Josh’s Take: Montreal Canadiens host Tampa Bay
The Montreal Canadiens hosted Tampa Bay in a must-win game for the Canadiens. This game recap takes a closer look at how the Canadiens pulled out the win.
The league-leading Tampa Bay Lightning rolled into Montreal Tuesday night for a date with the Montreal Canadiens. In a desperate need for points, Montreal took care of business on home ice with a 4-2 victory on home ice. In today’s Josh’s Take, I take a look at what happened last night, how the team played, who was on and who was off and give an outlook to tomorrow night’s game in Washington.
Anytime Tampa rolls into Montreal you know it is going to be an entertaining game and no matter how terrifying that team is to play against, and the Montreal Canadiens have done a good job playing them in the past and last night’s game was another prime example of that. My God what a game!
The Montreal Canadiens came out of the gate flying in the first period. The Canadiens were clearly the better team in the first period, but it was Steven Stamkos that scored the first goal of the game at 2:28 of the first period. A weak shot from behind the goal line that gets deflected in by Max Domi and it was 1-0 bad guys pretty quick.
As I sat in the stands watching last night, I told my friend Chris that the next goal was going to be the most important goal of the game. The Canadiens started the period the right way, they were playing with speed and were hard on the forecheck, but when a team that starts the period like that and they don’t get rewarded early sometimes doubt starts to set it. Couple that with the fact that Tampa showed they could score from anywhere, I really believed that if Montreal could get the next goal that they would be okay as long as they kept playing the way they were.
If Tampa got the next goal and made it 2-0 before the end of the first, I don’t think the Canadiens would have had much of a chance. Tampa would have just put it on cruise control for the rest of the game and when that team is on cruise control it reminds me of the Harlem Globetrotters!
It was Nate Thompson’s first goal as a member of the Bleu Blanc Rouge that tied the game at 1-1 after some brilliant forechecking by Paul Byron (welcome back Paul) that allowed for Nate Thompson to get open in the slot and receive the Byron pass. Thompson made no mistakes with the shot, and it was 1-1 with over 21,000 Habs faithful celebrating and dancing in the stands!
The second period was more of the same, the Canadiens came out and played great but it was Tampa that got the first goal. Dear God not this again! Not to worry the Hockey Gods said, because less than four minutes after Tampa scored to make it 2-1, Joel Armia did his best Steven Stamkos impression and also scored from behind the goal line!
After a great power move to get himself right in front of the goalie, and a great save by Eddie Pasquale, Armia found himself behind the goal line with the puck and probably thought to himself that if it worked for Stamkos it could probably work for him. Banking the shot off of Eddie Pasquale the puck finds the back of the net and Tampa Bay does not know what happened. All they know is Montreal is celebrating a goal and the game was all tied up again.
No time for the final period. Scoreboard watching throughout the game showed that Columbus was getting destroyed by Boston and Toronto was (as usual) no help as they were losing to Carolina. This felt like the season came down to this period.
The Canadiens could not afford to let this one slip away, especially with Columbus losing! A win and a Columbus loss brought the two teams tied in points and with the same amount of games remaining. A Carolina loss would have been better because then Montreal would be sitting in a playoff spot this morning, but once again Toronto showed that they cannot be relied on! Okay, I am getting off topic. More on this stuff later, right now back to the third period.
The style of play in the third period was a replica of what we saw in the first two periods. You could easily see how much the Habs wanted that next goal. They clearly wanted the win, and they gave everything they had to get it.
When Arturri Lehkonen scored to make it 3-2 good guys, and giving Montreal its first lead of the night, you could feel the relief in the Bell Centre. Playing with the lead is what every team tries to do, and the Canadiens’ hard work had finally paid off and with just over ten minutes remaining in the game, the Habs were in the driver’s seat going forward. I was jumping, screaming, and dancing so much after the Lehkonen goal that I actually almost fainted (shoutout to my buddy Chris for realizing this and grabbing on to me).
The rush of energy that came with that goal was too much for my body to handle I guess. I’ve always said that hockey was what was going to kill me! Jon Cooper and his coaching staff challenged this goal for goaltender interference.
I don’t know if that was just an attempt at throwing you know what at the wall to see what sticks, or if it was just a way to have an extended time out to talk to his players because I never saw anything that looked like goaltender interference.
Refs reviewed and the goal was confirmed!
