10 Thoughts – Lucky To Get One

The Canadiens returned to the road in Thursday’s matchup against the New Jersey Devils. On Tuesday, the Habs almost completed their three-goal comeback but dropped the extra point in the shootout against Philadelphia, a performance they were hoping not to replicate. Unfortunately for the CH, they reproduced a number of the same behaviours from Tuesday, including escaping the contest with a point.

Montreal arrived at the Prudential Center and nearly ran themselves out of the building during the game with the number of turnovers and pylon-like puck-watching sessions. The speed and momentum of the game remained with the Devils for the majority of playing time, and whether the Habs need rest, more practice, or simply some introspection is something the head coach is likely ruminating on at present.

Starting Lines

Caufield – Suzuki – Slafkovsky
Newhook – Kapanen – Demidov
Bolduc – Dach – Gallagher
Veleno – Evans – Anderson

Struble – Hutson
Matheson – Dobson
Xhekaj – Carrier

Dobes (Starting) – Montembeault (Backup)

10 Thoughts

1) The Devils are a fast team, something that was on display during the first few minutes of the game. On the first shot of the game, Oliver Kapanen and Alex Newhook ran into each other at the blue line and dropped the puck off for recently returned Cody Glass. The New Jersey forward carried the puck into the zone with speed through the left circle and fired a wrister past Dobes to put the host squad up early. Only a minute or so later, the Canadiens got a break. Zach Bolduc’s faceoff deflected off of Kirby Dach back to Mike Matheson at the dot outside the Devils’ blue line. On the ensuing dump-in, Brendan Gallagher pressured the two Devils defenders and the puck trickled back to Noah Dobson, who sent a shot on goal. While en route to the net, Kirby Dach was able to reach and get a stick on the puck mid-air, sending it fluttering in an arc to land behind Jacob Markstrom.

2) The Habs did not have the legs under them for a second game in a row during the first period, and on their first three-on-two offensive rush, Dach ran right through Markstrom. He was immediately called for goaltender interference, and the Devils went on the power play with a unit of players who have scorched the Canadiens recently. Jake Evans was able to win faceoffs and relieve pressure for the first minute of the penalty kill, supported by Josh Anderson. These two seemed to play the entire two minutes, and Matheson also showed up with timely stick blocks and heavy checks below the goal line. Though they escaped unscathed on the scoresheet, the Devils renewed their pressure for the remainder of the period, and the Canadiens looked discombobulated and disorganized by the speed and movement of the Devils in their own zone. Forwards and defencemen on the Habs were often seen pointing, looking the wrong way as a pass went under them, or running into each other as their man-on-man system was exploited by a coach who clearly understands the Canadiens’ scheme.

3) With that being said, Montreal’s top players could not be held back from getting chances all game. Near the end of the first period, the Habs top line were able to grind out a possession and establish some zone time. Cole Caufield, Juraj Slafkovsky, and Nick Suzuki were all involved on the forecheck and got the puck through the middle of the ice and to the defencemen at the blue line. Passing high to low, eventually Lane Hutson forced the issue by attempting to go around Timo Meier, who tripped him up instead. The Canadiens were on the power play, but only for 20 seconds before Ivan Demidov was also rung up for tripping. As the puck was on its way up the wall, Demidov’s skate hit Dawson Mercer’s parallel, and as Mercer fell, Demidov’s stick ended up near his legs. Both teams exchanged breakaway chances on the resulting four-on-four play, but the period ended tied at one while the Devils had an 8-4 advantage in shots.

4) Both the Canadiens and Devils came out of the first intermission with pace and turnovers. The Devils jumped on bobbled and mishandled pucks to rush into the Canadiens’ zone and work their defencemen dizzy, while Montreal counterattacked with speed and skill. Jack Hughes had an excellent backhand chance blocked by his own teammate along the goal line, and Demidov just missed an open-net deflected in the same spot 200 feet away behind Markstrom. New Jersey reclaimed the lead at 11:55 of the second. Ondrej Palat scored from Simon Nemec as the Devils’ defender passed the rebound of his shot behind his back to the front of the net. Suzuki did not notice Palat as he crept behind him and Slafkovsky wasn’t able to get his stick on Palat’s fast enough to prevent the shot. The forwards were puck-watching, and Dobes wasn’t able to close his arm in time to stop the shot.

