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Canadiens Highlights: Lack Of Focus Costs Two Points
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- Canadiens Highlights: Lack Of Focus Costs Two Points
Eric Bolte-Imagn Images
The Montreal Canadiens hosted the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday night, aiming to build a little momentum after their dominant performance versus the Edmonton Oilers .
Unfortunately for the Habs, they're a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde type of team. On Saturday, the doctor was in, but versus the Flyers, it was Mr. Hyde's turn to rear his ugly head.
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In the end, the Flyers emerged with a well-deserved 4-1 win.
Let's dive into the highlights!
Rookie Passion
The first big play of the game involved Flyers defenceman Rasmus Ristolainen hitting Juraj Slafkovsky as he tried to corral a questionable pass from Adam Engstrom. It was a clean hit, but rookie Ivan Demidov decided to respond with a few cross-checks, for which he was penalized.
If we're being perfectly honest, Ristolainen fell faster than a fainting goat, however, it didn't matter, as the Habs went out of their way to put together a solid effort to kill off Demidov's penalty.
Welcomed Addition
The expectations when the Canadiens brought-in Alex Texier were rather reasonable. Fans were hoping to see a player with some offensive talent in the bottom six, with the understanding that he wouldn't find the back of the net with much regularity.
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But Texier hasn't just been a pleasant surprise, he's managed to renew his love of hockey, and the results are all the proof we need. Yes, he's scoring goals, including the first goal of the game, but he's also working harder than almost all of his opponents, not to mention most of his teammates.
He won't win the Art Ross Trophy, but it's fair to say Texier has been a great-value signing for the Canadiens.
Losing Focus
The first two periods were low-event, but a few mistakes from the Canadiens quickly came back to haunt them, a recurring theme this season.
It's not that Montreal plays poorly for 60 minutes, though that does happen once in a blue moon. More often than not, they lose focus for a 10-minute stretch, and that's when opponents do most of their damage.
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Tuesday night was the perfect example.
The first goal against took place immediately after Nick Suzuki coughed up the puck in the offensive zone, followed quickly by a broken play that led to the second goal against. This time around it was Ivan Demidov who gave away the puck, but you'll note that Alex Carrier pulled himself out of position needlessly.
Another One
The third Flyers goal came after yet another case of poor communication that led to the easiest goal of the year for Bobby Brink .
Some suggested no one communicated with Fowler, and yet you can see Noah Dobson pointing. More likely, Fowler just didn't interpret the signal correctly, or froze under the big lights.
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Either way, it's not a big deal considering this was just his third NHL game, but it epitomized the type of erratic effort the Canadiens put together on Tuesday night.
Sloppy plays that immediately made them pay.
Too Little, Too Late
The Habs were a much better team in the third period, though it would have been difficult to offer a worse effort than they did in the previous 40 minutes.
It was all for naught, as they couldn't generate the type of high-danger scoring chances necessary to cut the lead, especially after Brendan Gallagher 's penalty with a few minutes left to play.
Sure, it involved some heavy acting from the Flyers, which happened a few times on Tuesday, but the Habs really need to learn to keep their cool, even when they get sent to the box for questionable calls.
The Montreal Canadiens are back in action on Thursday, facing the Chicago Blackhawks at the Bell Centre. The puck drop is scheduled for 7 pm ET.
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All Montreal Canadiens statistics are 5v5 unless otherwise noted, via Natural Stat Trick .
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