First period
- The simple three-goalie rotations continues as Jake Allen gets the start in net. First shot is stopped, and that’s a big deal.
- It’s all Red Wings to start this game. The Habs might need a few shifts to adjust to the new lines.
- A little stop-on-a-dime inverse pivot from Mike Matheson to start a rush up the ice. He does some pretty incredible things in between some boneheaded passes and reads.
- Hmm. Johnny Kovacevic just made a similar move, so it seems that the defencemen may have worked on some puck-handling tactics to improve the breakouts.
- The bad news: local product Joe Veleno scores on a delayed penalty. The good news? We’ve got that out of the way now. The best news? We don’t need to see the Canadiens’ penalty kill.
- Jake Evans knocks down a cross-ice pass in mid-air on his backhand, preventing another chance.
- Jayden Struble makes two good plays, first to knock down is man on the half-wall, then steal the puck at the side of his net.
- Even the forwards are working on more turn-backs and delays in attempting to gain the zone. They’re not getting much chance to use their new tools yet, but something has clearly been discussed.
- The Canadiens get a power play. The Red Wings get a goal. Justin Barron dove to stop the initial rush, but couldn’t get into the play when Detroit broke out. A backcheck from Josh Anderson put pressure on the first attacker and led to an Allen save, but the goaltender couldn’t find the puck sitting at his toe, and Christian Fischer tucked it in.
- The man advantage is now -2 over the last eight games.
- Juraj Slafkovský gives Tanner Pearson a bouncing lob pass, and Pearson gets in for a point-blank shot.
- Jesse Ylonen just can’t corral a pass from Mitchell Stephens into the slot. That’s two quality looks in quick succession, and something to build upon.
- Sean Monahan whiffs on a slot shot. The chances are starting to pile up.
- Detroit races away on a two-on-one, and Daniel Sprong makes it 3-0.
- We might get to 11 in this game yet.
- Barron at least gets one of the goals back before the period comes to close.
- It was a good goal, but I don’t think it was worth the ticker tape falling on the ice. The crowd eruption must have knocked some loose.
First intermission
- It might be cause for another Martin St-Louis speech in the locker room. I hope he knows he’s allowed to do those before the game — or during it — as well, before things get out of hand.
- The media has been dismissing the Canadiens’ overtime success by pointing out how few regulation wins they have. The HNiC intermission starts off by mocking people who say that’s an issue for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Second period
- Another good bit of work from Slafkovský. It seems he doesn’t need as much time to adjust to playing with Jake Evans as he had to other centres this season.
- Stephens just misses the net. There have several of those shots tonight from goo positions with players tying to be too perfect.
- Allen lunges out of his net to make a save on Lucas Raymond, trips the forward as he’s trying to get the puck, and gets a penalty.
- It’s a one-goal game, because Joel Armia has scored a short-handed goal. A little opportunism for the Canadiens.
- Alex DeBrincat scores his 13th goal after getting left all alone at the side of the net versus the Canadiens’ diamond formation. Someone record that goal and show it to Alex Burrows.
- Matheson drops a puck in traffic, but this boneheaded play is bailed out because the Red Wings ran some interference on the player he was attempting to cycle to.
- I vote we don’t see a short-handed goal on this power play.
- Too much rolling the puck around the boards with an extra man.
- Kaiden Guhle comes onto the ice with just a few seconds left in the power play, and suddenly the team gets a couple of chances.
- It carries over into a top-line shift, and Cole Caufield has two good looks from his office.
- Jayden Struble draws an elbowing penalty, and just gives a light shove in retaliation to ensure the power play comes.
- A trip of Caufield results in 60 second of five-on-three time.
- There were chances, all created by the creativity of Caufeld and Suzuki, but the situation ends with a penalty on Monahan.
- The power play looked much more dangerous with Caufield making plays on the right side.
- A fairly even period, but the Canadiens needed more than even to overcome the two-goal deficit they carried in. They’ll have to be in full control of the third to pull this off.
Third period
- Josh Anderson battles with J.T. Compher to get to a loose puck, and goes down in the altercation. The official decides Anderson deserves a penalty for it.
- Ylonen just about makes it 4-3 on a rush as the penalty comes to an end, but DeBrincat gets his stick into Ylonen’s hands. Habs power play.
- Caufield still on the right side.
- Some movement from the Habs forces the opposition to scramble around for the first time in a long time trying to close off lanes. The result is and end to the man advantage goalless drought with a shot from Suzuki.
- They wont build any momentum from the goal, because Johnny Kovacevic is immediately into the box for high-sticking.
- The crowd begins to buzz as Armia carries the puck up the ice on a short-handed rush. He’s playing like he doesn’t want to go down to the AHL again.
- A potential short-handed breakaway for Christian Dvorak stops before it starts with him unable to get the puck up from his feet to his stick.
- A quality penalty kill indeed.
- I think Sportsnet is a lot more concerned about Caufield not scoring on home ice than he is, even if he has seen Suzuki take his team points lead tonight.
- Another great chance for Montreal is created by Kaiden Guhle pulling all the attention onto himself with a trip down below the goal line. He needs some power-play time. Barron just fails to convert on the backhand at the end of the cycle.
- Brendan Gallagher gets pulled down by the neck, but you know why that isn’t a penalty.
- A good rush by Ylonen gets the puck to middle of the ice, and his shot results in a rebound that Slafkovský can’t quite get his stick on.
- Another quality offensive-zone shift for Ylönen after a TV timeout.
- A giveaway by Monahan behind his net forces Allen into a critical save.
- The pressure results in the tying goal. It’s another one from a defenceman, with Gustav Lindström putting it in.
- A great play by Anderson to make the pass from the slot to his onrushing teammate. Struble also got a point on the goal.
- Seconds later, Suzuki nearly puts Montreal in the lead.
- That’s a good fight to earn a point, and the crowd is very appreciative of the effort.
Overtime
- The Canadiens never touched the puck in overtime. Jake Walmn gets the winner as Detroit wins 5-4.
EOTP 3 Stars
3) He should have signed a per-save deal
2) Especially after how the previous game went.
1) Welcome back, and thank you for the point, ladies
