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Jacob Fowler made his home debut for the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday as they took on a revitalized Philadelphia Flyers team with Rick Tocchet at the helm. Mike Matheson was absent from the Habs’ lineup, a factor that the Canadiens felt early and often as they truly struggled to exit their zone with cohesion. Breakouts turned into dump-ins, stifling the offence and converting the attack to being exclusively based around turnovers and east-west play. Against a team playing exclusively north-south and heavily forechecking, Montreal was exposed in its lack of depth and scheme. As Philadelphia held the blue line with towering defencemen and physical play, Montreal was unable to generate persistent offensive pressure, also allowing Dan Vladar to clear out pucks with ease.

Tuesday was another example of the up-and-down trajectory this team has had since the start of the season. Through the injuries, inconsistent performances from all positions, and a hybrid structure of play that the players seem to execute less effectively than other teams are able to decipher. It is undeniable that opposing teams have a game plan for the Canadiens, and that there are repeated themes that they use against Montreal. It is up to the bleu-blanc-rouge to adapt and overcome their own biases to win a game other teams play at the same time.

Habs Lineup

Cole Caufield — Nick Suzuki — Zack Bolduc
Juraj Slafkovsky – Oliver Kapanen – Ivan Demidov
Alexandre Texier – Jake Evans — Josh Anderson
Joe Veleno — Owen Beck — Brendan Gallagher

Jayden Struble – Noah Dobson
Lane Hutson — Alexandre Carrier
Arber Xhekaj – Adam Engstrom 

Jacob Fowler (Starting) – Jakub Dobes (Backup)

10 Thoughts

1) Ivan Demidov took the first penalty of the hockey game following a feeling-out process from both teams to start the evening. Montreal was attempting to transition through the neutral zone after about seven minutes of perimeter play when Juraj Slafkovsky was sent a suicide pass above the blue line. After missing 280 consecutive days of work, Rasmus Ristolainen threw his second crushing open-ice hit of the night when he caught Slafkovsky and checked through his chest. Slafkovsky was getting up and shaking his head when Demidov skated over to the Flyers defenceman and gave him a cross-check, resulting in the nearby referee issuing the minor penalty. Montreal successfully defended the penalty kill, their efforts highlighted by awful giveaways by Philadelphia when entering the zone and excellent sticks in the passing lanes of the attackers.

2) Demidov came out for the next shift with a vengeance and rang the crossbar after his line fought for loose pucks and turned over a few as well.  Minutes later, Alexandre Carrier was called for tripping in front of his own net, sending the Habs back on the penalty kill. Carrier got his stick into the feet of former Canadien Christian Dvorak as he passed in front of Fowler. The Flyers were able to stretch out their formation and deliver a clean shooting lane for their shooters at the point. Fowler stood tall throughout and sucked in all rebounds, halting any momentum after each shot attempt, and secured a second successful penalty kill.

3) Just as after the first kill, Montreal pushed the pace once even strength returned. With 59.1 seconds remaining, Alexandre Texier finished off a textbook passing play on the rush. Carrier closed his gap on , creating the turnover that allowed him to feed the puck to Josh Anderson, who brought the puck across the line down the middle of the ice. Anderson dropped the puck off for Jake Evans on the right wing, who then threaded the puck back to Texier, who was following up Anderson right down the golden line of the zone. Texier ripped his wrister past Dan Vladar to put the Habs up by one.

4) Philadelphia answered back 40 seconds later when Montreal seemed to give up on their defensive coverage and the Flyers played to the buzzer. Nick Suzuki snagged a turnover in the offensive zone, but tried to send a blind backhand pass through the middle of the ice and got picked off. Sean Couturier took a broken pass off the boards inside the blue line and whipped it down to the goal line, where Owen Tippett had been streaking to. Tippett took the pass on his forehand and spied Carl Grundstrom on the opposite side, open for the puck and facing an open cage. Grundstrom did not miss and none of the five Canadiens in the close vicinity intercepted the pass. Texier was the only Habs above the hashmarks, and all were standing upright as the puck went in the net. Montreal went to the dressing room with a tied game and nothing to show for their quality first period.

5) Fowler shut the door on Travis Konecny early in the second period with an excellent push-off save moving to his right post. Montreal was unable to get out of their zone without long clears or icings throughout the evening, however, once in the zone, the Habs pounced on turnovers. During the forecheck, Owen Beck drew a penalty on Sean Couturier when the Flyers captain closed his armpit on Beck’s stick. The power play held the puck for the vast majority of the two minutes, as they were supposed to, but were not able to generate any movement from Vladar or his defenders.

