Inside today’s Locked on Canadiens
It was opening night for the Montreal Canadiens as they played a wild 6-5 game with the Toronto Maple Leafs, coming up just short in the shootout on Wednesday night. Scott breaks down the game with all the good and the bad thrown in to kick off the show!
Perhaps the biggest moment of the night came with a clash of two heavyweights as well with Arber Xhekaj showing no fear in going after Ryan Reaves in a decisive win in their first meeting. Does this make Xhekaj the top dog in the NHL’s fighter ranks? Scott sure thinks so!
Among the names that also impressed was Juraj Slafkovsky, and after a much ballyhooed preseason, the first overall pick looked great, even in defeat against Toronto. Scott breaks down what went right for the big winger as well!
Finally, to round out the show Scott looks ahead to Saturday’s home opener against the Chicago Blackhawks and Connor Bedard. What can Montreal do to tighten things up and come away with their first victory of the season against the newest generational star?
Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!
Jase Medical
Get $20 off these lifesaving antibiotics with Jase Medical by using code LOCKEDON at checkout on jasemedical.com.
Sleeper
Download the Sleeper App and use promo code LOCKEDONNHL to get up to a $100 match on your first deposit. Terms and conditions apply. See Sleeper’s Terms of Use for details.
BetterHelp
This episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/LOCKEDONNHL and get on your way to being your best self.
eBay Motors
With all the parts you need at the prices you want, it’s easy to turn your car into the MVP and bring home that win. Keep your ride-or-die alive at EbayMotors.com. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers.
Gametime
Today’s episode is brought to you by Gametime.Take the guesswork out of buying tickets with Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNHL for $20 off your first purchase.
FanDuel
Make Every Moment More. Right now, NEW customers can bet FIVE DOLLARS and get TWO HUNDRED in BONUS BETS – GUARANTEED. Visit FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON to get started.
FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)
Follow & Subscribe on all Podcast platforms…
🎧 https://link.chtbl.com/LOCanadiens?sid=YouTube
Locked On NHL League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Prospects & More
🎧 https://linktr.ee/LockedOnNHL
Also make sure to follow Locked on Canadiens and their hosts on Twitter!
Locked on Canadiens: https://twitter.com/LO_Canadiens
Find Scott on Twitter: https://twitter.com/scottmatla
Find Laura on Twitter: https://twitter.com/theactivestick
#NHLHockey #MontrealCanadiens #Habs
19 Comments
So happy Xhekaj is absolutely fearless. No problem instigating with Reaves after taking liberties on Guhle.
But why was he basically benched for the final 17 minutes after playing some pretty good hockey? No OT despite being a secondary PP guy, and only a minute of ice time in the last 12 of regulation.
He only played 10 minutes, had a fight against Reeves, three hits, one assist, and some decent hockey at both ends.
He even got screwed on the scoresheet. He was +1, not even. I reviewed every goal and even the shift charts! (They have since updated this)
When Toronto pulled their goalie, the Habs should have had all their big guys out. Nobody was getting the puck, so why not try five guys averaging 6"4'?
honestly i enjoyed watching us play for the first time in a long time
it was wxciting
🔥
Slafzilla!
Trusting what you say because I haven't seen the game it seems like I have a thing for sports with bad officiating. The EPL would be the other
Gallagher looks cooked. He's simply a liability out there.
And Suzuki has to play better. Poor zone entries, just looks for Caufield on the PP and could've sealed the game in the dying minutes but missed a wide open net. That SO attempt was also hideous.
WOW!! your saying everything I'm thinking Thank You
I think that savard look bad in the last 4 mìnutes he is not fast enough.
Slaf looked great,xhekaj deserves top 4 minutes,gally looks bad makes me sad,pearson next to laval,allen made some huge saves but it wasnt enough.Pezzeta needs to be a 81 game player from what i watched last night. Just my thoughts,take em with a grain of whiskey
Gallagher is done. He looked slow and out of breath all camp long (he was worst than Armia during the camp imo) and yesterday was awful for him.
Allen killed the momentum twice with those 2 very soft goal. Shame.
😂😂😂 he pushed him over the net. Then acted like he won the fight. If you push a guy over a hocky stick and he falls you dont win the fight. You ended the fight because you were about to get pumbled
I don't want to see Xhekaj fighting these meat heads, he is too valuable as real player. He injured his shoulder last year fighting another marginal player. As soon as the Leafs acquired the thug, I thought, the Habs need to get a player to counter that move. Last year it was Pezzetta fighting out of his weight division when taking on the ogre. Go Habs!!!
The team is doing great…a little to many penalties,and galley concerning me a bit,but the team is scoring goals SLAFZILLA is a Champ and that line is smoking Newhook what a great trade.
WORRIES about Gally because no line he's on will work if he doesn't speed up a bit 😥😢
GO HABS GO 💕
Arber got lucky to come in from behind gloves off before Reaves could get set and knock him off balance using his size advantage and the net to bear hug him to the ice. Really not much of a fight. Losing Arber 15min to a 5 min guy hurt the team more as Arber is a better player. Habs need to get a guy to fill the fighter role and let Arber develop.
You need glasses he pushed reaves into the back of the net
good starts for Newhook and Slafkovsky to build on
MAILBAG QUESTION: Why doesn't Xhekaj get the credit he deserves?
Not 1 punched connected on that fight…typical Canadiens fan. Why didnt you mention that because of Reaves…leafs got a powerplay and also got arber off the ice for 17 minutes. And also put a fear on the rest of the Canadiens….Hmmm usually Josh anderson is running around using his body…did he cower this game? Thats the Reaves effect….Same thing happend to game against minnesota tonite…..Only time we heard patrick maroons name is when he got hit by a puck in the 3rd period. i suggest Arber fake an injury before the game on next game against the Leafs because i actually am a huge fan of Arber. As tough as they get and actually has some skills.