The Montreal Canadiens will need to win another game 7 on Monday to move on to the Eastern Conference Final. In the opening round series against the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Canadiens got lucky to come up victorious. They took no shots in the second period, and finished the contest with nine. To wrap it up, Alex Newhook got a favorable bounce when he banked the puck off Andrei Vasilevskiy from a bad angle for the 2-1 win.
There are a lot of things to learn from the humiliating 8-3 loss to the Buffalo Sabres. On Saturday, Buffalo scored first for the fifth time in the series. Three of those times were within two minutes following the puck drop. The Canadiens are a resilient group with 30 comeback wins this season, but they can’t constantly rely on it.
In the last game, Montreal scored three times after allowing the first goal. The way they played made it clear they were already thinking ahead to the Carolina Hurricanes. The Sabres bounced on the opportunity to score seven unanswered times and force game 7. It was the worst potential series clinching performance at home in franchise history.
Habs Notes
Here are additional notes ahead of Monday’s ultimate matchup.
- In the Tampa Bay series, Martin St. Louis brought Brendan Gallagher into the lineup when they needed a spark. The coach hasn’t used that card in this series. if he does, Joe Veleno is the most likely scratch. Veleno did not hit the ice for a stretch of 18:38 beginning in the second period. He started taking shifts in the third when the game was out of reach.
- Montreal has won all five games after losing in this postseason. One of the reasons is Jakub Dobes. Dobes is ultra-competitive and does anything necessary to help his team win. In the last two games, he hasn’t looked like the same goalie from the end of the regular season or early in the playoffs. In Game 5, his teammates bailed him out after a very rough start, and he followed that with six goals allowed on 33 shots, before St. Louis pulled him for Jacob Fowler.
- Ultimately, Dobes can’t single handedly win the game. The five guys in front of him need to defend better. The Sabres had several scoring chances throughout the series following defensive breakdowns.
- On a positive note, the Canadiens playing on the road has not been an obstacle. They had the NHL’s second best road record in the regular season and won five of seven away games in the postseason.
Rocket Notes
After finishing first in the North Division for a second consecutive season, the Laval Rocket lost in the semifinals against the Toronto Marlies (Maple Leafs). The best-of-five series went to the limit, and the Rocket had one-goal lead through 40 minutes before the Marlies scored twice in the final period to send Laval packing.
Here are some notes from the team’s end-of-season media availability.
- The Canadiens recalled Owen Beck, Florian Xhekaj, Adam Engstrom, and David Reinbacher as black aces.
- When asked during the media availability, Pascal Vincent identified Engstrom as the most physically ready NHL player. The defenceman played the final two games of the series after returning from Montreal.
- David Reinbacher did not dress for game 5 due to an undisclosed injury. Vincent said Reinbacher likely would have played in the next round if they advanced. The coach praised the defenceman’s hockey sense demonstrated throughout the season.
- Vinzenz Rohrer and Filip Mesar headed to the IIHF World Championships in Switzerland to represent their respective countries. Rohrer opened the scoring in Austria’s 4-2 win against Hungary. Meanwhile, Mesar obtained an assist in Slovakia’s 4-1 victory against Italy. Rohrer played one game in the regular season and all five postseason games, coincidentally all against the Marlies. He obtained one goal and two assists in total. Mesar did not make an appearance in the playoffs.
- Jared Davidson did not dress for the final two games of the series against Toronto. Vincent said Davidson had a strong season, but things became complicated after he came back from the injury he suffered in a January 31 fight. The plan was for him to return to the lineup following this reset.
