Montreal Canadiens: 24 Thoughts As Habs Return To .500 With Win Over Blue Jackets
Third Period Thoughts
Heading into the third period there have been zero penalties called so far tonight. That is pretty rare and the lack of special teams play has led to evenly spread ice time. Guhle leads the pack, as he often does now, with 17:38 but up front it is Josh Anderson playing the most with 11:13. WHY!?!?!?
Anderson gets his lip split open by a high stick early in the third period but the referees really want to keep their no-hitter going and look the other way.
When Gustav Lindstrom arrived in a trade from the Detroit Red Wings, there were fans who said he was actually kinda sneaky good and could play a bigger role than people thought and there were fans who pointed out he was often a healthy scratch on a bad Wings blue line and thought he was not great. The fans who were concerned he could not play on a bad Wings team were the correct ones.
Sean Monahan is a smart, talented two-way player. I just feel so bad watching him play with Anderson and Armia. You would think $9 million worth of wingers would get you more than one goal every quarter of a season…. but sometimes it does not.
The Blue Jackets forgot to make a line change which left only three players on the ice while the Habs broke out of their own zone. In their own Habs-way, the Canadiens turned a gift of a 5-on-3 into zero shots on goal, but it was interesting to see the seas part as the Blue Jackets just didn’t know who to put on the ice. After sitting Laine and benching Gaudreau earlier this season, maybe they have benched literally everyone tonight.
Slafkovsky uses a couple of quick strides to get into position to win a puck battle and then just tosses Ivan Provorov aside to regain control of the puck for the Habs. This guy is going to be a beast that is nearly impossible to contain in the next couple of years.
Armia makes a great tip as he gets to the front of the net and redirects a point blast by Mike Matheson. Maybe the Hawks will give up a 7th rounder in 2036.
Canadiens move back to NHL .500 with 22 points in 22 games and are on pace for 82 points on the season. That would still probably leave them nearly in the bottom five, and be a big step forward. Bring Dach back next season and the team is immediately better. Adding another top six scoring threat is a huge need to keep building toward the playoffs.
Next. Jacob Fowler Gives Habs Reason For Hope In Crease. dark
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