Montreal Canadiens Lose as Keith Kinkaid Makes Debut

The Montreal Canadiens lose in overtime as great performances from Drouin and Armia were not enough to overcome the Sabres’ speed and skill.

The Montreal Canadiens faced off against the Buffalo Sabres for their 3rd game of the season, as they were coming off a 3 day break after a hot win against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Gaining a point in overtime, this game was important for the Habs as it was the first leg of a back-to-back, as Keith Kinkaid made his debut.

Leading the team in goals for Buffalo, Victor Oloffson was hot and ready to start the game on the right note. Likewise for Montreal, Max Domi, who came off an amazing game against Toronto, came out of the game in flames tonight as he was one of the most threatening Habs on the ice. In addition, Keith Kinkaid played a great and dependable game for the Habs.

The first period was purely dominated by the Montreal Canadiens, until the Sabres were gifted with a lucky powerplay as Tatar was sent for tripping. I liked Tatar’s composure throughout the play as he did not lash out against the ref after what was an obvious bad call and should not have been a penalty as Okposo jumped himself and hadn’t even touched Tatar, which made it seem as though Tatar had tripped him.

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Leading the league in powerplay goals, the Sabres capitalized with a gorgeous goal. I really appreciate the puck movement and vision the Sabres have on the powerplay, as they seem very comfortable and skilled. The Canadiens had multiple chances of clearing the puck while killing the penalty, but were not able to do it a single time. This has been a wide-spread issue for the habs for many seasons now. The defencemen need to take advantage of having the puck on a penalty kill and clear it as fast as they possibly can, or else it will result in goals against, as we saw in the Sabres’ first powerplay.

As the Habs became dominated throughout the first period, they were called for another penalty, which was a fair call as Kotkaniemi was called for tripping as he was not holding onto his stick tight enough and let it slip through the Sabres’ defenseman’s legs. I wish Kotkaniemi would be a little more careful with his stick as this has been a trait of his since the beginning of his young career, nonetheless, he still played a very good game. However, this penalty turned into a positive as Joel Armia tied the game on the penalty kill after forcing a turnover and having a great passing play between himself and Thompson. Armia is extremely underrated as he is one of the strongest players in the league and is one of the hardest to fight the puck against. Armia used his strength to turn the puck over and eventually lead to a goal!

Habs later killed the penalty and had a powerplay of their own, as Nick Suzuki earned his first point of his career with an assist to Armia’s second goal of the game, after a very good and dangerous powerplay. The Habs’ powerplay has been very impressive so far this season and it is refreshing to see after they ended with one of the worst powerplays of last season. As mentioned, Armia is a power forward and displayed his strength and skill during his second goal as he shot it in the corner behind Hutton with a slick backhand shot. Suzuki played the powerplay very well and had most of the puck control throughout the powerplay, so his point was very well deserved.

Starting the second period, Tatar headed to the box, yet again, after actually deserving a penalty this time. Like Kotkaniemi, Tatar let his stick way too loose and let a selfish and unneeded slashing penalty, which was obviously not appreciated by Claude Julien as he had already let in a shorthanded goal this game. Taking advantage of the powerplay, Jack Eichel scored with a beautiful shot going post and in. Eichel has been an absolute joy to watch all season long, as his skating ability and puck handling skills are amongst the league’s elite.

Habs went on to earn a powerplay, which had good puck movement even though I felt as though Max Domi was trying to make too many unnecessary plays rather than going with the system and making clear and easy plays for his teammates. He was making rough and very fast passes, which usually resulted in the puck being cleared out by the Sabres.

Throughout the entire 2nd period, the Habs played the worst defence they’ve played in at least the past 2 seasons. It was actually depressing to watch as fans. Not only were defenseman not able to clear the puck during penalty kills, they could not maintain possession in the offensive zone, and were a main factor into how Eichel was able to score his second of the game, as both defencemen let him shoot right through them. Defense seemed slow, tired and unprepared as the Sabres’ speedy forwards were dancing in their offensive zone for the majority of the evening.

Of course not everything is to blame on the defence. Eichel’s second of the game was an effect of a terrible shift caused by every single player on the ice, including Kinkaid. Kinkaid played solid for most of the game, but there was no excuse as to how and why that shot from Eichel got through him.

Overall, the 2nd period was a disaster from start to finish for the Habs, as they let the Sabres get on the board twice to enter the 3rd period with a confident lead. Habs needed to regroup and come into the 3rd period with a lot more effort than what we saw in the 2nd period.

Starting the 3rd period, Habs let in a goal after a lazy defensive play and effort to extend the Sabres’ lead by 2 goals. Luckily for the Habs, an amazing shift from Drouin and Armia led to Kotkaniemi scoring his second goal of the season. I really enjoyed Drouin’s efforts in this shift as he worked hard on the boards to get it deep to Armia who brilliantly tipped the puck to Kotkaniemi who ripped it home. Kotkaniemi has been playing very well so far early in this season. He and Drouin seem to be complementing each other very well, which more than likely makes the team and coaches optimistic.

Even though the defence had struggled for most of the game, Ben Chiarot got in the scoring action as he netted his first goal in a Habs uniform. After much pressure from the Habs in the second half of the 3rd period, it was good to see the Habs being rewarded for their hard play.

In my opinion, the Habs need to do something regarding the effort they are showing so far this year. All games have had very bad 2nd periods, which made the team have to fight hard until the very end. Why can’t they show this same effort in the 2nd periods? Leaders need to step up and actions need to be taken to make sure the Habs start playing with a little more passion throughout the full 60 minutes.

The Sabres later on went to win the game in overtime, but I really liked the game that Kinkaid brought to the Habs. He played a phenomenal 3rd period which enabled the Habs to stay in the game, which eventually led to the Habs earning a point in the loss.

With strong performances from Armia, Drouin and Kinkaid, I think the Canadiens need to make a few adjustments to the lineup before the Habs take on the Red Wings tomorrow for their home opener. I would like to see Fleury back in the lineup, as the 3rd pairing was a liability for the team throughout the entirety or the game, especially Folin. I would not mind keeping Reilly in the lineup, as he played up to his expectations.

The Bell Center crowd will undoubtedly bring more passion and heat to the hearts of the players, which will hopefully enable the Habs to play the full 60 minutes tomorrow.