Montreal Canadiens: 5 Takeaways for the Habs Following Game 1

The Montreal Canadiens came into the Stanley Cup semifinals having won seven straight games and having yet to trail in 437:53 minutes of hockey. However, after Shea Theodore opened up the scoring 9:15 into the first period the Golden Knights snapped that streak and would eventually win 4-1. The win was the Golden Knights’ fifth win in a row and more importantly, it gave them the early 1-0 series lead.

Here are the five takeaways from Game 1. Three of them are negatives that will need to be corrected in order to have any chance in the series, and the other two are positives to build on

1. Avoiding Critical Mistakes – Negative

One of the reasons that the Montreal Canadiens were so successful in winning their last seven games was because they played nearly flawless hockey. They won key defensive zone faceoffs, they did not take meaningless penalties and they were fundamentally strong in all three zones. However, in Game 1, they failed at all three of those things. They took three penalties in the first ten minutes of the second period, after taking one late in the first. Head coach Dominique Ducharme was forced in the second period to play penalty killers Paul Byron, Artturi Lehkonen, and Joel Armia more than Cole Caufield and Jesperi Kotkaniemi because of the slew of calls.

Ben Chiarot got a delay of game penalty from 180 feet away, Joel Edmundson got frustrated and slashed a Golden Knights forward, and Brett Kulak had a very poor tripping call. While the Golden Knights failed to score on any of the powerplay opportunities, they did create enough momentum that led to goals being scored a few minutes following.

Montreal will need to avoid staying out of the box against a team that has a ton of weapons on special teams. The other big thing was the key faceoffs. Vegas came into this series with the best faceoff percentage of any playoff team, and even though the Canadiens edged them in total faceoff percentage in Game 1, two costly goals came from defensive zone faceoff losses. If they want to win this series they will need to correct the mistakes and do the small things, starting with winning key defensive zone faceoffs.

2. The Hopeful Return Of Jeff Petry- Positive

If there was one thing that was clearly missing from Game 1, it was the absence of Jeff Petry. Petry suffered a strange injury in Game 3 against the Winnipeg Jets, in which he dislocated two of his fingers on the small camera hole on the side of the glass. Petry is arguably the Canadiens’ most important defenseman. Not only does he play big minutes, but he is also great defensively and his first pass out of the zone is one of the best in the league.

It’s clear that the Vegas Golden Knights defense core is the best the Canadiens have faced in the playoffs. The Golden Knights’ defenseman now has 37 points in the playoffs compared to the 13 Montreal has. The only goal the Canadians have got from the blueline is from Erik Gustafsson while the Golden Knights have nine, three of which came in Game 1. In order for Montreal to win this series, they will need Jeff Petry to come back and make a difference.

3. Lack Of Depth Defenseman- Negative

Sticking with the defenseman theme, the Canadiens defenseman were exposed for their lack of scoring as well as some defensive mishaps. For the first two series, the Canadiens have played around with their bottom pair, having players like Kulak, Gustafsson, Jon Merrill, and Alex Romanov saw a scarce amount of ice time as the top four of Petry, Shea Weber, Ben Chiarot, and Joel Edmundson played close to 88 percent of the minutes.

It worked in the first two rounds but it was exposed in Game 1. The Montreal defenseman were a combined minus nine, and Kulak and Gustaffson looked completely out of place, especially on Vegas’ second goal. After reviewing the tape Ducharme will have to make some tough decisions if both Petry and Merrill are healthy. However, the lone bright spot was Romanov who laid a booming hit on Alex Pietrangelo in the first period and was solid in the 15:11 minutes he played and deserves a nod in Game 2 regardless.

4. Goal Caufield To The Rescue- Positive

When a goal scorer finally gets on the board, it usually means that the floodgates have opened. That will hopefully be the case for rookie Cole Caufield. Caufield scored his first-ever playoff goal, and it was a big moment for him and his family who were at the T-Moblie Arena to witness it. Caufield’s goal came on the powerplay which all of a sudden has scored in six of the past seven games.

Caufield’s line with Tyler Toffoli and Nick Suzuki will be asked to produce a lot in the series. They combined for just two points in Game 1. Now that he has got his first career playoff goal, the hope now is that when Caufield does get chances he will pot them in. If Caufield can get going and put a few behind Marc-Andre Fleury, the Canadiens will have a really good chance to beat Vegas.

5. Finding Ways To Beat Marc-Andre Fleury – Negative

In the first two series, it was the Toronto Maple Leafs and Winnipeg Jets complaining about how tough it was to beat Carey Price. Price was incredible and even though he went up against good goaltenders in Jack Campbell and Connor Hellebuyck, it’s the three-time Stanley Cup champion Marc-Andre Fleury that could pose the biggest challenge yet.

Fleury has been sensational for the Golde Knights this playoffs, posting a 9-4 record with a 1.84 GAA and a .927 save percentage. Sometimes for goalies, it’s when the saves are made that are even more important than how many he makes. After a week away, the Canadiens showed up to the full capacity of fans at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and did not show any rust. In the first eight minutes of the game, the Canadiens had four to five slot chances and a couple of really good opportunities to open up the scoring. The Canadiens had built their seven-game winning streak on the back of scoring the first goal in each of those games. Had Nick Suzuki or Josh Anderson scored on their opportunities, there is no telling what that would have done to the outcome of the game.

Instead, Fleury made a ton of key saves early on, and the Golden Knights responded with the first goal of the game. Then in the final five minutes with the goalie pulled and the game seemingly out of reach the Canadiens tried to put one or two behind the Golden Knights goalie to try and get back into the game as well as gain some momentum heading into Game 2. However, the veteran Fleury stood his ground and made one key save after another.

If Montreal wants to win this series they will need to create more traffic around Fleury and have active sticks for a tip-in. One thing for sure is that the Canadiens need to get more shots on the net, as well as activating their defense more. If they don’t, they won’t be able to extend this series and there is only so much Carey Price can do.