|
In Hainsight: Thrilling Roller Coaster of a Game Ends in Defeat |
|
|
|
|
|
Follow me @KarineHains for all updates about the Montreal Canadiens and women's hockey
The Canadiens came out swinging last night and took an early lead on a Jake Evans breakaway goal three minutes in. Then, a little over a minute into the middle frame, Alex Newhook scored his first goal for the Montreal Canadiens and the build up to it was something to behold. Dach and Newhook took off on the attack and for a few seconds, it looked like it was just going to be them, but then Slafkovsky turned on the jets and joined the play, right in time to receive Dach’s feed and send it to Newhook with a masterful backhand which the Newfoundlander only had to tap in to make it 2-0 Canadiens.
At that point, it looked like it was going to be smooth sailing for St-Louis’ men, they even added a third goal to make it 3-0 through Cole Caufield, but it was overturned on a coach’s challenge for offside. That decision seemed to hit the Canadiens hard, and Jake Allen picked that time to give up a goal he should have stopped. For the rest of the period, Montreal barely touched the puck and when the middle frame ended, the Leafs were leading 3-2, the game had been completely flipped on its head.
Thankfully, St-Louis’ men got a power play early in the third and Cole Caufield brought everyone back to square one. Less than two minutes later, Newhook masterfully deflected a great Xhekaj writer past Samsonov to put the Sainte-Flanelle back in front. Jesse Ylonen then took it upon himself to further the Canadiens’ lead with his first of the season and he did it in great fashion, showcasing silky hands.
With a little over 12 minutes to go, the Canadiens just needed to hang on, but they couldn’t do it. Auston Matthews added a couple of goals to complete his hat trick and force the game into OT. Montreal was unable to capitalize on a man advantage during overtime and they finally fell in the shootout as Suzuki, Caufield and Dach all failed to score while Marner won his duel with Jake Allen to give Toronto a 6-5 win.
While a contending team would call this a tough loss, the Canadiens aren’t all that focused on the results of the game so far, the Habs’ brass wants to see progression and that’s just what they saw. We finally got a glimpse of what the Canadiens could be if they had a real top six, the Newhook-Dach-Slafkovsky was a nuisance for Toronto all night and they had genuine chemistry. Sure, it’s only game one and we should be careful about making too many conclusions, but holy molly they were smoking hot. Slafkovsky looks like a brand-new man, he’s completely aware of what’s going on around him and where the game needs him to be, clearly, St-Louis’ teachings are starting to pay dividends. Newhook looked right at home on his line and his speed and creativity can be great assets for this team. As for Dach, he was everywhere and got two assists for his trouble.
Meanwhile, Suzuki and Caufield each got a point on the power play and had the tough assignment of dealing with the Leafs’ first line, a mission in which they succeeded. Offensively though, we’ve said it before and we’ll say it again, Anderson is not the answer on their wing. As I’ve been saying for quite some time, Monahan would be a great fit there, a much better one than he was on the grey hair line alongside Tanner Pearson and Brendan Gallagher. Speaking of that line, it was pretty much the only invisible line on the night, and it should be modified. Unfortunately, the forward with whom Anderson has developed the most chemistry seems to be Newhook and right now, you can’t just take him away from that second line. If Monahan goes up to the top line, Anderson needs to come down to the third and someone needs to pivot that line. Who should that be? Well, until Dvorak comes back, I would give Harvey-Pinard a shot in the middle and move Gallagher down to the fourth line. It would be a shame to dismantle a line that gave you two goals on opening night, but something’s got to be done about the painfully slow third line.
On the blue line, it took Arber Xhekaj little over 10 minutes to face the Leafs’ new heavy weight Ryan Reaves and he was right to do so after Reave had landed a dangerous hit in Kaiden Guhle’s back. Unfortunately, he got an instigator penalty and a 10-minute misconduct which meant the defense corps was short staffed for quite a while. Still, Xhekaj had a good game and reminded everyone that he’s more than a tough guy when another one of his wristers found its way through to the net and lead to Newhook’s goal. He may not be the most talented of the young blue liners, but I truly believe he’s special and in Montreal to stay.
If Jake Allen hadn’t made his best Santa impression and gift wrapped a couple of gifts for the Leafs, the Canadiens would have won that game. Come Saturday night, there’s no doubt in my mind that Samuel Montembeault will be in net and that will be an improvement. In any case, the Habs still left Toronto with a point to their name and they’ll be ready to face generational talent Connor Bedard on Saturday night in Montreal.
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»