Assessing The Depth: Defencemen
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The Habs have invested a lot of time into revamping their back end in recent years. However, in spite of all of the signings and draft picks used, there are still some holes in the system to address.
The Habs have invested a lot of time into revamping their back end in recent years. However, in spite of all of the signings and draft picks used, there are still some holes in the system to address.
The Habs played with tons of courage in Game 5 on Wednesday night, but the Lightning got a goal from Ross Colton in the second period and were able to trap their way to a 1-0 victory to take home the 2021 Stanley Cup.
Of the three lineup changes that Dominique Ducharme made on Monday, the one to sit Jesperi Kotkaniemi was the most controversial. However, with the lineup composition they were seeking, it was the right one.
In a game that likely took ten years off every single Habs fans’ life, Montreal blew two different one-goal leads before finding themselves shorthanded for four minutes with the game on the line. Price was heroic, Suzuki was on another level, and Anderson scored two huge goals as the Habs forced Game 5 with a 3-2 overtime victory.
Enthusiasm for Montreal’s first Stanley Cup Final appearance since 1993 went away rather quickly as the Habs already find themselves on the brink of elimination following a trio of losses to Tampa Bay.
As improbable as it may have seemed, the Montreal Canadiens have fought their way to the Stanley Cup Final. It took a full team effort to get to this stage, meaning there are plenty of stars to choose from for the month of June.
The Habs came out flat in both the first and second periods on Friday night, hardly a good recipe for success. Those early goals came back to haunt them as they fell 6-3 and now trail Tampa Bay 3-0 in the Stanley Cup Final.
We’re now two games into the Stanley Cup Final and a familiar problem has returned for the Habs. Their top scorers during the regular season have all suddenly stopped scoring and the end result is a 2-0 deficit to the Lightning.
After dominating the first forty minutes of the game, the Habs found themselves down 2-1. Tampa Bay shut things down in the third and the Habs simply didn’t have the offensive firepower to overcome the Lightning’s solid defensive play who got the 3-1 win and the 2-0 series lead in large part thanks to Andrei Vasilevskiy.
While the offseason hasn’t arrived for the Habs just yet – there is a Stanley Cup Final to be played, after all – the draft and free agency are quickly approaching. Accordingly, it’s time to kick off our annual depth assessment series, beginning with the goalies.