5) Kapanen was called for an eerily similar tripping call to Demidov’s to give the Devils the man advantage again two minutes later. Hughes showcased how slippery ice truly can be, and the Evans – Anderson – Matheson – Carrier unit spent the entire two minutes defending chance after chance. The home team moved the puck around the zone quickly and peppered Dobes from the perimeter, and penetrated for shots down low in the slot. They bent, but did not break, and all five Canadiens on the ice earned their paycheck for the game on that singular sequence. Principally, Evans continued to prove how valuable he is to the Habs.

6) After a chippy shift between the Dach and Luke Glendening lines in the Devils’ zone late in the second, Nemec was called for hooking Dach as the puck was behind the net. The top group was able to achieve zone time and pass the puck around, but the penalty killing unit for the Devils had only given up four goals so far this season, and were perfectly placed to intercept and block both Caufield’s and Demidov’s seam passes and clear the zone multiple times.

7) 59 seconds into the third period, Evans was rewarded for his efforts through the first month of the season. Streaking down the wing, he sent a seemingly harmless shot through Markstrom’s pads to even the match at two goals apiece. The Canadiens were soon called for another penalty, as Jayden Struble was penalized for hooking Stefan Noesen’s arm as he spun with the puck behind Dobes. Back to work, the defenders escaped another close call as a seam pass from Hughes deflected off of Dobson’s legs towards the empty net, and then again off his stick as he tried to stop the puck from going in. Dobson is able to just barely hold it against the post in a miraculous effort, before clearing the puck and the rest of the power play soon after.

8) Three minutes later, Paul Cotter was bringing the puck up through the neutral zone when Struble stood him up, getting his hands high and into Cotter’s facial area. The forward threw his head back, and the trailing referee made the high-sticking call, sending the Habs back to a dangerous situation. Once more, the Canadiens sold out on the kill, blocking shots, diving for loose pucks, and supporting Dobes down low with strong sticks. Two minutes after the penalty expired, Kapanen was able to capitalize on a series of strong shifts and hard work from his linemates to free the puck and put it on net. All three forwards were below the circle on the forecheck after Kapanen dumped the puck in. Demidov and Kapanen both paired off with their matchups in the zone, and it ended up in the corner in a scrum. The puck squirted out to Newhook, who was just inside the circle to Markstrom’s left. The netminder stopped the initial shot at point-blank range, but the immediate rebound dropped onto the backhand of Kapanen to put the Habs up by one.

9) However, they weren’t able to hold the advantage.  With 1:07 remaining and the Devils with the extra attacker, as Matheson is lying on the ice following a shot block, Meier was able to take advantage of his status to get stick position along Dobes’ left post, and jammed the puck against his pad. The force of Meier’s shot forced its way through, and the home team was able to finish to tie the game at three and send it to overtime.

10) After ~1:30, Jesper Bratt took the puck off Newhook’s stick as he curled at the blue line and sent himself in on a breakaway. One of the best in the league, he deked Dobes and put the puck underneath the netminder to give the home crowd the victory and put the Canadiens away for their second loss in a row.

HW Habs 3 Stars

1st Star:  Jakub Dobes – This game would easily have been 6-3 if not for the play of the formerly undefeated rookie goaltender. Not only was he making desperation saves to bail the Habs out of bad giveaways, but he was also calm in the net and settled the game down in the first half as the Habs did not have their skating legs, again.

Stats: 24 SV, 3.90 GAA, .857 SV%

2nd Star: Jake Evans – Similarly to Dobes, without the direct play of Evans, the Devils would have had numerous more high-quality scoring chances, especially on the power play. Evans scored the tying goal at two, a just reward from the hockey gods for playing the game the right way with pride.

Stats: 1 goal, +/- 0 rating, 1 shot, 2 BLK, 18:01 TOI

3rd Star: Noah Dobson – Dobson had to show up tonight in a big way, and the Canadiens were on their heels for much of the evening. He showed up, providing quality offensive puck touches, moving the puck out of the zone on his shifts, and facilitating the transition play. Furthermore, his defensive awareness and interceptions showed why his pairing with Matheson will pay dividends for the years to come on his contract.

Stats: 2 assists, +3 rating, 2 shots, 1 BLK, 1 Hit, 20:59 TOI