10 Thoughts – More Than A Broken Stick
Thursday’s Atlantic Division matchup featured two teams vying to capitalize their rebuilds by finally finishing in the upper echelon of the standings this season. Entering the contest, Montreal held a four-point lead on the Buffalo Sabres, their southern rival in the midst of a surging 20 games since the firing of their General Manager, Kevyn Adams. Montreal and Buffalo last met exactly one week ago and fell 5–3 after giving up a lead early. Samuel Montembeault got the start at home, renewed since his conditioning stint with Laval, and posting a 4-0-1 record.
Montreal lost a letdown game and two crucial points to the Sabres from three critical moments. Lane Hutson’s stick exploding (again), brutal attention to detail at the offensive blueline (again), and a defensive lapse compounded by missed coverages (again). At least the problems are identifiable and less ominous than Kirby Dach being unable to complete two games in a row on the top line winger slot. His time in Montreal does not bode well if he continues to play as if he is injured, tentative, or both. The Habs next matchup comes Saturday against the Bruins, another four-point match the Habs need before the Olympic break.
Habs Lineup
Cole Caufield — Nick Suzuki — Kirby Dach
Juraj Slafkovsky – Oliver Kapanen — Ivan Demidov
Zachary Bolduc – Phillip Danault – Josh Anderson
Jake Evans – Joe Veleno — Brendan Gallagher
Mike Matheson – Noah Dobson Lane Hutson – Jayden Struble
Kaiden Guhle – Alexandre Carrier
Samuel Montembeault
10 Thoughts
1) The game opened with two frantic rushes up the ice and an icing from the home team. Montreal iced the puck only a few seconds into the first shift, then were forced to defend in their zone for a few more before Tage Thompson’s pass was able to be intercepted. As the top line blew the zone, Dach dumped the puck in around the Buffalo defender but neither he nor Suzuki could retrieve it. The puck was sent quickly up the ice back towards Montembeault, and Hutson was unable to hold the line when Ryan McLeod’s pass was received by Jack Quinn. Quinn and Jason Zucker split Struble with a two-on-one, with Zucker playing the lefty shot for a one-timer that he handily put past Montembeault. Montreal would come back with some quick shots from Demidov and Matheson, but could not immediately respond.
2) Montreal’s forwards engaged with the Buffalo defenders down low in the zone and aggressively in front of the net. The Sabres forwards imitated this pattern of behavior as well, repeating their play from last week and pressuring the defensive corps of the Canadiens into quicker plays and drop-offs in their own zone. Over the first 10 minutes, Montreal struggled to effectively move the puck up the ice without chasing long dump-ins and icings, and Montembeault was needed to cut down shots from Alex Tuch and Bowen Byram in the high slot as the pressure mounted. He stabilized the play somewhat, and the Habs finally got some chances of their own when Gallagher labeled iron and Veleno forced Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen into a desperation save.
3) Montreal earned its first power play when Evans took a stick to his face right in the faceoff following Veleno’s shot. Hutson and Suzuki were unable to carry the puck into the zone through the mess of Sabres, and the second unit fared little better even after gaining the blueline. Buffalo’s penalty killers were tenacious and made the lackadaisical attitude of the power play pay off the stick of Beck Malenstyn. Mattias Samuelsson closed off Dach along the wall when Matheson’s cross-ice pass went just ahead of him as they crossed the blue line. The hulking defenceman knocked the puck back out, and Malenstyn carried the puck and beat Dobson to the middle of the ice, then pulled the puck into his body and flicked it up over Montembeault to put the Sabres up by two late in the first period. The kid line pushed to score with an admirable shift grinding away and earned two shots, but Luukkonen shut the door and sent both teams to the dressing rooms with all the momentum of the game with the visitors.
4) Slafkovsky’s line opened up the second period and grinded a two-minute shift from their own end and into Buffalo’s to generate a chance. Once possession was lost to Buffalo, however, Montreal became lost in its zone once more. Noah Ostlund, Konsta Helenius, and Zach Benson connected for a straightforward and coordinated attack that put the Sabres up 3-0 at just 2:25 in. Benson carried the puck over the blue line before dropping it back off for Helenius. Helenius curled inwards, then dumped it back behind him for Benson, who was now below the goal line to Montembeault’s right. Ostlund came all the way down and gave Benson an outlet behind the net, who then hit Helenius right in front of Montembeault, already sprawling. The bouncing puck rattled the far post before landing on Benson’s stick, who finished the play off with a score.
5) Montreal got themselves back into the game by chaining a few hard-working shifts into a hard-working goal off the stick of Caufield and Dach. Montreal’s top line worked to win a faceoff to Luukkonen’s left, Suzuki on the dot, and Dach fighting to get the loose puck to Matheson at the point. Matheson pinched to the hashmarks in support of Dach, and Suzuki backed him up further. The puck got to the captain, and he sent it across the zone to an open Caufield high in the slot. Caufield scored on the one-timer for the second game in a row and from nearly the same spot.
6) Montreal kept up its positive execution following the goal, and pursuing the loose pucks led to earning a second power play halfway through the second period. Rasmus Dahlin was called for slashing Slafkovsky near the front of the net as their line moved the puck back up to the point. The Habs continued to fail to gain effective purchase in their entries into the zone on the power play. The top line wasted 45 seconds going up and down the ice, however, the second unit had a more focused effort. Dobson carried the puck with poise and put shots towards the net as often as it was on his stick. Bolduc blew a puck two feet wide to finish off the advantage with another jaunt back down to Montembeault.
