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The Montreal Canadiens took on their bitter division rivals in the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday night. Biting at the bit to redeem themselves after the 7-2 drubbing in Denver, the Habs did not give themselves the best of chances over the course of the contest. They were flat in pursuing loose pucks, got beaten out on defensive assignments, and the goaltending continued to be unescapably sloppy. Another theme that continued was their veterans’ lack of discipline and engagement costing them both in morale and materially in the game.

The Senators played with an earnestness not reflected by Montreal, or at least only in spurts. With a back-to-back facing the Habs, they need to regroup and reevaluate where they are mentally. The body language of the Habs’ goaltenders, and especially veteran forwards on the ice, is very concerning, and in a division where the games against Ottawa are worth four points, tonight’s effort was not good enough.

Habs Lineup

Cole Caufield — Nick Suzuki — Zach Bolduc
Juraj Slafkovsky – Oliver Kapanen — Ivan Demidov
Alexander Texier – Jake Evans – Josh Anderson
Florian Xhekaj – Joe Veleno – Brendan Gallagher

Mike Matheson – Noah Dobson
Jayden Struble — Lane Hutson
Arber Xhekaj – Alex Carrier 

Jakub Dobes – Samuel Montembeault 

10 Thoughts

1) The game opened up with great pace and movement down each end of the Bell Centre. Alex Carrier was on the receiving end of the excessive movement of Lars Eller’s stick as the former Hab tripped the Canadiens blue-liner with only 2:56 expired in the first. Nick Suzuki lost the faceoff, and the top unit regrouped as Juraj Slafkovsky drove into the zone. Juraj dropped the puck off for Lane Hutson, whose cross-zone pass to Zach Bolduc seemingly froze Linus Ullmark. Bolduc had half a net completely open, but sent his shot directly into Ullmark’s neck. He was noticeably disoriented as the Habs regained possession on the rebound and began whipping the puck around the zone again. Hutson got it back at the point once more, closing off an attempted clear. He made space for himself by holding onto the puck and staring the defenders down, backing them off and allowing the clumped forwards of Suzuki, Bolduc, and Cole Caufield to spread out. Hutson sent the puck to the halfwall for his Captain, who sent it to Caufield at the goal line. Just at that moment, Slafkovsky darted to the opposite post, knocked Ridly Greig’s stick out of the way, and banged in the pass from the American winger and put the Canadiens on the board.

2) 24 seconds later, Fabian Zetterlund further affirmed Ottawa’s successful acquisition of him last season. The Senators answered back against Jake Evans’ line, evening the score after Tyler Kleven took his own lost puck from Mike Matheson and sent his pass to a high-slot Zetterlund. Matheson had lost his stick in the contact and went to the corner to retrieve it at exactly the wrong moment. Zetterlund’s slap shot beat Montembeault, who did not look ready for the pass at all. Montreal would look to push back quickly, but they couldn’t achieve meaningful momentum during the five-on-five play.

3) With approximately nine minutes remaining, Evans was rung up for missing his stick check and accidentally clipping Brady Tkachuk’s face instead. The visitors’ captain hit the ice like a sack of bricks, and the Habs went on the penalty kill. Their most important player on the kill is Montembeault, and he was called on thrice to stop net crashes and a dangerous-looking point shot. Before the penalty expired, Montembeault stopped a corner shot but did not catch all of the force the puck had. The thick rubber disc rolled over his shoulder into the open crease, only for Greig to subsequently bat the puck away as it was crossing the goal line as he wildly swung his stick.

4) Unfortunately for the home crowd, Artem Zub did not swing wildly when he took a beautiful behind-the-back pass from Tkachuk below the goal line and danced Montembeault. The defenceman was completely unnoticed in front of the net as the Ottawa forward grinded out possession after Montembeault stopped their three-on-two rush moments earlier. Zub drifted down from the point through the middle of the zone, between both Canadiens wingers, and stickhandled back and forth twice. Montembeault bit and slid to his right, leaving a wide-open cage for Zub’s forehand. He ended up on his stomach with the right post between his legs, covering 1/3 of the net and made it 2-1 with three minutes left in the frame.

5) With a little over a minute to go, Shane Pinto was upended in the Canadiens zone and decided Hutson, skating backwards and as the puck was heading up the ice, was annoying him. As Pinto and Hutson came into close proximity, Pinto gave a cheeky cross-check to the side, seemingly in the gap between the chest protector and pants. Hutson looked no worse for wear, and Pinto was called on the play. The Canadiens were not able to convert, even as the power play bled into the following period.

