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In Hainsight: Expected Result |
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Follow me @KarineHains for all updates about the Montreal Canadiens and women's hockey
Montreal failed to win a second game in a row last night, something they haven’t done since late November as they once more had a bad start. It’s becoming a habit for the Canadiens not to start on time, within 6 minutes, the Islanders had scored twice and they dominated the shots in the initial frame 14-9. Those would be the only 2 goals Samuel Montembeault would give all game, stopping 36 of the 38 shots he received. Normally, a .947 save percentage should be enough to win the game, but with the struggling Canadiens attack, it wasn’t.
Nick Suzuki was the only one to manage to get a puck by Ilia Sorokin as the Islanders netminder had a quiet night, only facing 23 shots. Things went from bad to worse for the Canadiens when they lost Jake Evans on the last face-off of the first period. As he tangled with Brock Nelson, Evans went down and Nelson fell on his extended leg. It looked really painful Evans needed the help of two teammates to get off the ice after his knee bent awkwardly. I’m no doctor, but that looked like another strained ligament and a 6 to 8 weeks absence to me… There is no official news on the length of his absence yet, that should only come when the Canadiens get back home.
For a second game in a row, St-Louis had decided to for with an 11 forwards and 7 defensemen formation and once Evans went down to injury, it only left him with 10 forwards which meant a bigger workload for players who are already playing too many minutes. It was particularly obvious in the dying minutes of the game as the Habs were trying to tie things up but the players were too knackered to control the puck to allow Montembeault to come off for a 6th skater. Evans’ long-term loss would be quite a blow for the Habs as he’s been one of their best players of late and had managed to get Joel Armia going again. Without him, St-Louis can kiss goodbye the efficiency of his 3rd line as Armia and Dadonov won’t be the same without him.
There weren’t a whole lot of positive in this lackluster game, but it’s worth saying that once again, Jonathan Drouin’s effort level was dialed up. The Quebecer has been playing much better of late and he’s reaping the offensive benefits even though he’s still goalless. Drouin has got 4 points in his last 2 games and 7 in his last 8. If he does manage to keep this up, perhaps his stock will rise a little bit prior to the trade deadline. You could also say that at least, Montreal managed to stop the bleeding after giving up two quick goals in the first, but that had more to do with Montembeault than with the team.
Montreal won’t have much time to lick its wounds as they’ll be back in action against the Rangers at 5:00 PM this afternoon. It will be interesting to see if Mike Matheson is finally ready to come back and if Jake Allen is dressed, a possibility that St-Louis wouldn’t rule out yesterday.
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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