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In Hainsight: Enough with the Recency Bias |
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Follow me @KarineHains for all updates about the Montreal Canadiens and women's hockey
For a team mainly made up of AHL players, the Canadiens performed incredibly well last night and they came pretty close to signing a 3-2 in regulation, but Jesper Fast allowed the Canes to take the game to overtime when he scored their third goal with 3:28 left in regulation. In the end, logic prevailed and Carolina got the 2 points when Jesperi Kotkaniemi (who else) scored the game winning goal in the 6th round of the shootout.
The boo birds were in top form at the Bell Centre, copiously booing the 22-year-old center whenever he touched the puck. Apparently, the fact that he signed the offer sheet tendered by the Canes in the 2021 offseason still doesn’t sit well with the Habs’ faithful. Up to his game-winning goal though, Kotkaniemi had not been able to get his name on the scoresheet even though he had a great night at the face-off dot winning 80% of his draws. Still, Canadiens fans were pleased when Michael Pezzetta effectively took him out of the play by breaking his stick and took off to go score the Habs’ 3rd goal.
Pezzetta wasn’t the only member of the 4th line to get on the scoresheet though as Alex Belzile also found the back of the net. In truth, the trio completed by Chris Tierney did wonders with the little ice-time they were given. The unit was on the ice for less than 9 minutes and still produced a pair of goals. Jake Allen had another very solid outing, especially enjoyed that stacked pad saves that reminded me of Bill Ranford in his prime.
Montreal’s other goal came curtesy of Mike Hoffman after Jonathan Drouin took the puck to the net and Hoffman had a near empty goal to shoot at. This gives Drouin 16 points in his last 21 games and some have started advocating that the Quebecer should be signed to a new team-friendly low cost contract. Personally, I don’t care that he’s been on fire lately, I’d stay away. The fact that he’s on an expiring deal is why he’s playing like he is, if you want to build a winning culture, you stay away from players who need that kind of incentive to produce.
Furthermore, this sudden surge in production comes now that any playoffs hope have long been lost, if this was a case of the “St-Louis effect”, it wouldn’t have taken that long for it to kick in.
After 6 years, we’ve seen enough of Jonathan Drouin, it’s a shame but the truth of the matter is that sacrificing Sergachev to get what the previous regime thought would be its 1st line center has severely backfired. Even when he was healthy, Drouin couldn’t produce at the rhythm you want a player with his pedigree to deliver. It’s time for management to cut ties with him and distance itself from one of Bergevin’s worst mistakes. In truth, that’s probably what would be best for both the team and the player.
Today, the Habs held an optional practice, and 10 players took to the ice including both goalies and Kaiden Guhle in a no-contact jersey. As for Justin Barron, he did skate in solitary on the second ice of the Complexe Sportif Bell. Unsurprisingly AHL call-ups Harvey-Pinard, Belzile and Ylonen were all on the ice alongside veteran Chris Wideman who’s recently returned from injury. The Canadiens will be back in action tomorrow night when the New York Rangers will be in town.
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