10 Thoughts: More Goaltending Woes

Having lost four straight, the Habs looked to get back in the win column on Thursday as they hosted Washington.  Instead, the goalie struggles continued as the Capitals lit them up for eight, doubling up the Canadiens 8-4.

With Montreal not carrying any extra healthy skaters, the only lineup change Martin St. Louis can make from night-to-night is in goal.  This time, it was Samuel Montembeault getting the nod, facing a Capitals team that lit up Edmonton for seven goals the night before, hardly a good omen for a netminder struggling between the pipes.  Meanwhile, the new-look lines from Monday remained intact with the team lining up as follows:

Caufield — Suzuki — Bolduc
Slafkovsky – Kapanen — Demidov
Roy – Evans – Anderson
Davidson – Veleno – Gallagher

Matheson – Dobson
Struble — Hutson
Xhekaj –  Carrier

10 Thoughts

1) The theme of the first period was penalties.  There were plenty of them.  The first was a Juraj Slafkovsky high-sticking minor in the opening minute and Alex Ovechkin opened the scoring faster than you can read the end of this sentence.  Dylan Strome won the draw and Ovechkin had an open shooting late with a screen, making it a hard one for Samuel Montembeault to track.  Not the confidence-boosting start to the game he was hoping for.

2) Montreal killed off a Mike Matheson minor and then got their first power play of the frame.  It was great if you were a Washington penalty killer, not so much if you were a Canadiens attacker as they were completely disorganized throughout.  Three minutes later, they were set to get another chance and spent the better part of a minute on the delayed penalty moving the puck around, getting shots, and looking like an organized group.  Where did that come from and why was it missing for two weeks?

3) The ensuing power play saw things go back to basics.  A few passes and a shot.  The first unit didn’t score but they had one of their better sequences from the last half-dozen games.  Then, Noah Dobson got a shot through from the point.  Brendan Gallagher was in front of Charlie Lindgren for the screen and just got enough of the puck to direct it toward the goal line.  Matt Roy got a stick on it but not quite quick enough as it just got over the line.  A long video review confirmed it and with the goal, Gallagher passed Bob Gainey for 15th in franchise history with 240 goals.

4) The penalty brigade continued.  Joshua Roy took a bad high-sticking penalty, then Ethen Frank ended that power play early with a slash.  However, at the end of the first, Matheson took a high-sticking minor.  Three high-sticking penalties in a period, that’s something the coaching staff isn’t going to be happy with.  Probably not Jared Davidson (1:47) or Arber Xhekaj (3:07) either as the march to the box really limited their ice time.

5) The theme of the second period was goals.  On the Matheson power play, Ethen Frank took a late pass from Alex Ovechkin (who had just gotten out of the box after taking an offsetting minor late in the first) and fired a shot high past Montembeault for his first of the season.  It was a decent shot but one that needed to be stopped.  Then, on his next shift, he came in on the wing and beat Montembeault with a shot that wasn’t particularly decent and really needed to be stopped.  That justifiably ended Montembeault’s night early as it was another opportunity squandered to get back on track.  And if Frank isn’t someone you’re too familiar with, his career path is a lot like Alex Belzile’s a few years ago.  He’s a bit younger but he just made his NHL debut last season and has impressed in a limited role.

6) To say it has been a tough start to the season for Joe Veleno would be an understatement.  Pointless through 14 games, he wasn’t making a great case to stay in the lineup but injuries have given him a lot of runway.  He had a few good shifts early on and he was rewarded for his efforts a little before the midway mark of the period, taking a cross-ice feed from Matheson and sniping a shot past Lindgren.  As a scorer in junior, Veleno has some decent offensive skills.  It’d be nice to see moments like that more often from him.

7) After a first period filled with penalties, the second was much cleaner from a whistle perspective.  That was to the chagrin of the Habs as with a little more than five minutes left, Tom Wilson got a hit in on Jake Evans that he felt was high (Evans wound up leaving the game and didn’t return).  It wasn’t called and Washington maintained possession; soon after, Jakob Chychrun was left all alone at the point (not a good idea) and he blasted a bullet past Dobes.  To their credit, the Habs rebounded as on the next shift, Lane Hutson drew a delayed penalty but it wasn’t needed as seconds later, Alexandre Carrier’s point shot went off Brandon Duhaime’s skate right to Nick Suzuki in the left faceoff dot and he one-timed a shot past Lindgren.  For a brief moment, it looked like things might be under control.

8) And then it wasn’t.  With less than three minutes left, two of the contributors to Montreal’s goals contributed to a Washington tally.  Veleno turned the puck over in the offensive zone and the Caps were off to the races.  Frank sent a pass to Sonny Milano who then blew by Carrier who stumbled trying to keep up and lifted a shot past Dobes.  This was another one of those decent shots but one that Dobes probably would acknowledge he should have stopped.

9) For most of the third period, I thought the Canadiens played quite well.  They were putting the pressure on Lindgren and generating several good chances.  Matheson fired a point shot home to make it a one-goal game and they had several opportunities to tie it.  They had a real chance to get a point in this game.

10) And then things went off the rails, fast.  Ovechkin scored on a two-on-one with four minutes left to restore the two-goal lead.  That came a few minutes after the Capitals passed their way out of a three-on-one with nothing to show for it.  Dobes was pulled for the extra attacker but Ovechkin buried a long shot for the hat trick.  Then, Milano fired home past Dobes 30 seconds later.  What was a close third period for the most part turned into a rout and with a key divisional game against Toronto looming, there will be questions about which of their four signed goalies should get the nod.

HW Habs 3 Stars

1st Star: Brendan Gallagher – It has been a tough start to the year for him offensively as he hasn’t been anywhere near as impactful or even threatening as he was just last season.  But this was a positive performance for him.  His power play marker should serve as a reminder that having a screener has its benefits and Montreal’s fourth line (which he’s on) was arguably their best at five-on-five in terms of possession.

Stats: 1 goal, 1 assist, -1 rating, 2 shots, 13:45 TOI

2nd Star: Mike Matheson – If it weren’t for the two bad penalties in the first, he’d have been slotted higher.  He was Montreal’s most involved player on the night, especially in the offensive zone.  In a contract year, he continues to make a compelling case for an extension.

Stats: 1 goal, 1 assist, even rating, 4 PIMS, 2 shots, 2 takeaways, 22:35 TOI

3rd Star: Joe Veleno – As I noted earlier, he made an impact in this one with not just the goal but also some strong plays that led to chances.  Martin St. Louis certainly noticed as he was one of Montreal’s most-used forwards in this one which is something I don’t think anyone saw coming heading into the night.

Stats: 1 goal, -1 rating, 4 shots, 2 hits, 9/15 faceoffs, 17:02 TOI