Montreal Canadiens: 24 Thoughts On Habs Being Blown Out By Bruins
Second Period Thoughts
David Pastrnak played just four minutes in the first period and left the bench for a while. He is back out to start the second period which makes coming back from down a pair extremely more difficult.
Suzuki made a ridiculous pass across the slot to Alex Newhook, but he can’t convert (this actually is a recording). Suzuki’s playmaking ability is underrated and he should always just play with Caufield because they have chemistry, they are the two best offensive weapons on the team and can create offense on a nightly basis with Suzuki’s setup skills and Caufield’s goal scoring ability.
Brendan Gallagher carries the puck into the Bruins zone and is hauled down. There is no call because… refs. The play heads back the other way and a weird shot at other end goes in as Hampus Lindholm tries to tee it up but it rolls along the ice like one of my golf drives and trickles between Allen’s pads. Three goal holes are hard to climb out of against anyone, and that is especially true against a disciplined team like the Bruins.
Speaking of the Bruins discipline and exceptional defensive system, I always thought Jim Montgomery would have made a fine head coach of the Canadiens. Born in Montreal (and bilingual) he has an impressive coaching resume. Anyway, the Habs chose Martin St. Louis instead and Montgomery won’t be leaving the Bruins any time soon.
Juraj Slafkovsky gets his second of the season! He finds some space in the slot and Suzuki finds him with a pass and the Canadiens first overall pick rips a one-timer over Jeremy Swayman’s shoulder to get the Habs on the board.
Shortly after Slafkovsky’s goal, the Canadiens got a power play which gave them a chance to pull within one. Instead, the two minutes is mostly ineffective and then as it ends, and with the Habs still having just one defenseman on the ice, Trent Frederic breaks down the wing and fires the puck past Allen to make it 4-1.
Well, 14 shots against is better than 19 but they still allowed a pair of goals in the second period. This team is starting to look outmatched most nights and I really don’t remember how they were able to beat this Bruins team just seven days ago.
Interestingly, Kaiden Guhle is leading the team in ice time, taking that torch from Mike Matheson who is among the league leaders in minutes played.
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.
Next. Should Habs Ship Out Young Defense For Young Forwards?. dark
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