10 Thoughts: Habs Get Physical in Game 3 Win

The Habs returned to the friendly confines of the Bell Centre to finally accomplish what the team wanted all season long, to play a playoff game at home. The fans were loud and ready to go, and the hometown team did not disappoint as they provided plenty of excitement in what was the craziest game of the entire NHL playoffs so far.

It was a penalty-filled game as the Canadiens really pushed back, coincidentally aided by the debut of one Arber Xhekaj. Montreal rattled the Capitals who were completely off their game for the entire third period as the Habs took the game by a 6-3 score. 

Habs Lineup

Cole Caufield — Nick Suzuki — Juraj Slafkovsky
Brendan Gallagher – Christian Dvorak– Josh Anderson
Alex Newhook – Jake Evans — Ivan Demidov
Emil Heineman – Oliver Kapanen – Joel Armia                          

Mike Matheson – Alexandre Carrier
Kaiden Guhle — Lane Hutson
Arber Xhekaj – David Savard 

Samuel Montembeault – Jakub Dobes 

10 Thoughts

1) The Habs came out strong and immediately got the crowd going with some physical play. Unfortunately, Matt Roy was able to pick up a rebound to beat Montembeault barely three minutes into the game. Montembeault had been awesome in the first two games, and he was awesome after this goal, but this was his first bad one allowed in these playoffs for an early Washington lead. 

2) Montreal was ahead in shots 10-3 in the first half of the period and ended it with a 15-7 advantage. They were all over the Caps. The teams exchanged power plays with Demidov replacing the injured Patrik Laine on the top unit. He was key to the unit as he added a dimension to make the unit more unpredictable. Unfortunately, Suzuki received a garbage call near the end of the period as Rasmus Sandin’s stick hit Logan Thompson but a slashing penalty was called instead of a high stick, meaning it couldn’t be challenged for friendly fire. 

3) With one minute left in the period, Newhook got a great scoring chance. Demidov was quick to collect the rebound and keep the cycle going. Demidov did not collect a point on the play, but the puck found its way to Carrier as the hometown boy evened the mark to end the period. 

4) The Canadiens continued to dominate play early in the second as Thompson was solid and lucky on a few plays. Savard sold a call, and it worked, sending the Habs to the power play. Three seconds in, Suzuki got the puck in the slot off a turnover from John Carlson, and he roofed a backhand for a Habs lead.  

5) With 9:13 left in the period, Demidov got caught covering the wrong side which left Jakob Chychrun wide open. Chychrun had so much space that he was able to take a clapper from the hash marks. The initial mistake on the play was Xhekaj taking too much time with the puck, but it was also a blatant hold on the Capitals player after a blatant too many men penalty was ignored by the officials. 

6) With the score tied at two, Montembeault had to leave the game after what appeared to be a groin injury (could also be a knee or a hamstring issue). The Habs were very dangerous on their man advantage as Dobes entered the game but didn’t score. However, with eight seconds to play in the period, Hutson made Alex Ovechkin look like the rookie as he pinched on the veteran, intercepted the puck, and quickly found an incredible lane for his pass to Caufield who one-timed it home. The home side exited the period with a 3-2 lead on top of their 26-14 shot advantage. 

7) At the end of the period, the Capitals attempted to get into young Dobes’ head as they blocked his way off the ice. Guhle was quick to respond as the two benches cleared and it was a baseball-style brawl on the ice. During these shenanigans, Anderson and Tom Wilson really got into it as their wrestling match ended up on the Capitals’ bench. Both players ended up with 12 minutes in penalties with the Capitals complaining about the exchange during intermission television interviews. Crazy stuff! 

8) Dobes was back out to start the third and he allowed the equalizer on the first real shot he faced. It wasn’t necessarily his fault as Guhle got caught up the ice which created an odd-man rush. Despite the unfortunate outcome of the first shot, Dobes bounced back rather impressively as he made some good saves the rest of the way and allowed no other goals. Impressive poise from the young netminder. 

9) Thompson was quick to return the favour here after an incredibly smart play on a forecheck by Armia who interfered with the defender when he noticed Dvorak was behind him. Dvorak was able to get the puck and attack the centre of the ice as he put a puck on net and was gifted a five-hole goal by Thompson. After a botched power play chance a couple of minutes after the goal, Slafkovsky (who was excellent all night) intercepted a neutral zone puck, and entered the offensive zone before dishing to Caufield. Slafkovsky continued toward the net and Caufield found him to make it 5-3. With Charlie Lindgren in the crease following the goal, Chychrun went looking for blood instead of a goal and ended up taking a stupid cross-checking penalty on Gallagher. This quickly made the game 6-3 as Gallagher found Newhook on the man advantage and Lindgren couldn’t stop the chance. 

10) On the Slafkovsky goal, Dylan Strome was covering Slafkovsky but he lost coverage and bowled through Thompson on the play. Thompson went down hard and had to be helped off the ice as Lindgren made his way into the game. Both starting goaltenders out of the game, both backups in the game, and the Canadiens having an EBUG dressed while hoping they didn’t have to use him. Washington, meanwhile, has three goalies up so their third-stringer was able to dress for the final few minutes.  The Habs finished with 40 shots and 46 hits in what was easily their best performance of the three playoff games in a loud Bell Centre.

HabsWorld Habs 3 Stars

1st Star – Cole Caufield 

What a game by the diminutive winger who won an insane amount of puck battles to create offensively for his line. He got a crazy number of shots on net too which caused the Caps to over-cover him which allowed him to find Slafkovsky on the goal. In such a physical contest, one might expect Caufield to be a little more “in the background”, but that was not the case in this one. 

Stats: 1 goal, 1 assist, +1, 11 shots, 2 hits, 19:29 T.O.I. 

2nd Star – Josh Anderson 

Montreal’s playoff MVP up to this point, Anderson was a physical menace in the game as he continually played a heavy game against the Capitals’ defenders and frustrated them. He took on Wilson and ended up with many penalty minutes, but the exchange appeared to rattle the Caps far more than the young Habs. Another excellent game for the veteran. 

Stats: -1, 6 hits, 11:46 T.O.I. 

3rd Star – Lane Hutson 

Many players could have received a nod here, notably Gallagher, Slafkovsky, or Demidov. I simply can’t get over Hutson’s poise in his reads and how he was able to completely put a much bigger, much more experienced, and an all-time no doubt Hall of Famer in Ovechkin in his pocket on the play where he picked off the puck and found Caufield. Hutson has accepted the physical punishment of the series and bounced back to a positive factor for the Habs in this ultra-important game. Not bad for a rookie who apparently “can’t play defence”. I still would like to see him shoot more, though. 

Stats: 1 assist, +1, 24:50 T.O.I.