Rating The Tank: What The Hell Was That? Edition

Folks, I have in my time as a writer at this site covered and watched a lot of hockey — and a lot of bad hockey. The game last night between the Montreal Canadiens and Florida Panthers was somehow both one of the most incredible things I’ve ever seen, and quite possibly the dumbest game of hockey I’ve ever watched.

Let’s dive into it.

The Good

Well, they lost in regulation again, always a good thing when you want a top-end draft pick come June.

They also scored four goals in a game, with the offence getting contributions from all over, including a beautiful opening goal from Mike Matheson just 16 seconds in.

Michael Pezzetta and Rafaël Harvey-Pinard tallied really nice deflection goals to give the Canadiens some life in this game even if they ended up losing in the end. And I would be remiss to not give some props to Samuel Montembeault who had to re-enter the game after being pulled and played quite well to see out the rest of the contest against the Panthers.

The Bad

Well, the rest of this game was horrid. So bad it should be on trial at The Hague.

The goaltending was bad, the defence was somehow even more porous, and to top it all off the game ended with Nick Suzuki being ejected for cross-checking. Dubious nature of the call aside, it’s a sour note to end the game on, and losing Suzuki for any amount of time due to suspension would be a bitter pill to swallow.

Also Florida winning makes the Habs’ second first-round pick this year worse, which is annoying.

Lottery Movement

A loss is never a bad thing in the race to the bottom for Connor Bedard, and following Thursday’s game the Habs now sit with the fifth best odds in the NHL.

Tankathon

Tank Score

9/10

The only things keeping this from being a full 10/10 is that I’m petty and mad at the officiating for turning this game into a certified gong show after Sam Reinhart’s goal, and a team giving up 21 goals in three games isn’t exactly awe-inspiring by any means.

Two games against the Tampa Bay Lightning and then one against the Boston Bruins now await the Habs before they get a reprieve against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Meanwhile, Habs fans should be cheering hard for the Philadelphia Flyers and Arizona Coyotes to pull off some magic this weekend as Montreal tries to increase its grip on the bottom five.