2024-01-11 13:51:18
Let’s make things clear: yesterday, the Canadian lost a match (3-2 in a shootout) that he absolutely did not deserve to win. Already the club has stolen a point in a match where it did not deserve to have one…
Those who watched the match know that the club had a (tiny) revival during the meeting, but that the majority of the time, Martin St-Louis’ men were eaten by those of John Tortorella.
You know when you have two goals on two shots in the first period, you were lucky.
Luck was clearly a factor in the match. Leading 2-1 after 20 minutes when the shots are 10-2 for the opponent is lucky. Seeing his goalkeeper (who was excellent, but I’ll come back to that) being saved six times by his posts is lucky.
Picking up a point in such a match is lucky.
I really have the impression that Martin St-Louis didn’t want to push his luck into overtime and that he played conservatively. And what does it mean to play conservative hockey?
That means giving Evans three appearances on the ice in overtime, but not playing Juraj Slafkovsky three-on-three.
Juraj Slafkovsky sitting on the bench watching Jake Evans going out for another shift in overtime pic.twitter.com/1WYI1k5WtM
— /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) January 11, 2024
Yes, I know Slaf is not a center. I know that Evans was there in particular for his qualities as a guy who is able to win faceoffs – and inevitably, to take possession of the puck.
But does Martin St-Louis know that Claude Julien wasn’t hitting for 1,000 when he too often sent Phillip Danault onto the ice to start overtime for the Canadian? in time?
It pissed off everyone in town, remember.
It’s easy to play stage manager, but it seems to me that if we’re talking about center, Sean Monahan has more d’upside offensive for overtime, right? And it also seems to me that Slaf deserves to have real hearings in overtime, regardless of his position.
Jake Evans has 4 goals in his last 94 games. If this is one of your go-to guys when looking for a GWG in 3-on-3 OT, you’ve got a major issue with offensive firepower.
— HabsLinks (@HabsLinks) January 11, 2024
But OK. The Canadian’s defeat does not rest only on the shoulders of Jake Evans, who did not play better or who did not play worse than the average of his teammates.
What do I remember from this match?
1. Cayden Primeau was excellent for the Canadian. His 37 saves on 39 shots, including several in overtime, are clearly a reason why the CH left Pennsylvania with a point in their pocket.
Without such a performance from Primeau, who played in front of his team, the Canadian would have been washed out. Really.
Yes, his posts helped him. Yes, there are times when the puck should have gone into the net, when there was traffic. But Primeau still received 22 shots in the last 25 minutes before the shootout and he gave nothing.
We will forgive him for his “speed” of execution on the Flyers’ first goal: he was excellent yesterday. And meanwhile, at the end of the bench, Jake Allen must have told himself that it will not be easy to get playing time between now and the end of the season.
Cayden Primeau was solid in front of his net against the Flyers pic.twitter.com/H6zTu1sFCv
— L’Antichambre (@Antichambre) January 11, 2024
2. Flyers goaltender Samuel Ersson blocked 17 shots during the game. These are the last 17 shots received in the last 45 minutes of the match… plus three saves in the shootout, obviously.
His teammates blocked 16 shots. That’s almost as much as the goalkeeper alone.
Meanwhile, Kaiden Guhle blocked 10 shots alone. If we add the blocked shots of Quebecers Mike Matheson and David Savard, we arrive at 20 for the three Canadian defenders.
That’s more than the goalkeeper on the other side!
Didn’t watch the game (and still can’t sleep) but this is wild:
Blocked shots by Kaiden Guhle, David Savard and Mike Matheson: 20
Blocked shots by Samuel Ersson: 17
— Arpon Basu (@ArponBasu) January 11, 2024
3. The Canadian faced the 31st best team in the NHL on the power play. It was the perfect time to try to help ourselves a little and booster the confidence of the penalty kill unit.
But the Flyers scored their second PP goal. Jamie Drysdale, who played his first game in his new colors, took the opportunity to collect his first point as a member of the Flyers.
4. Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield and Juraj Slafkovsky didn’t have the greatest of games. Is this why Slafkovsky didn’t receive overtime playing time yesterday?
However, we can take our hats off to Brendan Gallagher, Josh Anderson and Jake Evans, who did well. Is that why Evans had good playing time in overtime yesterday?
5. During the Canadiens’ game, the Montreal women’s club was also playing… just like the Rocket and the Lions. In addition, Owen Beck took the opportunity to get six points in Saginaw.
To what extent were you still following CH at the end of the match?
Prolongation
The CH had many days to properly prepare to face the Flyers, but it didn’t exactly yield a good result.
Why didn’t Flannel have its legs? Who knows.
#Habs now head home to face a #SJSharks team marred in a 12-game losing streak + coming off a 7-1 loss in their last game on Tuesday. If tonight the #GoHabsGo didn’t have their legs, let’s hope that’s not the case again tomorrow…
— Priyanta Emrith (@HabsInHighHeels) January 11, 2024
The club took the plane last night to return to Montreal, where Samuel Montembeault and the Sharks are already. Remember that the Quebec goaltender did not make the trip and that it is he who should face San Jose this evening, at the Bell Centre.
The club has training this morning. Will he have the legs to give the Sharks (and Mike Hoffman) a 13th straight loss?
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#playing #Jake #Evans #leaving #Juraj #Slafkovsky #bench #sparked #talk