The Montreal Canadiens shot themselves in the foot tonight, and it ended up costing them dearly.
The Montreal Canadiens had a date with the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday night, and both teams desperately needed the two points in what is proving to be a very tight playoff race. Earlier in the day, the Habs announced that Josh Anderson was dealing with an upper-body injury and would be evaluated daily. As a result, Joe Veleno got back in the lineup to take on the team that drafted him. The Quebecer had watched the last 10 games from the press gallery.
With such high stakes, it was hardly surprising to see both teams play some tight and hard-hitting hockey. While the Canadiens’ run-and-gun offence can be very entertaining to watch, it often leads them to take unnecessary risks. With the playoffs fast approaching, they got a wake-up call when they dropped back-to-back games last weekend in what could only be described as a giveaway festival.
Not Making The Same Mistake
For a second game in a row, Martin St-Louis gave Jakub Dobes the net. After the Czech netminder had a great outing on Tuesday, it was felt that he deserved to be there again. It feels like the organization has learnt from its past mistakes. Earlier this season, when the youngster was playing great games, he would still make way for Samuel Montembeault because the team wanted its starter to get his game back.
Now, despite Jacob Fowler being widely regarded as the Canadiens’ goaltender of the future, the coach decided to stick with Dobes, giving him the respect he deserves. There’s no doubt that Fowler will get back in the net soon enough; you can’t let him sit for too long, but giving the nod to Dobes was the right move in the circumstances.
The masked man rewarded his coach with another good performance. Through 40 minutes, he had stopped the 15 shots he faced, including a few tricky ones on rebounds, and he looked very comfortable out there. The Wings were trying to get in his face and take his focus off the task at hand, but he remained concentrated, even if he did get in on the pushing and shoving at one stage.
Managing The Game, The Clock And The Lead
The Canadiens led 1-0 entering the third frame, but J.T. Compher put the Wings on the scoreboard a little over two minutes into the period, and St-Louis looked very irritated by the goal. Not because it was a bad goal to give from Dobes, he made the first save, but the puck bounced off the Wings’ player and into the net, and you can’t fault him for that, but because it all stemmed from the fact that the Canadiens’ second line attacked with no regard to its defensive responsibilities.
Alex Newhook, Ivan Demidov, and Oliver Kapanen all ended up behind the offensive goal line, allowing the Wings to get a numerical advantage. While everyone was back in the defensive zone by the time the puck went in, the Habs have enough trouble establishing who needs to cover who when they don’t have to do it under pressure. The coach was fuming, and the look he gave his forwards as they sat back on the bench spoke volumes. There were only 11 minutes left in the third frame by the time Newhook and Ivan Demidov got back on the ice.
St-Louis rarely benches his top offensive players, but he's been talking about risk and puck management for ages now, and particularly in the last few days, he had had enough.
Everything That Can Go Wrong, Will Go Wrong
Despite leading for much of the game, the Canadiens ended up on the wrong end of a 2-1 defeat thanks to one play going horribly wrong. Montreal won a faceoff in the offensive zone, Matheson sent it around the board, and Noah Dobson was unable to stop the clearing attempt. Then, Mike Matheson went to retrieve the puck in the defensive zone, and somehow he coughed it up to Alex DeBrincat, who wasn’t going to miss his chance, all alone with Dobes.
As St-Louis has often said this season, the Canadiens paid cash for their mistakes in that game. The coach often says that “good teams will make you pay for your mistakes”, and Detroit made plenty of mistakes as well, but Montreal didn’t make them pay. The Michigan side had 19 giveaways but still skated away with the two points in a game the Canadiens couldn’t afford to lose.
Dobes would have deserved better on a night where he stopped 25 of the 27 shots he faced for a .926 save percentage, but it’s not about what you deserve; it’s about what you get. On Thursday night, Detroit, the Boston Bruins, the Ottawa Senators, and the Columbus Blue Jackets all won, yet another example of Murphy’s Law in action.
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