The Montreal Canadiens lost their last game of the season and will therefore start their first-round series against the Tampa Bay Lightning in Florida.
Martin St-Louis and his Montreal Canadiens were wrapping up their regular season with an away game against the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday night. While the Habs could still improve their chances of securing home-ice advantage, they chose to rest some players. Josh Anderson, Phillip Danault, and Mike Matheson all got the night off, allowing Brendan Gallagher, Joe Veleno, and Adam Engstrom to re-enter the lineup. For the alternate captain, it was his first game since April 5.
Meanwhile, there was nothing on the line for the host aside from two points. Rick Tocchet opted to rest a lot of his key players: Trevor Zegras, Dan Vladar, Owen Tippett, Travis Konecny, Sean Couturier, Travis Sanheim, Jamie Drysdale, and Cam York all had the night off. It meant that rookies Hunter McDonald and Oliver Bonk got to play their first NHL games, that Porter Martone kept up his tremendous start, and that former Noah Juulsen got to play for the first time since April 3.
Good Old Gallagher
Despite not seeing a lot of ice-time, he had spent 8:38 on the ice after 40 minutes, and Gallagher made the most of his few opportunities. He opened the score for the Habs in the second frame, completing a good passing play from Alexandre Texier and Kaiden Guhle, cutting the Flyers’ lead in half. Then, later in the same period, he went to the front of the net as Arber Xhekaj was unleashing one of his booming shots. While he didn’t tip it, his simple presence created a diversion that led Samuel Ersson to let the puck escape his equipment, allowing Jake Evans to score thanks to his best Superman impression.
While there’s no denying that at times the game is too fast for the veteran, when he’s in the lineup, you know that he’s going to give you everything he still has at all times. Meanwhile, his linemate on the night, Joe Veleno, got an assist on Evans’ goal, his first point in 21 games. However, as he’s done very well in the last part of the season, he dished out five hits in the first 40 minutes.
About Kirby Dach
As the Canadiens get ready to enter the playoffs, one has to wonder what role Dach actually plays on this team. His play since coming back from injury hasn’t been good enough to warrant him staying on the top-six, and he doesn’t play the kind of game that is suited to the bottom six.
Granted, at times, he can have some nice offensive flashes, but too often, he’s not noticeable at all in games. He may be a former third-overall pick and have the right pedigree, but the results are just not there. He’s six-foot-four and 221 pounds, but he doesn’t play like he is, and in the playoffs, you need to use your size and your weight. He spent 11:08 on the ice on Tuesday night and had no shots, no blocked shots, and no hits.
On The Road Again
The Canadiens will come back to Montreal before the start of the playoffs, but they’ll need to hit the road to start the first round in Florida against the Tampa Bay Lightning. That 4-2 defeat sealed the deal for the Bolts, who will finish in 2nd place in the Atlantic Division.
While much has been made about how important home-ice advantage can be in the playoffs, this is not a disaster for the Habs; they had the league’s second-best record on the road (24-7-8) and got 56 of their 106 points on the road and had a plus-19 differential away from the Bell Centre. Defenseman Lane Hutson was plus-35 away from home and only plus-one in Montreal.
Speaking about Hutson, he was held off the scoresheet on Thursday night. He was therefore unable to beat Larry Robinson’s record for most assists in a season by a Canadiens’ blueliner. Still, he put his name alongside Big Bird’s in the record book, and that’s still an amazing feat for such a young rear guard. In any case, it feels like it’s only a matter of time until he does it. As for Cole Caufield, he didn’t find the back of the net and therefore couldn’t catch Nathan MacKinnon in the race to the Rocket Richard Trophy.
Despite the 4-2 defeat against what could be described as the Flyers’ B or C team, the Canadiens end the season with a 48-24-10 record, and 106 points, eight more wins and 15 more points than last season. Furthermore, several players had career years, and numerous milestones were reached. Overall, the regular season was a resounding success. It remains to be seen if they’ll improve as much in the playoffs, given their limited experience, but Canadiens fans can’t be blamed for being optimistic.
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