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In Hainsight: Strong Showing for Allen in a 3-2 Loss Against the Kings |
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Follow me @KarineHains for all updates about the Montreal Canadiens and women's hockey
Last night was the last game before the trade deadline and Joel Edmundson made his return to the line-up in a timely fashion. Hopefully, his 19 shifts in 16 and a half minutes of ice-time were enough to reassure NHL GMs and convince one of them to take a chance on the often injured veteran blueliner. The alternate captain made it clear after the game that he hopes to remain with the Canadiens, but if Kent Hughes gets an offer he can’t refuse, his personal preference won’t matter much. We now know that it was Edmundson’s recuring back injury that kept him out of the line-up for the last month, so if the Canadiens decide to keep hold of him, there’s a chance the same pattern repeats itself next season and they can’t trade him at the next trade deadline. With less than 3 hours to go before the trade deadline, we’ll know soon enough if Eddy will have to pack his bags.
Back to the game now, the Kings had somewhat of a slow start but by midway through the game, it was pretty obvious which side was the strongest one. Jake Allen continued his strong play, making 30 saves on 33 shots for a .909 save percentage and if the veteran netminder didn’t have a 2-year contract extension with a $3.85 million price tag per season kicking in at season’s end, GMs might have come knocking for him.
The Canadiens put on a brave fight in which Josh Anderson scored his 18th of the season tapping in a rebound on the power play in the first period. That’s a pretty good output for someone playing on a team that’s struggling to score and who spent most of the season away from first line duty. If Edmundson and Monahan’s health have been detrimental to Kent Hughes work in that last couple of months, Anderson’s play has been a big plus. It’s far from certain that the big winger will move, but teams who have missed out on the biggest targets may well come knocking when panic sets in in the next couple of hours.
Newcomer Denis Gurianov also had a second strong showing in as many games and got a goal for his trouble with a rocket of a shot that beat Phoenix Copley high up, but it was too little too late for the Canadiens as the Kings still had a one goal lead after he found the back of the net.
Jonathan Drouin and Mike Hoffman didn’t have much of an impact on the game, not a positive one in any case and the likelihood that Hughes can somehow pull off a miracle and send them packing got even smaller, if that’s possible. Drouin didn’t put a single shot on net and earned himself two minor penalties, while Hoffman was as much of a liable defensive liability as he always is, turning over the puck in the 3rd to allow the Kings to get another goal.
In the bad news category, the injury ninja hit once again as Justin Barron left the game early on after taking a hit that crushed his head on the boards... Hopefully the time decided to err on the side of caution and he isn't seriously injured.
The Canadiens won’t have much time to rest as they’ll be back in action tonight against the Ducks for another late night affair which starts at 10:00 PM. If you are part of team tank, the future is looking good for you right now as Montreal has got a really tough schedule ahead until March 25 playing the Knights, Hurricanes, Rangers, Devils, Avalanche, Penguins, Panthers, Lightning twice and Bruins. There’s no denying points will be hard to come by…
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