10 Thoughts: Habs shut out again, this time by Gibson and the Red Wings

The Detroit Red Wings arrived in Montreal tied with the Canadiens for the lead of the Atlantic division (never mind Tampa having a better points percentage), making the Saturday night tangle about the division lead. The Habs had the first of their injured players return, with Kaiden Guhle back in the starting lineup for the first time in 40 games.

Guhle didn’t turn out to be the star of the game, though, as much as he played a credible first game back after his injury. Instead, it was John Gibson, the Detroit goaltender, who has been excellent for the past month and some, after struggling early in the season (does that sound familiar to any Habs fans?) and the Canadiens ended up being blanked 4-0 on the strength of Gibson’s play and their solid defence.

Starting Lines

Caufield – Suzuki – Texier
Slafkovsky – Kapanen – Demidov
Bolduc – Danault – Gallagher
Blais – Veleno – Beck

Matheson – Dobson
Hutson – Carrier
Guhle – Xhekaj

Fowler
Dobes

Ten Thoughts

1) The Habs had legs to start the game, and just 20 seconds into the game, Alexandre Carrier sent Nick Suzuki on a breakaway. Suzuki couldn’t find the corner of the net, though, shooting just wide, but it looked like a strong start to the game. Ivan Demidov and Kapanen combined for a nice two-on-one, with Kapanen just unable to tuck the puck between John Gibson’s pad and the goalpost.

2) And yet, at the end of the period, the bleu blanc et rouge had recorded only three shots on the Detroit net. 11 shot attempts, as compared to 26 for the Red Wings. And 0.34 xGF … ouch. While Montreal had decent puck possession and good passing, not shooting and not creating scoring chances is not a recipe for winning.

3) Then there were the penalties, two in the first alone, with none for Detroit. At 6:59, Carrier was called for holding Michael Rasmussen, and less than four minutes later, Brendan Gallagher got his stick up into the face of a falling Mason Appleton while sending the puck into the Detroit zone. The penalty kill units didn’t manage to clear the puck often, but they played aggressively, keeping the Wings’ shots to the outside. Lucas Raymond managed a goalpost, and Axel Sandin-Pellikka a shot on goal, but that was all across the two penalties.

4) Alexandre Texier was called early in the second period for holding J.T. Compher, Montreal’s third consecutive minor penalty. The penalty kill was solid again, but the frequent minors, err, penalty kills, are surely not part of the recipe for scoring goals and winning games.

5) The puck luck failed the Habs five minutes into the second frame. Mike Matheson attempted a pass to Gallagher from behind Gibson’s net but could not find the veteran winger with it. Instead, the Red Wings broke out into a quick counterattack, and as Alex DeBrincat dumped the puck in around the board, it hit something on the Zamboni exit door and caromed out to the front of the net. That was bad enough, but Jacob Fowler had gone behind the net to clear the puck, and couldn’t get back in time to prevent Raymond from tapping it into the empty net for a 1-0 Detroit lead.

6) Montreal did get a power play opportunity halfway through the period, as Emmitt Finnie attempted to get a hooking penalty called on Noah Dobson by repeatedly holding the Habs’ defenceman’s stick under his arm. The referees didn’t buy this, though, and sent Finnie off for holding the stick. Alas, all the Canadiens were able to do on the power play was to execute a lot of pretty passes.

7) And then, seven seconds of five-on-five play later, Detroit went back on the man advantage, with the Habs having had six skaters on the ice. Following up on those seven seconds, the Red Wings took only five seconds of power play to score and extend their lead to 2-0. Dylan Larkin won the faceoff, and then it was a quick sequence with Moritz Seider and DeBrincat before getting the puck back to Larkin for a quick one-timer that beat Fowler.

8) Things got worse early in the third, as Patrick Kane and Andrew Copp broke in on the right-side boards. Lane Hutson, Carrier, and Demidov all converged on the two attackers, but that left DeBrincat open, and a pass by Kane hit the tape on DeBrincat’s stick, enabling the Detroit sniper to one-time the puck past Fowler for a three-goal lead.

9) Fowler was out of the net early, with some five minutes remaining, and the Habs peppered Gibson with shots, but to no avail. Their shot total in the third was 13, more than the combined count for the first and second periods, but between the Detroit defence and Gibson’s goaltending, the end result was a big fat zero. The final xG edge was slightly in favour of Montreal, but if you can’t put the puck in the net, you can’t expect to win any games.

10) As a footnote, the Red Wings were dominant in the faceoff circle for much of the game, with a 58%-42% edge in faceoff wins. Larkin was 73% in the circle and Andrew Copp 65%, with Suzuki and Phillip Danault the primary victims of their faceoff prowess, at 41% and 25%, respectively. Oliver Kapanen didn’t have to face off with Larkin and Copp much, so he managed a 60% figure for the night.

HW Habs Three Stars

First Star: Noah Dobson (0g, 0a, 2 shots, -1, 2 blocks, 21:23 TOI) played another impressive game next to Mike Matheson, and the pair managed a 60% xGF for the game, albeit with a goal scored on them. Dobson has had detractors in the first half of the season, but he is demonstrating that he can be both an offensive threat and a defensive stalwart, well worth the contract the Habs gave him.

Second Star: Arber Xhekaj (0g, 0a, 2 shots, +0, 8 hits, 12:41) didn’t get a huge amount of ice time, but he played a responsible, penalty-free game while delivering bone-crushing hits on the unlucky Detroit forwards and unleashing some cannons on Gibson. This is exactly the kind of play the Canadiens need from Xhekaj, and what he needs to stay on the Habs’ roster.

Third Star: Nick Suzuki (0g, 0a, 4 shots, -2, 2 blocks, 23:30 TOI) played his 500th consecutive NHL game from the start of his career, no mean feat, and that alone earns him a star. Playing against Copp, Raymond, and Kane is a tough assignment, but the Suzuki line still created solid scoring chances, and would usually have been rewarded with at least a goal, but not on this occasion.