Pre-Game
- Bienvenue à Centre Bell, Jayden Struble!
- I love watching these young guys getting their opportunity, even if just for a few games. Dipping their toes in the freezing cold water to see if they are able to swim. MOHAHA.
- Alex Newhook is the hockey equivalent of the Katy Perry song “Hot N Cold”.
- Let’s get ready to rrrrrrumble!
First Period
- Hey, one minute in and there’s a power play in da house. Mikkola to the box.
- Typical unnecessary Finnish aggressiveness #GoSweden
- Nothing to report from that man advantage, apart from Newhook seemingly being on the PP1 instead of The Joshua Tree Anderson.
- Primeau grows in confidence with every game he gets. He reminds me of 2021/22 Montembeault in that regard.
- Slaf and Caufield in a two-on-one, but Slaf gets too set on the pass instead of going for the glory himself.
- Ouch, Newhook to the locker room. He got hit from behind. Hoping for a swift return.
- And he’s back on the bench.
- Annnnnd the Finn is back in the box.
- I call it now. Josh Anderson will never, ever, ever score another NHL goal.
- Trying the jinx here, to see if it can break his curse.
- I almost had it. Josh Anderson breaks through on the penalty, gets tripped by Gustav Forsling, and that’s about as clear of a penalty shot as it could possibly be.
- Except it isn’t. Because apparently the referee was too busy grooming his moustache.
- A two-minute minor is all we get out of that. I’m baffled by that decision.
- Matheson to the box as well, to even out the personnel.
- Hey, that rhymed!
Second Period
- Kaiden Guhle is a beast.
- Jesse Ylönen on the breakaway. Puts the puck above the net.
- We want goals!
- Power play!
- Caufield immediately gets called as well, and we have another 4-on-4 on our hands.
- It’s like the Habs don’t even want to play a man up…
- Alexander Barkov opens the scoring.
- Gustav Lindström with the indianare, as we would call it in Sweden.
- Indianare definition: A thoughtless pass intended for offensive display, which is incomplete and instead causes a scoring opportunity for the opposing team.
- Power plays galore here in Centre Bell. Nobody seems intent on scoring though.
- So close for Slafkovsky to tie it up. Bobrovsky is having a good game in net.
- Three scouts from the Oilers in the house. If they’re here to watch Cayden Primeau, they will not get less intrigued after tonight’s performance.
Third Period
- We still want goals!
- Welp, that’s not what I meant. 2-0 Florida.
- Newhook injures his foot when he gets tangled up in the net.
- This goes from bad to badder to the baddest. 3-0 Florida.
- He can’t hit, he can’t hit, he can’t hit, SWING badder!
- We have a fourth goal of the night. Verhaeghe on the man advantage, and now Primeau is in his head.
- You can see it, when he loses his mojo and starts doubting himself.
- Hey, we have a goal!
- Last season, Johnathan Kovacevic had three goals in 77 games.
- This year, he has four goals in the last eight.
- Who needs Caufield when you have Kovy?
- Speaking of Caufield, great assist on the goal though.
- Do we have 5-1? Maybe.
- Puck bounces off the post, onto the ice and then out of the goal to be collected by Primeau.
- Insane bounce though. Any other bounce and that would have been a goal for the Floridians.
- It was an even game for two periods at least. Then it sort of derailed unnecessarily. On to the next one!
EOTP 3 Stars
3) Another strong impression from the veteran-like rookie
2) If you’re not designing a power play around your most dangerous weapon, it’s time for a new designer
1) I wish we could all go back to this very moment
