Third Period Thoughts
Lines in a blender here to start the third. Ylonen is out with Slafkovsky and though it was not much of a chance, Ylonen can really fire a puck. He just stepped over the line and let a quick wrist shot go that Swayman stopped but kind of fumbled as it hit him. I’d like to see a little more of Ylonen in the top six.
Slafkovsky gets a holding penalty and the Bruins work their magic again on the power play. This time it is James van Riemsdyk, who I kind of forgot existed, and it is 5-1. That is the 8th time already this season that the Habs allowed five goals.
Most teams, when they get a lead early, slip a little defensively throughout the game. You often see a team pull ahead 3-0 only to suddenly be leading 3-2 or at least have the losing team coming at them in waves. That is not the case with the Bruins. They are exceptional defensively and do not let up at all. Their goaltenders have ridiculous numbers for a reason, and it is because they play behind the stingiest defensive group in the league. Oh, and their goalies are also really good if you can ever get to them.
Tanner Pearson has been pretty quiet lately. Of course, most Habs have been quiet offensively so maybe I shouldn’t pick on him. He was moved down to the fourth line tonight with Jake Evans and Michael Pezzetta and they have not created much. He looked better with fellow savvy veterans Sean Monahan and Brendan Gallagher.
I don’t know how other teams will evaluate Habs goalies. I thought Cayden Primeau looked great for about 55 minutes against Vegas but he allowed six goals. I thought Allen was really good early in this game but they just keep getting peppered with shots and now he has allowed five. Does anyone want them? Will they make an offer that brings something of value to Montreal? I have no idea.
Johnathan Kovacevic has zero points in his first 16 games of the season but he now has goals in back to back games. He jumped up into the play and was stopped after a couple of nice passes from Slafkovksy and Christian Dvorak set him up, but he dug out the rebound and slid it over the line.
An assist on that play for Slafkovsky who carried the puck into the attacking zone and found Dvorak with a crisp pass. That’s two points tonight and three in his last three games after having just two in his first 15 games of the season. Progress!
Playing five games in eight nights is difficult and the Canadiens lost their final four in that stretch. Things are taking a major turn for the worse after that 5-2-1 start. Still just two regulation wins this season after 18 games played. All signs are pointing to another really high draft pick in the spring.
Want your voice heard? Join the A Winning Habit team!