Another match, another defeat. A fifth in a row, a ninth in the last 11 games.
At this rate, the Canadian will certainly be in the mix: the one for the first choice lottery. And Kent Hughes will be able to get his ticket or the abacus ball before Christmas.
With this 5-3 setback against the New Jersey Devils, the Habs are already flirting with the bottom of the circuit. It’s fortunate that other teams in the Atlantic Division, like the Bruins and the Senators, also started the season in a slump, otherwise the Montrealers would be on the verge of being lost.
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Once again, it is the defensive work that can be singled out. Like what happened on the Flames’ first two goals on Tuesday, Martin St-Louis’ troops underwent a few hypnosis sessions in their territory.
The first time when Jack Hughes crossed the crease without being too bothered before allowing Jesper Bratt to open the scoring. The second, when Jonas Siegenthaler went behind the backs of the five Habs players, too focused on watching Paul Cotter fight for the puck with Josh Anderson in the corner of the ice.
Even Messmer wouldn’t have done better.
Newhook, from start to finish
At least the Canadian fought until the very end. Which was lacking a few times in October.
But it’s not normal that Brendan Gallagher, who plays on what’s left of his gasoline vapor at 32, is the one who rushes the most eagerly to the net.
Which earned the veteran his fourth goal in six games, a sixth since the start of the season.
There is the second trio who cannot be blamed for much. Jake Evans comes from the same rage to win as that of Gallagher. The unit he forms with Juraj Slafkovsky and Alex Newhook was for the second time in as many meetings since it existed the most threatening in the Montreal camp.
After knocking on the door on a few occasions on Tuesday, Alex Newhook added two goals to his record. His second, which he scored after crossing the ice from one end to the other with the puck, was a thing of beauty.
Rumors are circulating according to which, at this time, Jean-Nicolas Blanchet, my colleague from Quebec Journaltried to erase all traces of his Thursday morning column in which he questioned the Newhook acquisition.
Worrying silence
Given that the Canadiens are not capable of having four lines operating at the same time, the recent success of this reinvented second unit coincides with the sudden silence of the first line.
Between them, Cole Caufield, Nick Suzuki and Kirby Dach were limited to three shots and a total of seven attempts. Remember that these three attackers get two-thirds of the minutes that the Habs play on the power play.
Since they still remain the Habs’ two main weapons, it was normal for Caufield and Suzuki to find themselves on the ice when Martin St-Louis removed Samuel Montembeault in favor of a sixth attacker.
The Canadian head coach had added Newhook and Gallagher to them. It didn’t have the desired effect, but it was proof of St. Louis’ appreciation for the work done earlier in the game.
Meanwhile, Dach was warming up the bench.
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