this game. In today’s Josh’s Take, I take a look at what went wrong in Columbus and what it means for the Canadiens going forward.

The first period started perfectly for the Montreal Canadiens, with Brett Kulak letting one go from the right point at 1:15. With the recent play of Sergei Bobrovsky, getting the first one by him early definitely does not hurt! The Canadiens played a great start to the game by really limiting the Blue Jackets‘ chances throughout the first ten minutes.

I found that Les Glorieux did a very good job of keeping their sticks in the passing and shooting lanes, clearly frustrating the Jackets as they struggled to establish themselves in the offensive zone. Shea Weber took a holding penalty at 17:15 of the first and the Canadiens penalty kill unit went to work.

The Canadiens’ play at 5-on-5 continued while killing the penalty; I found that the team did a great job of working as a 4-man unit, again keeping their sticks in the passing lanes not allowing the Blue Jackets a shot on net during their powerplay. In fact, Joel Armia had some significant chances in the offensive zone during the penalty kill. It’s always better for a penalty-killing unit to spend some time in the other team’s zone!

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