Less than four minutes after the Lehkonen goal, Max Domi makes up for scoring Tampa’s first goal of the game by scoring one for the home team this time! Domi took advantage of the ice that was given to him by Mikhail Sergachev (not sure where he was going on that play), but Domi made no mistakes with no one around to pressure him. 4-2 Montreal with just under ten minutes remaining in the game! Excellent!
The scary thing about that Tampa team is if you give them enough time and space they will come back, and they will make you regret it. I liked the way the Canadiens played the rest of the third period. They continued to pressure Tampa Bay; they continued to put shots on goal, they never let up. What. A. Game!
The entire team played a good game last night, but I want to highlight three particular players. Starting with Joel Armia, he was an absolute beast out there last night. He was skating fast; he was hard in the puck, played physical and never gave up on a play. He went into the corners and the dirty areas, and he won his battles.
Remembering my recap of the Columbus game, I said that the Canadiens had gotten beaten to every loose puck and lost basically every 50-50 battle. Not the case last night, and Armia was a prime example of that. Scoring a goal was great, but it was the little things I noticed in his game last night. He was in position when he didn’t have the puck. Speaking of when he didn’t have the puck, you could tell he wanted it! He didn’t have it? No problem, he just went to the dirty areas and took it away from Tampa.
The other two players I want to talk about are Jonathan Drouin and Artturi Lehkonen. I have been highly critical of these two players because of the seasons each have had which are lacking in consistency.
Back at the trade deadline, I said that the Canadiens needed more from Arturri Lekhonen. I said he was going to need to start producing offensively, this team has enough defensively responsible forwards, they need people to put the puck in the net. Well, since then Lehkonen has really turned on his game, finding the scoresheet twice last night with a goal and an assist. Thank you to my friend Costa for reminding me of this!
Ever since @joshuadelorme95 called out Lehkonen after the trade deadline he's been solid for the team @psa_podcast
— Costa Rontzocos (@Rontzeeez) April 3, 2019
Jonathan Drouin is the other one that I have been highly critical of. After the price that was paid to acquire him, I never thought that he has lived up to expectations. His extended goalless droughts and his play away from the puck have all been things that have driven me nuts in the past! I invite you to check out my podcast’s Instagram page for a clip of me talking about Jonathan Drouin.
I have not like his game ever since he arrived in Montreal. I have said he is a complimentary player at best. I have said that he cannot drive a line. I have said that if the puck is not on his stick, he is basically useless. I have said he still plays like he’s in junior hockey. Well, last night Jonathan Drouin showed me something, and I want to recognize it.
Last night Drouin was in full beast mode! I have never seen Drouin forecheck the way that he did last night. He wasn’t afraid to go to the corners and take the hit to get the puck. If only we could see that style of play from him every night. So, I am taking this opportunity to recognize that he played a great game last night!
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The last thing I wanted to discuss was the officiating of last night’s game. What a gong show that was! There were many penalties not called on both sides, for both teams, but it seemed really bad against Montreal. There were multiple cross-checks that went unpenalized that could have been dangerous. I understand that at this time of the year the refs tend to put their whistles away but come on! I agree with letting the players play sometimes, but sometimes you have to call a penalty. I’m going to stop talking about the refs now, they make my blood boil! Okay, one more thought on the refs: a classic Josh line “DO YOUR JOB!”
Overall a great game for the Canadiens! They really brought their A-game last night, and it showed. Outshooting the Lightning 45-24 and winning 61% of the faceoffs is always a good way to be successful. The other key in my mind is staying out of the penalty box. That Tampa powerplay is so scary that just the thought of it gives me nightmares!
The Habs only took one penalty last night, a coincidental minor that left the two teams playing 4-on-4. Well, actually it was 5-on-4 Tampa because they pulled the goalie. Anyways, the idea remains the same. Montreal stayed out of the box and did not give Tampa any powerplay time. On the other side of the special teams battle, well, the Montreal powerplay went 0-for-2 last night but is anyone really shocked by that? I didn’t think so!
Before I finish up, I want to also highlight the play of Tampa goaltender Eddie Pasquale. For a while, I was thinking that Vasilevskiy was actually in net but with a Pasquale jersey on! He kept his team in that game by making key saves at critical times of the game! When a goaltender faces 45 shots and gives up four goals, he had a good game!
Next. Thank You Boston. dark
The Habs are going to need another game like this one tomorrow night in Washington if they are going to have a chance at the playoffs. But for now, enjoy last night’s win and the spring weather arriving in Montreal! Also, a friendly reminder that this week’s episode of my podcast is now available for your listening pleasure!
Go Habs Go!