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The Habs kicked off a quiet week filled with tough opponents by hosting the league-leading Winnipeg Jets. With Montreal coming back down after a red-hot month, they are back to .500 in their last 10 which didn’t bode well facing a team that is 7-2-1 in their last 10.
Winnipeg’s strong power play was a presence on the night despite not getting on the board. The Habs likely lost much more than the game as Kaiden Guhle didn’t end the game and will likely miss some time; the team announced that he’ll need further evaluation for a lower-body injury. In the end, it was a 4-1 loss that saw the Habs play a decent defensive game, but they just lacked the firepower to get pucks behind the league’s premier netminder and Hart trophy candidate in Connor Hellebuyck.
Habs Lineup
Cole Caufield — Nick Suzuki — Juraj Slafkovsky
Patrik Laine – Kirby Dach — Alex Newhook
Josh Anderson – Jake Evans – Joel Armia
Michael Pezzetta – Christian Dvorak — Brendan Gallagher
Mike Matheson – Alexandre Carrier
Kaiden Guhle — Lane Hutson
Arber Xhekaj – David Savard
Samuel Montembeault
10 Thoughts
1) The Habs came out flying on this night and dominated the initial 15 minutes of play. Unfortunately for them, they were ahead 13-3 at that point in the period but only ahead 1-0 on the scoreboard as Hellebuyck showed why many are considering him a favourite for the Hart trophy this season.
2) Montreal’s goal was a beauty and the strongest play that got things going was a zone entry by Guhle. Guhle was the one who didn’t get a point on the play as Caufield and Suzuki played catch below the goal line before the captain found Slafkovsky in the slot who released a one-timer to score. The Canadiens almost restored the lead in the final minute when Caufield got free in the slot, but Hellechuyck once again stood tall.
3) The shots in the period ended 15-7 which shows how the final five minutes went. But the Jets pushed back and tied the game when Kyle Connor found a rebound as both Matheson and Montembeault were late in reacting to the initial shot that was partially blocked by Slafkovsky. Momentum was further shifted toward the Jets as the Habs needed to kill a Xhekaj hooking minor. Both teams were going to want to come out strong for the second.
4) The Habs started the second period quite well as they once again buzzed in the offensive zone for most of the first five minutes. Credit to the Jets in this period who defended well and did not rely on Hellebuyck to keep the Habs away from their net. They did such a good job that the Canadiens didn’t have a shot reach Hellebuyck.
5) With seven minutes to play and a 5-0 shot advantage for the Jets in the period, Savard was called for slashing and the lethal Winnipeg power play got to work for a second time in the game. The Habs did an excellent job killing the sequence, but shortly after, Connor found Mark Scheifele in the slot as Carrier and Suzuki were covering no one on the sequence. At that point, the shots in the period were 11-0.
6) The Jets really carried play for the rest of the period, with the sole scoring chance for the home side coming when Gallagher outworked two Jets to create a rebound that Pezzetta fanned on. Connor extended Winnipeg’s lead with 1.5 seconds to play in the period. David Gustafsson outskated Guhle but Guhle had him checked. Dvorak decided that there wasn’t enough time left to cover his defensive responsibility which was Connor. The pass went out to Connor who made no mistake and the Habs suddenly faced a mountain heading to the third period.
7) The Habs once again came out strong and were the better team for the first five minutes of the period. This time, Suzuki got a good chance that Hellebuyck turned aside, and the Jets needed to ice the puck four times to relieve the pressure from the Habs.
8) Six minutes into the period, Guhle attempted to forecheck a reversal and blew a tire. He went down awkwardly and was unable to apply any pressure on the leg to get off the ice. He was carried by the trainers once off the ice and did not return. What a catastrophe to this encouraging season if Guhle is injured for any significant amount of time.
9) A minute after the Guhle injury, Hutson sent a shot that beat Hellebuyck but found the post. Then, for the third straight period, Montreal’s momentum was completely zapped by a penalty call against them. This one was complete garbage as Carrier and the Jets player were both clearly looking at the puck and ran into each other. That blatant calls of slashing and interference against the Jets were ignored after this call and Winnipeg ended the game without a penalty against is simply baffling to this writer. With the Habs applying pressure, they pulled Montembeault with two minutes to play only to find the puck in the back of their net when Rasmus Kupari skated around the defensive coverage and slipped it into the net.
10) For the last month, it’s been fun seeing this team compete and climb back into the playoff race. Amongst this fun has been the debates around the Free Agents to be on the team should the team remain in the playoff picture. Should Guhle’s injury prove to be significant, and it sure appears to be, the debate around all four of those players should be complete. All four need to be moved and the team should allow Owen Beck, Logan Mailloux, and other kids to get into these games for as long as the Habs can hang around in the Eastern Conference.
HabsWorld Habs 3 Stars
1st Star – Juraj Slafkovsky
The Habs’ top line remained their only threat on the night and Slafkovsky was the leader of the line. It would appear in recent games that he is back so this team will be dangerous on nights when the second line shows up. Slafkovsky was strong on this night, and this included many neutral and defensive zone plays, too.
Stats: 1 goal, -1, 1 shot, 1 hit, 17:35 T.O.I.
2nd Star – Brendan Gallagher
Gallagher battled like Gallagher does. Whenever play was slow enough for him to get involved, he caused turnovers and allowed his offensively challenged linemates some opportunities to contribute which didn’t happen. When Winnipeg turned it on, he looked quite slow though, so that’s something to keep an eye on moving forward.
Stats: -2, 5 shots, 13:17 T.O.I.
3rd Star – Lane Hutson
Hutson was rather quiet in the first half of the game. He came alive a bit in the second period but really had a strong third after Guhle went down. He’s been in a bit of a rut for the last week or two, so perhaps this strong effort can get him going again.
Stats: -1, 2 shots, 1 hit, 23:35 T.O.I.
