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Hockey Hainsight
Had it not been for Antti Raanta’s generosity, the Canadiens wouldn’t even have been in the game. Somehow, Montreal was tied at 2-2 with Carolina after 20 minutes even though they only shot seven times on the Hurricanes’ net. For the second game in a row, it was the fourth line that led the charge for Montreal with Mitchell Stephens scoring the Canadiens’ first goal. While it’s great to get secondary scoring, for a team to win, its best players have got to be the best on the ice and last night, they weren’t. Caufield, Slafkovsky and Suzuki didn’t create much, nor did they shoot much. The captain shot twice, the sniper once and the sophomore didn’t take a single shot. While the plus minus rating can sometimes be misleading, Suzuki’s -3 and his wingers’ -2 were deserved last night.
Mike Matheson didn’t have his best night either committing a few turnovers, but they didn’t lead to goals as he was backed-up by his defense partner. Still, Matheson did score the Canadiens’ second goal on the night on the power play with seconds left to the first frame. Sean Monahan got an assist on the play, the 500th point of his career.
Strangely, the Habs’ best period on the night was the second as they took 12 shots on net and looked more organized, but they didn’t manage to score on those twenty minutes while Jesper Fast registered his second goal on the night to give Carolina a 3-2 lead.
25 seconds into the final frame, Josh Anderson took off on a breakaway and scored his sixth of the season to level the score. His effort would stand as one of the only two shots Montreal took in the third when they should have been trying to win this game. Meanwhile, the Hurricanes were calm and in control, not once looking worried about the issue of the game. Svechnikov put the Canes back in front with a little over six minutes left to play and Fast completed his hat trick in an empty net to seal the Hurricanes’ win.
For the first time this season, Cayden Primeau was playing a second game in a row and while his numbers on the night aren’t great (.867 save percentage), it would be wrong to hang the defeat at his doorstep. He did what he could behind a team which was disorganized and committed several mistakes in its defensive coverage. The Canadiens will now face the Panthers on Saturday and the Lightning on Sunday in the penultimate game of their lengthy road trip.
Yesterday, Lane Hutson and Jacob Fowler took on Switzerland with Team USA and the Americans signed an easy 11-3 win. Strangely, Hutson was held off the scoresheet in this game even though he spent over 18 minutes on the ice. Still, watching him play, it’s obvious that he loves joining in the attack or even leading it at times. His decision making is not always on point though and he will pick the risky option sometimes, that reminded me of a young P.K. Subban. As for Fowler he made 21 saves on 24 shots to sign his first win of the tourney. His performance won’t allow him to steal the number one spot from Trey Augustine though.
As I write these lines, Filip Mesar’s Slovakia has got an 8-4 lead over Norway and the Canadiens’ prospects has got three assists so far. Later today, the Americans will take on the Czechs while Canada will battle it out with Sweden.
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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