This Was a Great Lesson for the Canadiens
The Montreal Canadiens suffered a 6-3 defeat against the Pittsburgh Penguins, but there were still notable performances from some of the younger players. Emil Heineman, Juraj Slafkovsky, and Kaiden Guhle all contributed offensively, showing flashes of their potential. Heineman fired in his second goal of the season with a sharp wrist shot, while Slafkovsky got his first goal of the year. Guhle, arguably the most consistent defenseman so far, scored his first goal and continued his solid play.
On the downside, the defense struggled throughout the game, with veteran David Savard having a particularly tough night, finishing with a -3 rating. The second line, featuring Kirby Dach, Alex Newhook, and Joel Armia, also had a rough outing. They lacked chemistry and failed to generate much offense, finishing the game with a combined -5 rating. Dach’s struggles in the faceoff circle continued, winning only 25% of his draws, and Newhook and Armia were largely invisible on the ice.
While it was a tough loss, it was a valuable learning experience for the team. The young core is showing promise, but adjustments need to be made, especially on the defensive end and with the second line.
#GoHabsGo #HabsNation #MontrealCanadiens #HabsVsPens #NHL
14 Comments
📺🍿 This Just In 📬 – Monty no longer has a save % of .986
Bottom 3 in the league they will be hopefully goal tending does not steal to many points this year so we get the hi draft pick next year is movement year
Against a team that many consider a bubble team ( Pittsburgh) at home… we definitely need to manage that 3-2 lead and capture at least a point.
Not good
Having watched this game against Pittsburgh and the one against Boston earlier, it looked like men playing against boys IMO.
Just another reality check for those who overestimate our team. Yes we have a good team but we lack physicality and we do not have all the right pieces yet IMO.
We are still in rebuild mode for a few more years.
Dach is brutal on faceofs
Thanks Coach…not the HABS best game but this is part of the rebuild…hopefully they will learn.
I cant stand barron so soft and makes alot if mistakes i would traded him and put mailloux
Thanks Coach. Savard (-3) was not as bad as Hutson was on the ice for four of the Penguins' six goals from Pittsburgh. And none of the three scored by his teammates. Matheson was on the ice for I believe three Penguin goals. The Suzuki line floundered as Pittsburgh drove the play. It looked like men against boys. . Dach can not win a faceoff. Evans or Kapanen should be on the line with Dach for critical faceoffs? Should Dach be moved to the wing? I realize that Dach has missed a lot of hockey but a second line centerman needs to win 45% of his faceoffs to give the team a chance. Cheers
Matheson is brutal ..
Hi Coach, it was always going to be difficult for Habs to win face-offs against the Pens veteran centres. Perhaps Habs should invest in a "face-off" specialist coach? Dach's face-off %age has never been good, a big reason being he fractured his right wrist aged 20. When Hage makes the team I can see him being moved to the wing.
As for Hutson, I agree he did not have a good game defensively however his -4 is deceiving. On Pens 2nd goal Anderson made a bad decision by not backhanding the puck past the blueline and instead flipped it in the air back to Hutson leaving him little chance to control. The last goal was into an empty net which is meaningless. IMO players should not be given a -1 for these goals.
Hi Coach, my first comment was rather negative so I thought to add the following. The Dvorak line with two rookies, Emil Heineman – Christian Dvorak – Oliver Kapanen, played pretty good as did Guhle and Barron on defense. I would like to see a line centered by Kapanen with Newhook and Dach on the wings. The Matheson-Barron combo appeared to work okay during the second period and Slafkovsky had a much better game than the previous ones. Cheers
My mother in law passed away coach
Nice report coach
2 wins, 1 GA, 2 losses 12 GA, it's gonna be a long season with 3 rookies in the lineup. Hutson needs to play with a solid RD to be effective, I think it's Mailloux, maybe he should be in Laval? Good report card coach, fair & honest, thanks, always watch, always appreciate your opinion.