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Canadiens Highlights: Hutson Salvages A Point In Columbus
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- Canadiens Highlights: Hutson Salvages A Point In Columbus
Russell LaBounty-Imagn Images
The Montreal Canadiens were in Columbus on Monday night, facing a Blue Jackets team that always provides a solid effort whenever the Habs are in town.
The Canadiens started slow, shockingly, but the reigning Calder Trophy winner, Lane Hutson , salvaged a point with a heroic effort in the third period.
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Let's dive into the highlights of the 4-3 shootout loss!
Here We Go Again
When it rains, it pours, and at this exact moment, the Habs are being pelted by a non-stop storm of poor decision-making that is making life much too easy on their opponents.
For example, when Zach Werenski opened the scoring, the red sea of Canadiens defenders parted so quickly that even Moses himself would have felt an overwhelming sense of envy.
Silver Lining
While Monday night's game was far from a classic, there were some very encouraging results from the newly formed Oliver Kapanen , Juraj Slafkovsky , and Ivan Demidov line. They did not control the play at 5v5, which means the process isn't quite there yet, but Kapanen scored his seventh goal of the year, and given how poorly things are going for the Canadiens in the offensive zone, we can't ignore scoring plays just because the underlying numbers aren't great.
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Yes, Kapanen has an inflated shooting percentage, and it will eventually go down, but he deserves crediting for his anticipation, as it tends to put him in the right spot at the right time. He exploits open ice in high-danger scoring areas, which is more than good enough for now.
Recurring Theme
It wasn't a terrible game from the Canadiens from a 5v5 perspective. They controlled roughly half the shots and quality scoring chances in regulation, but the first two periods saw a Habs team void of confidence.
I'm not trying to blame Jakub Dobes for how the skaters performed, but I do believe there's a link between the confidence displayed by a goalie and the nerves displayed by the rest of the team.
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Right now, the Habs have two goalies who do not have any semblance of confidence in their game, and they have 20 skaters who are gripping their sticks so tightly they'll be able to start a toothpick company in the near future.
A Little Energy
While most players started to fade, