First period
- Mike Matheson thought he got the game started off well, as did most of the crowd, but it turns out his shot fluttered across the crease and hit off the crossbar and then the far elbow.
- Montreal is getting some good chances versus what has been a solid defensive team. Soem great transitions to attack the zone with speed.
- It says shots are 5-1 Carolina, but we saw in the preview for this game that the Hurricanes just fire from everywhere. Montreal has been much closer to actually scoring.
- Carolina is beginning to get more zone time, but not ding anything with it yet.
- Some nice dekes from Newhook gets him to the slot between two defenders for a high-danger shot. Good chance.
- Juraj Slafkovský wheels out of the corner and spins into the slot. He was looking for Caufield, but wasn’t able to check his swing when Caufield peeled away and the chance went awry.
- Andrei Svechnikov hits a couple of posts in quick succession. The Hurricanes are now up to three this period, to go with the two Matheson hit on the same shot.
- Shots were 9-8 Carolina, with the play fairly even between the two teams I would say. Defence is fairly tight from both teams, and players have to work for their openings.
Second period
- Xhekaj shoves Svechnikov to the ice. That’s becoming his signature move. Shea Weber had cross-checks, David Savard has the slide, Xhekaj has the shove.
- Slafkovský forces Pyotr Kochetkov into a great save on a point-blank shot.
- Nice job by Jayden Struble to recognize a pass right through the middle of his defensive zone was the safest play to start a breakout. Both routes along the boards were closed.
- Nick Suzuki is called for interference as … he gets the stick ripped out of his hands while staying near the player who just made a pass. I would rate what he did in that interaction the second-most illegal act.
- The power play looked dangerous, but it couldn’t put the puck in the net.
- Now Montreal gets a chance on a delay of game call.
- Suzuki makes a little drop-pass through the feet of his defender to Caufield on the blue line, and that opens up an acre of space for both Caufield and Slafkovský. The latter just fails to convert.
- The first goal comes short-handed for Jordan Staal as Mike Matheson is too confident he can make a play under pressure at the blue line and gets burned. He does that much too often.
- You get the feeling the Hurricanes are content to win this game 1-0 now. Montreal will have to get that much more creative for their chances.
- After three instances of defensive-zone interference by the Hurricanes, the ref finally has to call one of them, even though it was on Brendan Gallagher.
- Slafkovský just whipped a pass all the way across the zone to Caufield. Again, the skilled play catches Carolina off-guard.
- Kochetkov gets beaten by a shot, but his jersey slings the puck up and off the crossbar. I think that’s three pings per team now.
- Skjei’s stick breaks at the point … just as the period ends. He was saved by the bell from an Evans breakaway.
- A good period for Montreal, other than Matheson’s poor decision-making on the power play to allow another short-handed goal.
Third period
- Jordan Harris has looked quite good while paired with Matheson tonight. He even has a couple of nice offensive plays
- And then he makes four turnovers on the same shift and gets called for a penalty. I shouldn’t have said anything.
- Carolina scores on the power play to make it 2-0.
- The Hurricanes are in full shutdown mode now. It’s going to take some special plays to generate offence.
- Montreal does get a power play with eight minutes to go.
- The defence just clamps down even tighter.
- I want the Canadiens to be this good defensively, but not this boring. A team that wins by a comfortable 4-1 instead of 2-0.
- Montreal pulls Montembeault with three minutes to play. Seth Jarvis hits the empty net seconds later to make it 3-0.
- The only thing on the line now is Slafkovský’s point streak.
- That comes to an end along with the winning streak as Montreal loses 3-0, they’re first time getting shut out since December 7.
- We’ll have the final two-day break of the season, and then start the final leg of nine games in 15 days, starting Tuesday versus the Florida Panthers.
EOTP 3 Stars
-3) We’re just cheering on the Js this spring.
2) It’s definitely the time for some experimenting. I thought he’d work well as a bumper.
1) Now someone tell him he can still get points in his 20s