6) Demidov suffered a tough turnover at the Flyers’ blue line and had the puck taken away. His line had been buzzing around the zone, but a pass through his legs behind the net from Slafkovsky led him back up the wall, where a poor spin-off gave the puck away and into his own goal. Emil Andrae sent the puck immediately to Trevor Zegras, who was blowing the zone with Konecny. Zegras sent it over to Konecny as they entered the Habs zone on the two-on-one, but Lane Hutson played over to him and Konecny was able to feed the puck right back to Zegras. The former Duck eased the puck through Fowler’s legs with a deceptive wrist shot and put the Flyers on top at 13:34 of the second.

7) Like the first period, Montreal committed an abysmal defensive error that directly led to a goal against. The Flyers dumped the puck in with less than a minute remaining, and Fowler collected it behind the net. From there, Fowler left the puck behind, clearly thinking that he had a defenceman coming to pick it up. Instead, Matvei Michkov stormed behind him, stealing the puck and feeding Bobby Brink with an open cage and he made no mistake. Hutson and Demidov were the two skaters on either side of Fowler when he was behind the net, and clearly neither gave him direction or warning about Michkov. Hutson and Dobson were right next to each other on the same side below the hashmarks, Slafkovsky was in the neutral with the rest of the Flyers players, and Kapanen was aligned with Demidov; nobody in position to do anything about an open Philadelphia forward.

8) The Habs opened up the second period with two solid minutes in the Flyers’ zone. Three different lines were able to grind or cycle the puck around the zone and generate four shots, although each took a beating from the heavy Philadelphia checkers. Montreal continued to push in the first half of the final frame with greater and greater urgency, but Vladar continued to shut the door and pump the puck out of the zone on dump-ins.

9) Martin St. Louis and the Habs coaching staff began to throw in different wingers on the attack in an attempt to catch the Flyers in a favourable matchup. Texier took shifts with Beck and Gallagher, and Demidov took shifts with Evans and Anderson. Brendan Gallagher was called for high-sticking with just over six minutes remaining as his stick rode up Nick Seeler’s stick and into his “facial area”. The Canadiens had been pushing, and Gallagher was heated after the whistle. He went right after Seeler, accusing him of putting Gallagher’s stick in his face, but was shuttled off to the box nevertheless. Less than a minute into the kill, Anderson and Zegras were jawing back and forth with words and sticks, ultimately resulting in opposing minors for roughing. Montreal has also discovered the fascinating dynamic that is Lane Hutson on the penalty kill and the unique brand of opportunities it yields for offensive and turnovers.

10) Travis Konecny shut the Bell Centre down with an empty-net goal at 18:24 of the third, Fowler having been pulled with 3:22 remaining. Montreal fell to the visitors again at home in a game where the fans spent the entire match waiting for that electric moment to get them on their feet.

HabsWorld Habs 3 Stars

1st Star – Alexandre Texier

Texier continued to be a bright spot for the .500 hockey the Habs have been playing of late. The newest addition to the forward group shot has often and accurately, scoring again tonight. He had plenty of chances and jump on the ice, helping to drive his line and produce excitement in a team that had cold water poured on their speed.

Stats: 1 goal, -1 rating, 3 shot(s), 3 hits, 15:24 T.O.I.

2nd Star –  Lane Hutson

Hutson needs a spin-off per-60 counter because he was everywhere in both zones on Tuesday night. His shot has visibly improved over the course of the season, and the more the Canadiens lose, the more Hutson seems to elevate his play. He is joining more rushes than ever, taking more shots, and creating more out of nothing than ever before. Unfortunately, none of his energy was able to enable his teammates to elevate their game of finish off his zone rushes.

Stats: -2 rating, 3 shots, 1 block, 27:06 T.O.I.

3rd Star –  Jake Evans

Montreal was brutalized in the faceoff circle Tuesday, Sunday, and Saturday, but Evans held his own at 50% in this one. Furthermore, he thrived on a line with Texier and has seemed rejuvenated since his single-game absence. His skating is quicker, he is playing with bite and confidence, and communicating significantly more with his linemates on the ice. Evans is a cornerstone piece for this team, especially in these dog days of the season. Montreal will only be relying on him more as the year progresses.

Stats: 1 assist, +1 rating, 1 hit, 1 block, 14:17 T.O.I.