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With a playoff spot in hand and an opponent decided, the Habs took to the ice in Philadelphia for Game 82 on Tuesday with only home ice to be determined. Even with a win, gaining home ice was not guaranteed, so the Canadiens opted to give veterans Mike Matheson, Josh Anderson, and Phillip Danault the night off.
For the Flyers, their playoff spot, opponent, and starting location were all determined, so they went even more extreme than Montreal as they rested nine regulars. The result was that both teams were not very sharp in execution. Hopefully, both teams can quickly find the next gear in time for the weekend. On the ice, the Habs were true to themselves as they possessed the puck for most of the night but gave up Grade A scoring chances whenever they did cough it up to the Flyers. In the end, Philadelphia won the game 4-2 so the Habs will start the playoffs in Tampa Bay.
Habs Lineup
Cole Caufield – Nick Suzuki – Juraj Slafkovsky
Alex Texier – Alex Newhook – Ivan Demidov
Zach Bolduc – Oliver Kapanen – Kirby Dach
Joe Veleno – Jake Evans – Brendan Gallagher
Kaiden Guhle – Adam Engstrom
Lane Hutson – David Reinbacher
Arber Xhekaj – Jayden Struble
Jakub Dobes
10 Thoughts
1) The Flyers opened the door for the Habs only 21 seconds into the game as Nick Seeler caught Caufield with a high stick. Caufield threatened throughout the man advantage as he was able to get three shots on Samuel Ersson, but the Flyers withstood the early onslaught. The Habs’ only other scoring chance in the frame came from Demidov as they progressively faded throughout the period, even if they ended with a 12-8 shot advantage.
2) Philadelphia’s youth is what served them in the opening period, as Oliver Bonk and Matvei Michkov both had two points. Michkov was opportunistic in cheating behind the young Montreal defenders, creating breakaways and other chaos for his team. The Flyers opened the scoring with a delayed penalty coming against the Habs as Michkov skated around the zone and then got his shot deflected by Porter Martone. They scored again six minutes later when the Habs got sidetracked by Hunter McDonald delivering a big hit on Jake Evans. While three Habs were trying to get a piece of McDonald, Michkov found Bonk who scored his first NHL goal.
3) The Habs had control early in the second period with the best chance coming off the stick of Bolduc after a good forecheck by Gallagher. Gallagher would finally score with 13 minutes to play as they took advantage of a Flyers turnover at the Habs blue line. Texier did a good job protecting the puck long enough for support as he found Guhle who immediately passed to a streaking Gallagher who redirected the puck by Ersson to make it a one-goal game.
4) The visitors once again slowly faded throughout the first half of the second period. With seven minutes left in the period, they paid for it as McDonald sent a pass through Montreal’s zone that aimed at no one. It landed in front of Dobes who inexplicably tried to whack it away with his stick instead of covering it. The puck went off Dobes’s stick, hit Evans, and immediately landed on Michkov’s stick who had an open net to make it 3-1.
5) The Canadiens picked up the pace after giving up the goal, as Slafkovsky and Texier had back-to-back scoring chances that they could not finish. Tyson Foerster then sent the Habs to their second man advantage when he took down Hutson. The Habs were once again dangerous on the advantage without scoring, but it created enough momentum for the Habs to score with ten seconds left in the period. A strong Gallagher forecheck thwarted a Flyers breakout. The puck was free for a one-timed cannon from Xhekaj that got through Ersson and sat free in the crease until Evans chipped in home for a 3-2 score after two periods and a 24-20 shot advantage for the Habs.
6) Montreal came out strong once again for the third and they were rewarded with their third power play of the night on an interference penalty against McDonald. The Flyers complained after this penalty, and they may have had a point, as Reinbacher had just gotten away with a punch on Martone and the call itself was a little soft. This time, the advantage was not dangerous, and it cost the Habs momentum instead of generating it.
7) The Canadiens stuck with the game despite the poor power play as they continued to push for the equalizer. As the second half got underway, Kapanen was sent in on a partial break, but he fired a rather weak attempt right into Ersson’s glove. After the save, Dach and McDonald got into it, which resulted in some four-on-four action. With 20 seconds left in that sequence, Slafkovsky mishandled the puck in the defensive zone and left it in the slot. Alex Bump immediately fired it over Dobes’ glove to make it 4-2.
8) With four minutes to go, Montreal pulled Dobes and got most of that time in the offensive zone. Too many passes, too much looking for Cole instead of the right play, and while the Flyers did not score thanks to a great save by Demidov, the Habs also never really got close.
9) Over the last few games, coach Martin St. Louis has tried different combinations with his forward group, trying to spark some offence on lines two and three specifically. It hasn’t worked and it leads me to beg of the coaching staff to go back to what wasn’t great but at least had a bit of coherence prior to this sequence. Get the Newhook-Kapanen-Demidov line back together, play Texier with Evans and Dach, and then have a crash line of Bolduc with Danault and Anderson. It’s playoff time and the experiments yielded no results.
10) Remember in the not-so-distant past when the Habs employed Shea Weber and every single odd-man situation was painful to watch due to its predictability? Watching the Habs’ top line operate for the last couple of weeks has been eerily similar. They have been so predictable in trying to get Caufield goals that they’ve been way less efficient and dangerous overall. Hopefully, that ends this weekend.
HabsWorld Habs 3 Stars
1st Star – Brendan Gallagher
While the discourse around Gallagher has been that the game has been too fast for him, the Habs’ warrior came to play in this game as he was noticeable in a much more positive way in this game’s forechecking than he was before being scratched. Can this version of Gallagher come out and face Corey Perry throughout the first round? If so, it can be an advantageous play for the Habs.
Stats: 1 goal, +1, 1 shot, 1 hit, 11:34 T.O.I.
2nd Star – Lane Hutson
Lane still had all his usual moves; there was just a whole lot less finish going on around him. With a long series with the Lightning ahead, it’ll be interesting to see how Hutson handles it, because he was a clear target in the last game between the two teams, and it didn’t seem to bother him. But can it get to him over a full series?
Stats: -1, 3 blocks, 26:08 T.O.I.
3rd Star – Cole Caufield
It’s not Caufield’s fault if Suzuki and Slafkovsky are passing to him too much, but this line needs to stop that crap and get back to what has worked for them all season long. In a game where not much went well for the Habs, at least Caufield shot a ton.
Stats: -1, 10 shots, 21:21 T.O.I.
