Tonight, the Montreal Canadiens will be facing the Toronto Maple Leafs for Game 6 of Round 1 of the playoffs. They will be playing in front of fans at the Bell Centre for the first time in over a year.
Last game, the Montreal Canadiens showed that they could capitalize and that maybe their offence is not as big of an issue as we thought.
But, let’s be realistic and discuss how they were able to score for most of this series.
Off of the Leafs’ mistakes.
The Montreal Canadiens Must Take Advantage of the Leafs’ Mistakes
What first comes to mind is the overtime goal by Nick Suzuki, assisted by Cole Caufield. It all started with Alex Galchenyuk’s no-look pass. It was intercepted by Caufield and allowed him and Suzuki to have a 2 on 0 and score the game-winning goal about a minute into overtime.
Another player that has made costly mistakes for the Leafs is Rasmus Sandin, who, unfortunately for the Habs and fortunately for the Leafs, will probably not be playing tonight.
He was unable to stop Paul Byron from scoring a shorthanded goal in Game 1, and cost the Leafs two goals in Game 4.
However, if the Canadiens are able to take advantage of every little (or big) mistake and capitalize from it, it could lead them to a second win in a row and a chance to beat the Leafs in Game 7.
Galchenyuk’s linemate William Nylander has also been considered a defensive liability for some time, though he has been red hot lately. If the Canadiens can be ready for any mistakes the Leafs can possibly make, and score on them, it should be enough for them to win the game.
It’s also important to remember that they can’t afford to make any mistakes, because even though Carey Price has been their best player, they should not allow the Leafs to generate many – or any – high-danger chances. So, playing defensively will also be crucial to shut down the Leafs’ top players.