One would have hoped that the Canadiens would have came out strong after being shutout by Philly in game 3, but it wasn’t the case. The Habs team that showed up was flat, it had no legs, no energy, no will, drive or emotion. This is playoffs hockey and yes, anything can happen in the playoffs no matter what the stats say, or which seed you are but, the team that wants the win more will get the win. This afternoon, that’s exactly what happened. Vigneault’s team was well prepared and succeeded in imposing its style of play managing to smother the Habs attack and stopping them from making any use of the speed they are known for. Raffl scored the first goal of the game at 6:32 in the first off, a Gallagher turnover and from then on, it did not look for a second like the Habs might get back in this one. Myers added a 2nd one in the last few minutes of the second frame, one that Carey Price probably would like to have back and that was all the Flyers needed to push the Canadiens’ in the ropes and in danger of being knocked-out tomorrow.
Prior to the start of the series, it was said that this would be a great goalie battle and it has been. I remember writing that if Carey Price could get in the Flyers’ forwards’ head, the Canadiens might have a chance to take this series but lo and behold, it’s Carter Hart who has gotten in the Habs’ heads. Prior to today’s game, Price had a 1.40 GAA and a .953 save percentage. Those are great numbers, and on most teams, that would have given him the win often, but not with the Habs. Price now has 4 wins and 4 losses these playoffs and that’s not his fault. Montreal is struggling to find the back of the net and even a brilliant goaltender cannot make you win if you cannot score. In 8 games, the Habs have scored 16 goals (5 of which came in the same game), this is just not enough to hope to have success.
Today, was a tough day at the office for several Habs. It has never been so obvious as it was in the first period that Brendan Gallagher is injured. He’s been nursing an ankle injury for a while now, but he never looked as slow as he did tonight. Full marks to him for trying to play through the pain, but he doesn’t pose much of a threat when he can barely skate. Jonathan Drouin looked downright disinterested for most of the game. He was reluctant to engage in any battle to retrieve the puck from the board or the corner, he wasn’t giving his all on the back check when he was supposed to cover for a blueliner who joined the attack and his decision making (or lack thereof) was atrocious. In the final frame, with Montreal down 2-0 and in desperate need of a goal, Gallagher played just 3 minutes and 8 seconds and Drouin 3 minutes and 2 seconds. In Gally’s case, the injury can probably explain that fact (even though he told the media he is fine) but Drouin doesn’t have that excuse, not anymore. It’s been said time and time again, if you want to win, your best players need to be your best players. The lack of offensive contribution from Gallagher, Drouin, Domi, Tatar (for all but one game) and Danault is really hurting this team. Shea Weber has got 5 points in 8 games and that’s a great contribution from him, but he shouldn’t be your points leader followed by Kotkaniemi (4), Byron (4) and Petry (3). For all the abuse Lehkonen gets about not being able to put the puck in the net, he’s still the 5th point getter on this line-up with 3 (a goal and 2 assists).
Kirk Muller tried pretty much every line combination possible today, he truly had the blender out and threw everyone in, but nothing worked. What’s worst than being shutout 2 games in a row? Playing another game in just over 24 hours and having next to no time to make any kind of adjustments. The team has said time and time again that the experience the kids will get from being part of the playoffs is invaluable, well, how about giving one or two more kids a bit of the said experience? I have nothing against Alex Belzile, he’s a hard worker but he is a career AHLer and he was only used for 7 minutes and 42 seconds tonight. He got a great scoring chance but couldn’t even put the puck on net… Would Ryan Poehling have scored on that play? We’ll never know as we can’t go back in time, but we can at least give him a chance to show what he can do on the biggest stage of them all.
Voyez les trois buts inscrits par Ryan Poehling lui permettant d'obtenir son premier tour du chapeau @Enterprise en carrière! 🧢🧢🧢
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) April 7, 2019
Check out all three goals from Ryan Poehling's first career @Enterprise hat trick!#GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/v4mTbi3TyY
As for the defense, well, I think we could also give either Fleury or Juulsen a shot. Replace Ouellet or Mete or both of them. Ouellet is an AHL calibre player and Mete has got no shot and no hits…not even one. Philadelphia plays a solid game and it would be nice to be able to shake them up a little as well. Earlier this season Fleury has showed us that he can dish out some bone crushing hits when he puts his mind to it. At this stage, the Canadiens don’t really have anything to lose. If they do not find a way to inject some energy in this line-up, they’ll just whimper out of the playoffs in any case. Might as well plan and use players who are still developing to give them at least a taste of the post season.
It’s hard to see how the Canadiens could come back from this 3-1 deficit in the series, they’ve done it before, in the 2010 playoffs against Washington but few players remain from that era. In fact, the sole survivor is Carey Price and back then he rode the pine for what has come to be known as the “Halak Spring…. Still, if any goaltender can get them out of this mess, it’s Carey Price but he will need to get a bit of help. The current state of affairs is old news for Price, no matter how well he does in the playoffs, his attack always lets him down. In the 2nd round against Tampa Bay in 2015, in the 1st round against the Rangers in 2017 and now in this first round against Philadelphia. The Canadiens’ star netminder is not getting any younger and if he’s to ever lead this team to the ultimate price, he will need more than a makeshift supporting cast. For those who are about to tell me that they were sellers at the deadline and that’s the problem, I’ll say they weren’t back in 2015 or in 2017. And even if they were this year, please do not tell me that Kovalchuk, Cousins and Thompson would have made all the difference. Kovalchuk can be an attacking force, yes but right now, he’s on Washington’s third line and has 4 shots and an assist to his name.
Seeing Gallagher and Weber’s demeanor in their post game interviews though, these guys are fuming right now. If they can find a way to channel that energy into motivation for tomorrow night’s game, they might be able to delay the bursting of their bubble. Muller said that he’s got good pros on his team and he expects them to wake up tomorrow and be ready to go and put up a good fight…hopefully, he’s right.
Full postgame reactions 👇https://t.co/goSYF7AjEu#GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/3VjonaOnxp
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) August 18, 2020