The Canadiens are starting the season with one point as they lose to the Carolina Hurricanes in a shootout. All four lines had very promising games.
The Montreal Canadiens are starting the 2019-20 campaign in dramatic fashion as they lose to the Carolina Hurricanes. It was an intense match as both teams came out of the gate in extreme fury. The playoff-like atmosphere and ambition both teams started the season with were extremely intense and much appreciated by fans from both teams.
The first period was what most people expected. It started fast, intense, and physical. Even though the Hurricanes scored first, the Canadiens held up and played up to the Hurricanes’ speed all period long. I was extremely impressed with Cale Fleury as he really stood out and proved to the coaching staff why he deserves to make the team.
Being arguably our best right-handed defenseman all evening, alongside Petry, Fleury played his position perfectly, comfortably, and most important of all, professionally. Although being down by 1 goal, I think the rest of the team played a great first period, considering it was their first period of the season.
In addition to a good period, the powerplay looked organized, something which could rarely have been said last season. Zone entries and passes were on point and accurate. The powerplay seems to have a better system altogether, which is promising to see in the first game of the season.
After a much needed first intermission, the Canadiens started the second period slowly and concerningly. The Hurricanes doubled their advantage and made it seem as though the game was drifting further and further away from the Habs. That is, of course, until Tomas Tatar got the Habs on the board on the powerplay for the Habs’ first goal of the season.
I really appreciated the work of Joel Armia on this shift specifically. Armia initially broke the clear-out pass the Hurricanes tried to make, which resulted in a beneficial turnover for the Canadiens, which ultimately turned into Tatar’s goal. I feel as though Tatar’s shot was strictly underrated as he positions it perfectly between Mrazek’s arm and body.
The party was just getting started for the Habs, as Jesperi Kotkaniemi got a goal of his own using his patience and extreme accuracy to tie the game up for the Habs. Kotkaniemi had never scored an away goal prior to tonight, so seeing him finally get the goal he much deserved was very appreciated for the Habs and their fans.
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In addition to Kotkaniemi’s great goal, it’s hard to deny that the best shift out of anyone on the team all evening came from Jonathan Drouin, as he isolated himself from the rest of the players to eventually make a brilliant play to get the loose puck and make a great pass which led to the goal. Drouin’s small, simple play is very optimistic as he had a very bad end to last season. Seeing Drouin come out of the game with a good game is very refreshing.
Many fans were shocked and disappointed in Poehling being cut from the team, which led to Thompson ultimately replacing the young center. It’s understandable as we all want to see our rookies in action, but Poehling playing and learning from Bouchard will gain him a lot of confidence and improve his overall game.
This is brought up mainly because Thompson had an incredible game, as he was excellent physically, and took many hits to make plays happen, including the Habs’ 3rd goal. If it wasn’t for Thompson taking the hit and making a fabulous pass, the game would have still been tied after 2. It’s small plays like those that determine why a player belongs to a lineup or not.
Alongside Thompson, Jordan Weal was very good tonight as he showed much speed and strength, as he assisted the Canadiens by killing penalties, scoring the 3rd goal, and being on the ice in very crucial times.
It was as if the Habs failed even to show up to start the 3rd period,. They started very slowly and were very lost as they gave up a goal in the slot. The defense was lost, and bad penalties were made. Shea Weber struggled immensely all game long, as he seemed very slow and lost as the Hurricanes’ forwards were dancing around him.
Of course, it is only one game, but you do expect more from your Captain, especially when he is your best defenseman. It was not until the last 5 minutes that the Canadiens started showing up, thanks to incredible efforts from the Habs’ 4th line.
Jordan Weal and Nate Thompson were undoubtedly our best forwards all game long. They controlled the play when they were on the ice for most of the time, and they really portrayed that they will be fully able to support the habs as a dependable 4th line. We can see that the biggest differences between this year and last year are a better defense, as well as a much improved 4th line.
Tied after three, the Habs and Canes headed to overtime, which was mainly dominated by the Canadiens. There were no goals as Byron, Domi, and Petry played for most of the period but were never lucky enough to find the back of the net. I really appreciated the speed of Byron and Mete, as they were always on the puck first when it was loose and free, which is always the main priority in 3 on 3 overtime.
Unfortunately, the Habs tried too many things in terms of passing too much and making plays that did not need to be made, but they were still dominant over the Hurricanes in overtime, which is promising considering this was not the case last season. If I personally could have changed one thing, it would have been to not put Armia, Weber, and Kotkaniemi on the ice at the same time as, even though they fully dominated, are very slow as one bad play could result in an odd-man rush headed the other way. Kotkaniemi had a great overtime period, he made many great plays and had a good scoring chance, as he was one of the best forwards all night long.
The Habs gained a point after a tight and intense game against the Hurricanes. With a somewhat poor performance from Weber, the Habs still managed to bring a point to the standings. Performances from the 4th line and 3rd pairing defensemen really portrayed poise and optimism as the Habs are overall a deeper and much better team than they were last year, without a doubt.
After their first game, the Habs showed great promise and played a very solid game, as they head to Toronto for the 2nd game of the season.