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Game 10: Canadiens vs Sharks AKA In Troubled Waters |
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The Canadiens came out strong tonight they looked like they wanted to win a first game against San Jose since 2015 but unfortunately, the couldn't keep up their own rhythm. The first period was a fast paced, physical affair in which the Habs dominated shots wise but the Sharks were kings in the face-off circle with a 70.8% success rate. The Sharks thought they had opened the score in the first before an astute offside challenge proved successful for Claude Julien's men but while the goal didn't count, it was a little bit unsettling to see how easily the Sharks had picked the CH's defence's wide open. At 16:37, Nick Cousins found himself on a 2 on 1 alongside Brendan Gallagher and elected to shoot....San Jose's goalie stood tall but he couldn't stop Cousins on his own rebound even though he barely had any angle to shoot from. Then, less than a minute before the end of the first period, the Sharks tied things up on an Evander Kane power play goal.
The Habs faithful were hoping to see their heroes maintain their effort level from the first frame in the second but it wasn't to be. Less than 5 minutes in, San Jose once again found themselves on the power play and true to form, Kane put up another goal and the Habs never seemed to recover from that. Then, 3 minutes later, Kevin Labanc made it 3-1 when the Habs' top line was trapped in its own zone before Melker Karlsson put the Sharks ahead 4-1 with 35 seconds to go in the second...22 seconds later though, Joel Armia gave the fans a glimmer of hope when he deflected a shot from Max Domi which made it 4-2 but it just wasn't enough. In the end, the Sharks scored 4 goals on a tiny 14 shots and that is not good enough. You cannot expect to win if you give up 4 goals on 14 shots.
Price shut the door in the last period but it was too little too late...no more goals were scored but the final score still remains 4-2 Sharks. San Jose is the team against which Price has the least victory in the league (aside from Vegas). Yes there were 2 power plays goals and the defensive coverage was just downright awful but at the end of the day, you need your star player to steal games for you every once in a while...
With 10 points in 10 games, the CH will have to improve if they are to punch their ticket to the Spring danse. Yes, I know it is early but after 10 games, you can't sweep stuff under the rug and call it early season jitters, it's time to turn it on...If they can't, plenty of other teams can. Come Saturday night, The Habs will be hosting the Maple Leafs at the Bell Centre and considering that Toronto is having its fair share of struggles, it will be a must win game for Montreal.
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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