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In Hainsight: A Meaningless Loss in the Grand Scheme of Things |
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Follow me @KarineHains for all updates about the Montreal Canadiens and women's hockey
The Canadiens lost 5-2 to the Flames last night in a game where their pilot Martin St.Louis was not. An hour before the game, the team announced the head coach would be away from the team indefinitely for family reasons. This town being absolutely hockey mad, people started speculating on social media as to what the family reasons might be. Was his family missing him too much (St.Louis lives alone in Montreal while his family is living in the USA)? Was someone ill? There were so many questions and so few answers.
It was David Savard who inadvertently revealed what St.Louis’ leave was about in an interview on TVA Sports, stating that the team would try and win the game for the coach’s son. The speculations online then become an outpouring of support and positive thoughts for the family, whatever is wrong with one of their sons.
As for the game, the score doesn’t tell an accurate story. Looking at the 5-2 verdict, one could think Montreal was dominated but it really wasn’t the case. For one thing, the Habs took 38 shots on Dustin Wolf, but the 22-year-old goaltender was in good form and made 36 saves giving him a .947 save percentage on the night. When it came to faceoffs, the Canadiens won 67% of their duels, but winning the puck initially means very little if you’re going to turn it over 18 times in the game. Any team would be thrilled to be on the receiving end of so many giveaways, but for a team that still has a chance to make the playoffs, it was just what the doctor ordered.
A couple of the Flames’ goals also came on the power play, the one at the start of the third period particularly hurt the Canadiens, they had just managed to come back within a goal of Calgary at the end of the second and had the momentum when Juraj Slafkovsky was sent to the box for goaltender interference. Looking at the replay, he was pushed into the goaltender by Mackenzie Weager, but the refs didn’t catch that. A deflated Canadiens team then went on to give another goal a couple of minutes later and that was that.
After being unable to score during his last 12 games, Cole Caufield finally found the back of the net on a one-timer for his 20th goal of the season. It was a long time coming and you could see the relief on his face when he was celebrating the tally. The goal was point 53 for the sniper who’s improving his career-high whenever he gets a point. Suzuki and Slafkovsky provided the helpers on the play. The other Canadiens’ goal came from “Big Play Dave” as Kirby Dach would say, when the blueliner put his money where his mouth was and scored a goal, clearly wanting to win it for St.Louis’ son as he had said after the first frame.
Meanwhile in net, Cayden Primeau had a difficult outing with a .821 SP, but it was to be expected when the team commits as many giveaways. Samuel Montembeault should be in net on Tuesday against the Oilers and their high-octane offense.
You have to look at the Hockey East All-Star Teams to find some good news for the Habs this weekend. Amid Reinbacher’s team being eliminated, many missed the announcement and were unaware that both goaltender Jacob Fowler and defenseman Lane Hutson made the First All-Star Team. Kent Hughes has repeatedly said he expects Hutson to sign at the end of his current NCAA season with Boston University. Some fans are giddy with excitement just thinking about what Hutson could do for the franchise if his game translates well to the NHL.
For now though, our thoughts should be with Martin St.Louis and his family, whatever it is that they are facing. If hockey is just a game, life isn’t…
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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