6) Play began to devolve for the Canadiens as the second period crawled by. The Senators played with an earnestness not reflected by the Habs, and the second period got ugly again. Sanderson made it 3–1 shortly after Amadio hit the post of an empty net, once more right behind Montembeault. Sanderson was on the half-wall as Bolduc did a literal fly-by of Amadio, who had the puck just inside the blue line. Amadio sent it back to Sanderson, who cruised down the wall and backhanded his shot past Montembeault.

7) Batherson scored shortly after, the pressure having built up and finally releasing with the two quick goals. Ottawa sent a shot past Montembeault and into the corner to his left, the defender easily beat Anderson to the loose puck and rang it back to the point. Kleven was at the point and sent a shot of his own towards the net. The puck impacted Montembeault and dropped at Batherson’s feet, and he promptly dragged the puck loose and roofed it behind the home netminder. Ottawa was now up by three and the Canadiens had absolutely nothing going.

8) Suzuki was able to bring some life back into the building as the Habs earned another power play goal after peppering Ullmark for the previous minute. Kapanen was able to draw the trip by Michael Amadio (who was not even the right player) as his forward line burst into the zone on a Slafkovsky-driven rush. Caufield, Hutson, and Suzuki played a bit of catch along the wing of the power play to Ullmark’s right, stretching the defenders high in the zone while forcing them to commit a player one-to-one with Slafkovsky on the far post again. Eventually, Suzuki took one of Caufield’s passes and pivoted to the middle, holding his shot long before ripping the puck past Ullmark.

9) Due to Montreal’s brief and only showing of energy in the second period, Arber Xhekaj had to be called for “roughing” Dylan Cozens in the defensive zone. An average puck battle, Cozens had the advantage as he had the more vulnerable position along the wall and the puck in his feet. Xhekaj zealously took Cozens to his knees as the two wrestled, causing the neutral zone referee to lift his arm. Ironically, the other official was standing and leaning into the action about five feet away from the scrum, but did not raise his arm until almost five seconds later for a clearly different call but only one went on the board. Montreal was able to fight off the man advantage thanks to some wonderful stops by Montembeault on unscreened one-timers.

10) The Habs came out for the third period with something to prove. They immediately initiated more aggressive checking and chippy play, likely challenged by their Hall of Fame coach. The intensity from both teams culminated in opposing roughing calls for Josh Anderson and Greig after a thunderous hit from Anderson on the forecheck. Hutson was also spotted taking Tkachuk down on the backcheck, much to the captain’s chagrin. Montreal also turned up the offensive pressure, desperate to humble their divisional opposites.  They were not rewarded, but instead achieved nothing for their efforts but another missed assignment in front of Montembeault and Brady Tkachuk taunting them all the way to the dressing room as he scored and truly put the game to bed.

HabsWorld Habs 3 Stars

1st Star –  Juraj Slafkovsky

Throughout another defensively disastrous game, the enormous Slovakian mutant who also plays ice hockey had an admirable effort. He was both engaged and engaging others in the play, and the chemistry that is apparent between himself and Ivan Demidov only continues to build. His line was the only one that had consistently offensive looks in all three periods, drawing penalties and keeping the pace until the final whistle. At least with the better Slafkovsky continues to play, perhaps the more St. Louis will play Demidov at five-on-five.

Stats: 1 goal, 2 shots, 14:12 T.O.I.

2nd Star – Nick Suzuki

Regardless of the score, the captain showed up in multiple ways. His play resembled the slower, more methodical and sure pace Habs fans got used to seeing in his first seasons with the team, and was often indicative of nursing an injury. Since Suzuki never misses a game, it’s certain he has self-management strategies for pacing, but in this one, his physicality – especially in the first – stood him apart. Keep in mind that any time Tkachuk was bothering Hutson, it was Suzuki who would skate by to join the conversation.

Stats: 1 goal, 1 assist, -1,  3 shots, 3 Hits, 20:10 T.O.I. 

3rd Star – Canadiens Home Fans

On this Tuesday night, the Canadiens reinforced the concerning comments made by their coaching staff about “losing their identity”. At the start of the season, and through their early success this year, Montreal’s play has often been characterized by high-speed offence, a quick and effective transition game, and clear defensive exits. None of those components were present in this one, on Saturday, or in a number of recent games. Tonight, the fans did not have continuous chants, they did not get independently loud and cheer even during the deficit, and they did respond to the hard hitting. They were present and watching the game, silent, and expectant of their team that does not look like the one it represented itself to be only weeks ago. They were right to be so, and every minute they stayed in the Bell Centre was a credit to their own tolerance.

Stats: 60:00 T.O.I.