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Canadiens at Devils – Second Period Thread

SCORING SUMMARY
1ST PERIOD

13:55 NJD PPG – P. ELIAS (14) SNAP – ASST: T. ZAJAC (13) AND M. ZIDLICKY (14) 1 – 0 NJD

17:36 NJD J. JOSEFSON (1) WRIST – ASST: D. ZUBRUS (7) AND S. SULLIVAN (9) 2 – 0 NJD

PENALTY SUMMARY
1ST PERIOD

13:23 MTL RENE BOURQUE : INTERFERENCE – 2 MIN (ADAM LARSSON)

Like the game against Washington, Montreal came out going to the net and getting some okay chances. They looked significantly better than the previous five games.

Then the officials called a phantom penalty on Rene Bourque because Ilya Kovalchuk whined about being defended, and the Canadiens’ travesty of a penalty kill somehow allowed Patrick Elias to get a breakaway from the slot. It doesn’t sound possible, but it happened.

The problem with the PK is more than just a systems issue. JJ Daigneault can not identify which players are successful at it. Andrei Markov is the worst regular Canadiens’ D on the PK this season, so tossing him out on the first wave with Yannick Weber, who’s barely played this year, is confoundingly stupid. These are the kinds of mistakes a coaching staff can’t be making at this time of year. Lean on the players who are good at these jobs. Enough is enough.

Down 1-0, the Canadiens completely collapsed mentally and let the Devils throttle them in the defensive zone, missing every possible checking assignment.

Raphael Diaz and Josh Gorges both got caught in no-man’s land on the second goal, forcing Brendan Gallagher to try to cover Diaz’s side, but he couldn’t get there in time.

Carey Price made several difficult stops in the period, but once again his team is letting him get shelled.


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