7) Coming out of a TV timeout at the 10-minute mark of the second period, Bolduc found himself back on the ice with Suzuki and Caufield in place of Dach. Bolduc kept his feet moving from the start of the second period and got the Habs into the zone by shooting the puck into the zone off the far wall. As usual, Buffalo’s defender was first on the puck and calmly carried it down and around the net before circling towards the middle. Like a quarterback who doesn’t see the nickelback, Samuelsson sent a flip pass into the air right through the middle of the ice and into the waiting hand of Bolduc, who was crossing through behind his Buffalo counterpart. Bolduc snagged it out of the air, brought it down and burst right into an open shooting lane. Bolduc drew both defenders to himself as he shot it at Luukkonen’s left pad, and the rebound dropped perfectly to a supporting Nick Suzuki to bring the Habs within one. It should be noted that Suzuki was the Habs pressuring Samuelsson behind the Sabres’ net, likely leading to a more rushed pass that resulted in the turnover to Bolduc.
8) Bolduc kept his intensity high as he jostled for position and took opposing minor roughing penalties with Samuelsson behind the Canadiens net minutes following the goal. Play transitioned to four-on-four, opening up the ice and softening coverage for those skilled players on both teams. A few nice moves were made, but neither squad was able to convert. Bolduc was given a golden opportunity as the penalties expired when Demidov blocked a halfhearted shot from the point with his skate before pushing the puck up to Bolduc with a diving effort. Bolduc sent his shot to the same spot as Suzuki’s goal, and Luukkonen delivered the same save. On the ensuing scrum, however, Dahlin put his fist through Bolduc’s face and took a roughing penalty, and despite inaction from Bolduc and Gallagher, Bolduc ended up in the box as an extra minor was given to the Habs. Once more, the individuals purporting themselves to be “referees” embarrassed themselves on national television. The slandering will continue until the performance improves. Thankfully for the home team, Montreal was able to fight off both penalties without taking any more damage and gave the officials a message through the end of the period.
9) The home team brought the same energy to start the third period as they had since the third goal for Buffalo, bringing the heat to the visiting defenders low in the zone and working the puck up to the point. Continuing this pace through the first five minutes, Guhle eventually drew another call from the officials watched Ostlund chop and snap his stick inside the Sabres zone. Montreal pushed the relentless penalty killers to break formation, but they kept up the pursuit long enough to force a turnover near the line and spring Tuch on a breakaway. Hutson was called for slashing Tuch enroute to the net, and Montembeault stood tall with a sliding butterfly save to keep the game within one. With 1:15 of power play time to themselves to work with, Buffalo attempted but failed to add to their lead as Anderson, Danault, Veleno, and Evans fought off each rush. The special teams absorbed much of the momentum and game time of the third period, and the Canadiens continued to creep closer to the elusive tying goal needed against a crucial divisional opponent.
10) Montreal made its final meaningful push after pulling Montembeault with 1:41 remaining in the game. Following an extended break of a TV timeout and Benson recovering from an inadvertent Bolduc flying elbow, Montreal’s top forwards and Hutson were hamstrung by another stick break. Suzuki and Hutson played catch from the wall to the point, rotated to both points, and then Hutson’s stick shattered under his one-timer, passing the puck perfectly to Peyton Krebs for an empty net down the ice. If Bolduc was not on the ice, Dobson would have likely been the extra and the defenseman taking the shot from the point.
HabsWorld Habs 3 Stars
1st Star – Zachary Bolduc
Bolduc had his jump tonight, a welcome sight for Canadiens fans waiting for the full arrival of a big offseason move. Bolduc had started the season off strong, especially on the road, but was unable to maintain the momentum once lines were jumbled from injury. He looked to play with a pace missing from his game since Newhook was lost, and threw his weight around in the corners. The coaching staff is surely hoping his game tonight will spark another streak of offence.
Stats: 1 assist, -1, 2 shots, 2 blocks, 4 hits, 14:18 T.O.I
2nd Star – Nick Suzuki
The captain was an example for his team again on Thursday, putting himself in the right positions and burning rubber on each backcheck. Suzuki followed up Bolduc’s drive to the net to clean up a rebound, a play not often seen by Habs forwards, and his assist was indicative of his increasingly responsible play that he enacts with pace. The top line was unable to close on the power play, but Suzuki was ever present and engaged, covering Hutson on his dashes into the zone to try to spark the offence.
Stats: 1 goal, 1 assist, even, 3 shots, 1 block, 2 hits, 20:14 T.O.I.
3rd Star – Cole Caufield
Cole ripped another goal home from a high-danger area, another data point reinforcing the disrespectful treatment of his Olympic status by Team USA. Washed away by the Sabres’ win was more of his defensive play and structure, Caufield often now showing how thick and sturdy he is on his skates and how he has ceased to be reasonably considered any sort of defensive liability on the ice. Josh Anderson should also be mentioned for his efforts on the power play and during a scrummy five-on-five game, but he was totally unable to convert or create high-danger chances akin to Caufield’s.
Stats: 1 goal, even, 3 shots, 17:56 T.O.I.