The Montreal Canadiens were unable to avenge their loss from last week against the San Jose Sharks since the visitors' attack had much more bite on Saturday night.
For the first time since opening night in his rookie season, Montreal Canadiens alternate captain Brendan Gallagher was a healthy scratch when the Habs took on the San Jose Sharks at the Bell Centre on Saturday night. After losing a 7-5 decision to the Pacific Division club last week, Montreal was looking for revenge against a young, exciting and fast team.
The game started with a bang when Mike Matheson hit 20-year-old Igor Chernyshov, a legal hit with disastrous results as the youngster fell headfirst on the ice and attempted to get up a few times before falling again, clearly out of it. Unsurprisingly, he had to leave the game and go be assessed at the hospital, but he was thankfully back with the team at the end of the night.
All Guns Blazing
If the Canadiens have often been gun-shy this season, it wasn’t the case in this game. Through five minutes, they had five shots, and by the time the first period came to a close, they had tested Nedeljkovic 16 times. However, they were unable to get any shots on net during their two power play opportunities. It wasn’t for lack of trying, though, as the Sharks' penalty killers did a good job of blocking what the Habs fired towards their goalie. Meanwhile, the visitors had taken 10 shots on Dobes.
The second frame was an entirely different story, as the visitors took only three shots while the Canadiens had four. It wasn’t because the teams weren’t attacking, though, but there were just so many turnovers that very few plays could be completed. Often, when two talented offensive teams face off, they throw caution to the wind…
Too Many Mistakes
It wasn’t a masterclass in defensive play, to say the least. The Canadiens committed 23 giveaways while the Sharks gave up 20, not the kind of game the coaches like to see. While the Canadiens know how they should play, they sometimes struggle to stick to the plan and end up trying to do too much. Tonight was a perfect example of that; they didn’t play it safe. Speaking after the game, Martin St-Louis said:
We were lacking execution; there were too many giveaways. Both teams had a lot of giveaways, and it became about who could put the chances to bed. We didn’t. We lacked execution. […] It’s always problematic when you give the puck away in the neutral zone. I feel we took too many risks, especially when 71 (Macklin Celebrini) was on the ice.
That’s a very good point from the coach, tonight with the Celebrini show. The youngster has so much speed that when you allow him to take off with the puck, he will hurt you. He doesn’t even need an odd-man rush; he’s lethal even on his own.
Cutting The Lanes
The bench boss wasn’t impressed with what he saw in the defensive zone, especially on the two goals that came from wrist shots on the blueline:
Whether you play zone defence or man-on-man defence, you have to block wrist shots. Those aren’t one-timers; you have to be in the lanes.
That kind of goal has happened a lot this season, most of the time when Samuel Montembeault was in the net, but Jakub Dobes didn’t look great on the Mario Ferraro goal either. However, on the Collin Graf lamplighter, the puck was deflected right in front of the netminder, and there wasn’t much he could do on that. Alexandre Carrier could have been more active in his net-front battle, though.
With the Canadiens starting to take tough decisions and scratching veterans when they feel it gives them a better chance to win, it might be time to take a look at Carrier’s play. It’s not for lack of trying, but he’s undersized and loses a lot of battles, be it in front of the net or on the boards, on top of regularly being taken down by hard hits. Perhaps he could be made to skip a turn here and there.
Montreal will be back in action tomorrow night, taking on the Anaheim Ducks. Since the coach said before Saturday’s game that Gallagher would be back in the lineup on Sunday, one has to wonder who will make way. The line Alexandre Texier formed with Phillip Danault and Josh Anderson was good in the offensive zone, but they struggled defensively. Can that be pinned on Texier? He was the least used forward with 11:26 of ice time, but Zachary Bolduc played just over 12 minutes and didn’t have a great game either.
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