Canadiens: 24 Thoughts On Habs Near Miss In Game 30
The Montreal Canadiens hosted their final game of 2023 last night as they welcomed the New York Islanders to the Bell Centre.
The Canadiens entered the game with a 12-13-4 record and though they struggle to win games in regulation, they do keep finding ways to add a point here and there in the standings. A win in this game would bring them back to .500 and on pace for an 82 point season.
Here are 24 thoughts on the Canadiens game versus the Islanders as we watch it.
First Period Thoughts
Sam Montembeault gets the start in goal. This is his second start in a row which is a rare occurence with the three goalie rotation going on in Montreal. The Hurricanes put a goaltender on waivers yesterday so maybe they are looking to add one? Jake Allen to Carolina anyone?
Top line of Cole Caufield, Nick Suzuki and Juraj Slafkovsky looked good early on. First shift of the game and they were all over the Islanders. This line is going to have to deal with a lot of difficult matchups this season as the Habs don't really have a second line that can score. Will be interesting to see if they can start to find the back of the net more frequently soon.
Michael Pezzetta was cross checked in the back at center ice without every having touched the puck, yet there was no call. I know you can't expect referees to be 100% consistent, but can we expect them to always call someone for cross checking an opponent in the back even though that player never touched the puck? I guess not.
Caufield batted the puck out of midair on a rebound but it was stopped by Semyon Varlamov. When you watch Caufield, you think he would have a couple of goals every night, but he had seven in first 29 games this season. That's barely a 20 goal pace which can't continue as he seems to be getting chances from all over the offensive zone on a nightly basis.
Vintage Brendan Gallagher in front but just couldn't get the puck to roll over the line. Nice to see him drive the net like he did, get a tip on the puck (which hit the post) and then battle for the rebound which he slid pretty much to the goal line before it hit a defenseman's skate blade and just barely stayed out long enough for Varlamov to pounce on it.
Speaking of Varlamov, if the Canadiens are going to carry three goaltenders, they should consider getting at least one that is as good as the Islanders backup. The Russian veteran is sporting a .921 save percentage in his first ten games of the season and is clearly second fiddle on Long Island to Ilya Sorokin.
Jayden Struble looks like a machine on NHL ice. He just flies through the neutral zone with the puck and though he didn't score in the opening period, he did a subtle little toe drag to change the angle of his release before firing a bullet of a wrist shot on goal. Hard to believe he had just one goal in 31 college games last season.
Joel Armia is well known as a defensive forward that is great in his own end but he did not look good when stuck in a defenseman's position. He turned the puck over the offensive zone and ended up being the last man back on a rush the other way. Brock Nelson made a subtle little stickhandle and Armia just watch him skate by with full control as Nelson got a tremendous scoring chance that was turned aside by Montembeault.
Second Period Thoughts
The Canadiens penalty kill remains a work in progress. Even though they killed off the first penalty of the night last night, they were in their own end with the puck being zipped around the whole time while the Islanders created scoring chance after scoring chance. With all due respect, the Islanders power play isn't littered with Hall of Famers, but they looked like it against the Habs passive penatly kill.
Is there a worse second line in the league than Sean Monahan with Jake Evans and Josh Anderson? Monahan created a few chances on his own early in the second period, but it just feels like there is no chance of the puck going from Evans or Anderson's stick and into the back of the net.
I know injuries play a role into the Habs lack of offensive attack, mostly the absence of Alex Newhook and Kirby Dach, but isn't there someone better than Evans to play on a second line? Jesse Ylonen? Joshua Roy? Grabbing Jakub Vrana off waivers? Anything, please!
Gallagher makes a nice little play to create a Joel Armia goal to open the scoring. Gallagher rams into his opponent and knocks the puck loose, then as another Islanders comes in to claim the loose puck, and Gallagher falls nearly, the Habs gritty veteran just pokes the puck away from the opposition and into open space in the offensive zone. Armia collected it, pulled it to the forehand and wristed a shot over Varlamov to give the Canadiens a 1-0 lead.
Josh Anderson has finally beaten an NHL goaltender to score a goal. First time that has happened since he redirected a puck on March 13, 2023 and put it past Alexandar Georgiev.
I can't believe the Canadiens once offered Sebastian Aho a five year contract with a big cap hit to be their first line center. He looks like a depth defenseman at best.....
Anderson decided waiting nine months to score a goal on a goaltender was a bit too long so he waited about nine minutes this time. He drove to the net with some reckless abandon which is exactly what a big power forward is supposed to do and he bangs in a rebound to make it 3-0. More of that please.
Slafkovsky got in on the forecheck, worked the puck to Suzuki who made a perfect pass to Caufield who ripped a one-timer and found the back of the net. I am copying that last sentence because I plan on using it an awful lot in the next decade. Love to see that line finally get rewarded for their great play of late.
Third Period Thoughts
I guess I can cancel that emergency search for a second line winger now that Anderson scored twice in the second period....
The Islanders played the previous night, and were down four to start the third period last night, so you expect the Canadiens to be able to kind of put it into cruise control for 20 minutes. They have not earned many points the easy way this season though, so they could pull a Columbus Blue Jackets and blow a five goal lead in a hurry.
And just like that the Canadiens, on the power play, allow the first goal of the third period to make it 4-1. Brock Nelson just beat Mike Matheson wide and got a clean shot off while shorthanded that beat Montembeault.
Justin Barron made a high risk play and turned the puck over at the top of his own crease. Kaiden Guhle got caught on a similar play in the Habs last game. That pairing has a ton of potential, but they need to learn to make quicker reads and keep things safer in their own end at times. Moving slowly from behind your own net to the front of it is a high danger area and turnovers can never happen there.
The Islanders get another one as Noah Dobson, who is rapidly becoming an elite defenseman, sets up Brock Nelson at the side of the net and he taps it in. I did say the Canadiens never get points the easy way, and now they have just a two goal lead with 16 minutes to play.
Alexander Romanov played a ton of minutes for the Islanders with some of their top defenders out with injury. He still looks like the same Romanov we knew in Montreal which is to say he is a physical presence and a quick skater, but he doesn't look any better offensively. Essentially swapping him for Dach still looks like the right move, especailly with so many left defenseman on the Canadiens.
Second line center Jake Evans loses a faceoff, loses his man defensively, and the Islanders pull within one as a Noah Dobson shot is stopped and Bo Horvat buries the rebound. Emergency search for a second liner is back on!
Christian Dvorak scored into the empty net to ensure the Canadiens avoid embarassment. Suzuki made a smart play to get the puck to Dvorak in open ice instead of just hammering it around the boards from his own zone. With the, the Canadiens win the rematch of the 1993 Eastern Conference Finals 5-3.