If I’m a Montreal Canadiens fan, living in Halifax and waiting all summer for Sunday’s game, I’d be pissed. Yes it is preseason so rosters will not be NHL caliber, but witnessing a 7-3 defeat at the hands of the Boston Bruins did not look like fun.
Scott Gomez put the Habs on the scoreboard first at 6:55, but the Bruins replied with a pair of goals, from Joe Corvo and Gregory Campbell, in a 12-second span of the first period.
A trio of special teams goals from Brad Marchand (PP), Daniel Paille (SH) and Zdeno Chara (SH) put Boston ahead 5-1 after 40 minutes.
Brian Willsie converted a power play goal 1:29 into the third period to cut the Bruins lead to three. Aaron Palushaj potted another in between Bruins goals from Tyler Seguin and Jordan Caron.
The two teams meet up again Monday at the Bell Centre, after which the Canadiens are expected to trim their roster closer to what we should see come October 6.
The Good
Brendan Gallagher continues to shine and had some excellent scoring opportunities. It will be interesting to see if he survives the next wave of cuts and remain on for the final two preseason games.
Alexei Yemelin played a strong game, giving a valiant effort in the 3-1 that converted into the Bruins fifth goal.
Nathan Beaulieu had a bad break when the puck bounced over his stick, leading to Paille’s shorthanded marker, but still played a decent game. Though RDS needs to get their heads out of his backside, and realize there are more players to discuss, and at 18 he’s not ready for the NHL. We don’t need to Latenderize™ another player (stick tap to All Habs’ Stevo Farnham)
A good tussle between Alex Henry and Shawn Thornton
The Bad
It is only preseason, and the coach knows where the vets stand. As Jacques Martin said after the pregame skate, this is a time to evaluate those on the cusp of making the roster. That said…
Palushaj, despite a goal tonight and an improvement Saturday against the Ottawa Senators, seems to be skating himself right to Hamilton.
Andreas Engqvist may not be far behind. Arpon Basu tweeted it this way on Engqvist. “I get the impression he’s been told to take it easy because he’s made team. Or he simply isn’t trying.”
Yannick Weber took a pair of bad penalties, in a game where he could have stepped up on the point. We all know that these games a re merely a formality, but can we say 7th defenseman?
Peter Budaj had an absolutely miserable sixty minutes, but considering the performance by the majority of the others in front of him, it;s really not a concern.
The Numbers Game from canadiens.com
