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Canadiens Look To Build Of Solid Opening Performance As They Take On Pens |
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It’s pretty much unarguable that the Canadiens outplayed the Maple Leafs in virtually every aspect in the season opener and they will be looking to take that effort and intensity into a match against a better opponent tonight in the Pittsburgh Penguins.
In fact, in the first game of the season the Habs ended up with a PDO of 96.1 which would indicated that with slightly more “Hockey Luck” they would have won that game. “Luck” in this case would be known as “Goalie and his Posts”. The Leafs net minder stood on his head and the Habs hit the iron a few times. A inch here and there and this game would have been over before OT.
Claude Julien had a fair take on the game “I’m disappointed in the loss. You always think you could have, should have won the game, but I’m not disappointed in the effort we put out. If we keep putting out the same effort and improve in certain areas where we didn’t do as well, there’s no doubt that if we play as well as we did, we’re going to give ourselves a chance every night.”
I completely agree.
The Habs most dominant forward from the first game didn’t even make it onto the scoresheet. I’m talking about Brendan Gallagher who had a team high 5 shots along with a ridiculous CF% of 68.6% and a FF% of 70.4% (24 CF/11 CA, 19 FF/8 FA). Just behind the new Alternate Captain was Tatar, Danault, and rookie Kotkaniemi.
The Habs deserved 2 points that game, but at least the Hockey Gods bestowed a loser point on us that we may covet towards the end of the season.
All this said, the Habs move on to the team with the best Center group in the NHL as they visit the Penguins at the PPG Paints Arena (… sweet name…). The Penguins are coming off a opening night win over the defending Stanley Cup champions the Washington Capitals.
The Pens won a shootout, in the fun sense not the “send the fans home with closure” sense, against the Caps 7-6. Matt Murray will look to bounce back after a very sub par performance by his standards (.833 SP%, 5.90 GAA) and I would expect the former Cup Champ to do so. The Pens best showed up last game as well led by K Letang (2G 1A), Malkin (1G 2A), Crosby (2A) and birthday boy J Guentzel (2G).
The script will remain the same against the Pens as it did against the Leafs. Actually, the game plan should remain the same all season with the goal being consistency and improvement. The Habs have to contain the top 6 group well enough to allow them the opportunities to put goals on the board.
If I’m the management group in MTL I’m thinking that starting the season against some of the best C’s in the league (with Kopitar and the Kings up next followed by Crosby again) could actually have a positive impact on the season. To get these tests in a season where expectations were their lowest in years could be a learning experience. The young Canadiens can see how they just stacked up and see what these elite C’s are doing that they could/couldn’t handle. It should set them up really nicely for the next group of games against the Red Wings, Blues, Senators, Flames, and Sabres. Almost like a lesson in defense with the opportunity to dissect the tape and make adjustments. If they could win a couple of these next 3 games during these tests we may see the hockey world doing a 180 on their perception of the Habs.
The Habs were 0-3-0 against the Penguins last season with all 3 contests coming on and after March 15, 2017. Well after the Canadiens were determined to be out of the race and missing injured players like Weber and Price and sulking former captain Pacioretty.
We will see tonight if the Canadiens begin to show they aren’t going to be pushovers this season or if they will begin their quest for consistency first. Either way, it’s always exciting to see Crosby and Price on opposite ends of the ice.
Go Habs Go
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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