Montreal Canadiens Struggle to Solve Carter Hart in Game 1
By Emmanuel D
The Montreal Canadiens geared up to play Game 1 of the first round of the playoffs on Wednesday night against the Philadelphia Flyers. They kept pace the entire night but were unable to get on the scoreboard due to their own lack of finish and an inability to solve Flyers goaltender Carter Hart.
By the time the trade deadline had come and gone in the month of February, the Montreal Canadiens odds at making it into the playoffs seem further and further implausible, but when the NHL came back from its shutdown with a return-to-play plan, the Canadiens were given a second chance. This was one they did not waste, as was proven during the Stanley Cup Qualifiers when the Canadiens outplayed the Penguins in the final two games of that series.
They were now prepared to face off against the Philadelphia Flyers who were deemed the top seed in the Eastern Conference after a series of games against the Boston Bruins, Tampa Bay Lightning and the Washington Capitals.
The Montreal Canadiens would have to play to the best of their abilities in order to ensure the Philadelphia Flyers would not run away with this series. Loss aside, they should they are capable of doing so in tonight’s tilt.
Period One: Slow Start to the Series
It was a slow start to the game, almost as if it didn’t have the playoff excitement we expect from games like these. Jonathan Drouin took a slashing penalty, granting the Philadelphia Flyers their first man advantage as well as their first goal. Ivan Provorov got the Flyers their first powerplay goal of the playoffs. Claude Giroux and Travis Konecny.
This was certainly not the start to the series Jonathan Drouin after a strong game 4 against the Pittsburgh Penguins. He’d have to be better moving forward. He did just that as the game progressed.