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In Hainsight: Retro Reverse Curse Back in Defeat to Devils |
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Follow me @KarineHains for all updates about the Montreal Canadiens and women's hockey
The Devils are on fire this season and the Canadiens were unable to stop them. Montreal put up a great fight in the first frame, but New Jersey turned it up a notch in the second and the Sainte-Flanelle had no answer. Fast and unforgiving, the Devils put on a lot of pressure with efficient forechecking and make you pay for every single mistake. Jake Allen made quite a few spectacular saves, but it just wasn’t enough to allow the Habs to compete. It should be noted that Evgeni Dadonov finally got his first goal of the year thanks to a great Monahan feed on the doorstep which allowed him to have an easy tap-in goal.
In his postgame comments, head coach Martin St-Louis said that New Jersey was a great test for the Canadiens and while he stopped short of saying that it was a test his men failed, he mentioned that they simply didn’t get a high enough grade. St-Louis also mentioned that the Devils’ game is quite similar to what the Canadiens are trying to put in place and that they just have to get better at it.
Last night was the Canadiens’ first game wearing their new reverse retro threads and while I like the powder blue look, I couldn’t help but find it funny in a way. For years, people called the Canadiens Smurfs because of their lack of size and now, when they are bigger than they’ve been in years, they are embracing the Smurfs’ colors. I’m not complaining though, I find the new jersey really pleasing to the eye, although I think the names should have been stitched in white rather than blue since they are unreadable, but that’s my one criticism about it. I also noticed that the RBC patch was modified and the yellow was removed in order not to ruin the look, good move. According to Habs Eye on the Prize’s Andrew Zadarnowski, the Canadiens now have a 11-13-2 record when using non-traditional jerseys since the 2006-2007 season.
After the game, it was announced that Jonathan Drouin would be unavailable for 4 to 6 weeks because of an upper body injury which he apparently sustained while playing against Vegas on November 5. No more details were given but if reverse retro jerseys are cursed, so is the new number 27. Drouin has been unable to play a complete season since his 81-game effort back in 2018-2019. While it’s a shame for the player, it’s also really bad timing for the team who is still hoping to be able to move him at the deadline for an asset, that already looked like a challenge with the performances he’s put in so far, but being out for an extended period of time, certainly won’t make it easier. It feels like time is running out for Drouin, he’s clearly not in the Canadiens’ future plans and as things stand, it could be hard for him to find a home next summer as a free agent.
Meanwhile, the Canadiens told Jonathan Kovacevic to find himself a home In Montreal on Monday. Since the defenseman would have to go through waivers if the Habs intended to send him down to Laval, it now seems unlikely that they’ll go down that route after telling him to settle in. Perhaps Chris Wideman should start to worry though…Especially since Mike Matheson is now practicing in a regular jersey which seems to indicate that he’ll be back soon.
Since Joel Armia is also injured and unavailable (he skated alone this morning but won't make the trip to Columbus), the Canadiens have recalled Rem Pitlick from Laval. In 3 games with the Rocket, Pitlick has collected 3 assists. The Habs will now be back in action on Thursday night when they take on the struggling Blue Jackets who only have 11 points on the season in Columbus.
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