10 Thoughts: Habs Mount Important Comeback in Shootout Loss

The Habs got their first chance at what should be a winnable week that started at Nationwide Arena in Columbus on Monday where they faced the Blue Jackets and the dreaded cannon. The suddenly depleted Canadiens needed to come out strong after last week’s performances did little to convince anyone that they could overcome this sudden rash of injuries to important members of its roster. Instead, they came out rather flat and needed some third-period heroics to get the game to overtime.

Lane Hutson and Josh Anderson likely played their best period of the season to get the Habs back into this game and secure a point. That type of character effort to gut out a comeback might be the first step in getting the team back on track despite only coming out with one point. 

Habs Lineup

Cole Caufield — Nick Suzuki — Zack Bolduc
Juraj Slafkovsky – Oliver Kapanen — Ivan Demidov
Joshua Roy – Jake Evans – Josh Anderson
Jared Davidson – Joe Veleno – Brendan Gallagher 

Mike Matheson – Noah Dobson
Jayden Struble — Lane Hutson
Arber Xhekaj – Alex Carrier 

Jakub Dobes 

10 Thoughts

1) Goaltending remains an issue for Montreal which was bound to happen with Samuel Montembeault struggling and Jakub Dobes still being far too loud in his crease to have sustained success. For all the fans blaming the coaches for not riding Dobes while he was hot, my response is simply that Dobes was never hot. He was hot last year when he first came up. He’s been so loud in his movements thus far this season that he was more lucky than good to start the year. They need Montembeault to get back on track, both for team success and for Dobes to get back to work as the backup, looking to continue his development as a more fundamentally sound big goaltender. 

2) While it is clear that players like Joe Veleno and Joshua Roy have more skill, this writer would like the Habs to employ an identity line while the team is missing so many core players to play their usual style. That’s right, I’m advocating for a Davidson-Xhekaj-Gallagher fourth line who has a mission to play sound defensively, play a north-south game, and disrupt the other team. This team has enough of Jake Evans and Anderson playing the “defensive mission” line on this team, they don’t need two of those lines. 

3) The Blue Jackets pounced on their fragile foe early as they dominated the first half period thanks to a 7-1 shot advantage. They also scored first as Zach Werenski was gifted far too much space and time seven minutes into the period. Noah Dobson doubled coverage on a player that Mike Matheson was covering, which allowed Werenski to skate in from the blue line all the way to the high slot where he fired home an off-speed shot that fooled Dobes. 

4) The second half of the period saw the Habs push back while making obvious what is currently ailing the team. They climbed the shot clock back to 9-8, though they could not score. Every time they decided to outwork Columbus playing a north-south game, they got scoring chances, none better than the rebound chance for Evans created by a Jayden Struble point shot and a generous Jet Greaves rebound. Every time they attempted the extra lateral pass, the play would end up in their own zone. Too cute, too often. 

5) Montreal tied the game five minutes into the second period thanks to solid puck possession plays by both Juraj Slafkovsky and Matheson. Slafkovsky went around the Jackets’ zone holding on to the puck and allowing his linemates to create chaos around him. He did this instead of trying the fancy pass and then Matheson got the pass from Slafkovsky and did the same until Oliver Kapanen got open in the slot, received a pass, and fired it home. 

6) The Habs were then a victim of their own fragility. An Evans dump-in bounced off the linesman and into the net. However, the play was ruled offside nor is a team allowed to score by banking a puck off an official, and the goal was disallowed. A minute later, Alex Carrier lost a puck battle in the defensive zone, then he stood around after Dobson covered for him. What was worse than the Carrier reaction was the slot coverage by Roy which was several degrees too soft as Adam Fantilli put home a go-ahead goal for the Jackets. 

7) The Canadiens then got into penalty trouble as Jared Davidson was called for a rather soft hook. Nick Suzuki was guilty of being too cute while on a penalty kill and he was then called for slashing on his attempted back-check. The short 5-on-3 didn’t score, but Kirill Marchenko found Dmitri Voronkov on a back-door play for a power play marker to make it 3-1. 

8) Montreal made it 3-2 just before the 10-minute mark of the third period with a list of Habs’ players doing what made them successful last year. Evans played hard on the puck and then took some punishment in front of the net. Hutson danced on the blue line and found a way to get the puck to the net. Credit to Roy, who I thought wasn’t very good on this night, but he was creating chaos in front of the net on this play. Anderson was the player who put it in, and he deserved it. His north-south play to win his battle, get the puck to the blue line, and then winning his positioning coming back down to the front of the net opened the lane for him to it home. 

9) With 1:20 left and Dobes on the bench, Hutson and Dobson did an excellent job of exposing a Columbus player without a stick to find a lane and put a puck to the net.  From there, Suzuki and Slafkovsky created a great screen for Hutson’s shot to get through and tie the game. 

10) The Habs completely dominated the overtime period but were unable to beat Greaves, which allowed the game to get to the shootout. There, Johnson scored early and Suzuki hit the post. Dobes stopped Fantilli before both Caufield and Marchenko scored. Ivan Demidov was then stopped and the Jackets escaped with the extra point.

HabsWorld Habs 3 Stars

1st Star – Juraj Slafkovsky 

Slafkovsky had an excellent first game away from Caufield and Suzuki. He took the lead on the line and played heavy on the puck to create some time and space for others on the ice. The goal in the second period for the Habs was scored from him controlling the puck and the zone coverage around him from Columbus. More of this from Slafkovsky, less of him allowing himself to be the third wheel on the ice. 

Stats: 1 assist, +2, 2 shots, 1 hit, 18:47 T.O.I. 

2nd Star – Mike Matheson 

Matheson’s strong start to the season continued on this night as he was stellar in defensive zone coverage and was the one who made the play to get the Habs their first goal on the night. After Slafkovsky’s strong play, it was Matheson who was able to take the pass and use his feet to create chaos, which allowed Kapanen to get open in the slot. 

Stats: 1 assist, even, 3 shots, 29:25 T.O.I. 

3rd Star – Josh Anderson 

Anderson’s biggest problem so far this season is that he’s been too willing to play laterally instead of being a north-south bull like he was last season. Well, he found his game in the third period, and he was without a doubt the spark plug that got the team going for their come-from-behind effort.

Stats: 1 goal, even, 3 shots, 1 hit, 16:11 T.O.I.