In recent days, Martin St-Louis has focused his speech on the importance of having a solid foundation. A foundation that plays defensively in the case of his team.
• Also read: “We didn’t start the game at the right time” – Martin St-Louis
• Also read: Martin St-Louis has not digested the defeat against the Kraken
We’ve seen an improvement in that aspect of the game against the Rangers and the Blues. However, last night when the Seattle Kraken were at the Bell Center, the Habs went back to their good old ways. At least in the first twenty.
Led by two assists from Yanni Gourde, the visitors scored three unanswered goals during that period. Three goals, enough to send Buffalo flying strong in a 4-0 win. Nothing went well for the Canadian, particularly around the goal defended by Samuel Montembeault.
The St Louis troops multiplied turnovers and could not withstand the pressure. They spent most of the engagement in their zone. So much so that Martin Jones had received just one shot after 10 minutes of play. Around 2 for Montembeault.
“Our first period was unacceptable,” St-Louis started ruthlessly at the end of the meeting. It was embarrasing. »
The big threesome
At least the Montrealers pulled themselves together as they returned from the dressing room. The Kraken shot further (41st) towards Montembeault, but mostly came from less dangerous angles.
So the good news is that the foundation hasn’t crumbled. She just snapped.
“The last two periods don’t mean anything after a first period like this,” the Canadiens head coach said.
In attack, despite a few chances to score, it wasn’t the duo of Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield that sparked the most, but the trio Dadonov-Evans-Armia. It’s the third time in as many games since St. Louis brought them together that all three players have brought their teammates to life.
With that loss to the Kraken, the Habs end the first half of their season with a 16-22-3 record. With 35 points, he ranks last in the Atlantic Division and 27th in the NHL.
Not bad where we saw it before the start of the season.
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Jake Evans
He hasn’t had much success in the faceoff circle (42), but his intensity has allowed his line to be the most menacing in the Montreal camp. On several occasions he put effective pressure on the puck carrier, forcing him to speed up his gesture
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Mike Hoffman
It was discussed in what struck us that Hoffman played like someone who didn’t want to be there. He was on the pitch for the Kraken’s first two goals. Two goals in his first four appearances in the game (same as for Drouin and Pezzetta).
First period
1-Sea: Eeli Tolvanen (5)
(Dunn, Pumpkin) 6:54
2-Sea: Daniel Sprong (13)
(Burakovsky, Beniers) AN-10:01
3-Sea: Vince Dunn (7)
(Tolvanen, Gourde) 14:20
Penalties: Savard (Mon) 7:24, Wideman (Mon) 9:37
second period
No goal
Penalties: Sprong (Sea) 4:10, Anderson (Mon) (doumin) 18:38
third period
4-Sea: Matty Beniers (15) (Eberle) FD-18:57
Penalties: Harris (Mon) 9:29, Donato (Sea) (Shift) 12:12, Evans (Mon) (Shift) 12:12, Armia (Mon) 12:12, Wideman (Mon) 12:12, Bank ( Sea) (cleaned by Sprong) 12:54
Shoot the net
Seattle 19-16-6-41, Montreal 6-9-6-21
Guardian:
Sea: Martin Jones (G, 19-5-3) Mon: Samuel Montembeault (P, 6-6-2)
Numerical advantages:
Sea: 1 in 6, Mon: 0 in 2
Referee:
Brandon Blandina, Chris Rooney
linesman:
Ben O’Quinn, Kyle Flemington
HELP:
21105
What we noticed…
All hurt
It was Cayden Primeau who held the position of assistant to Samuel Montembeault. The Rocket goalie was urgently recalled late in the afternoon to replace Jake Allen. The Canadian veteran suffered an upper body injury in training on Sunday. His condition is assessed daily.
Slow start to the game
The Habs got off to a horrible start to the game. Halfway through the first period, when the Kraken scored their second goal, the score was 14-1 for the visitors. When Cole Caufield fired the team’s third shot with less than 3:30 left, the crowd cheered derisively.
Hoffman without his boots
When Martin St-Louis announced in the morning that Mike Hoffman would be returning to training after watching the previous two games from the catwalk, he indicated he wanted to see him “bring his work shoes.” It was probably asking too much of him. Hoffman lacked the will to fight all evening. Once he slowed and ran the puck in the neutral zone when he saw Will Borgen approaching. On another occasion he applied a check without putting too much conviction into it.
Tons of goals
Seattle’s Kraken home and Kraken away appear to be two separate teams. On opposing rinks, Dave Hakstol’s team filled the opposing net (4.32 goals per game). In four games since beginning their journey on Canadian soil, the Kraken have scored 22 goals (five in Edmonton, five in Toronto, eight in Ottawa and four in Montreal).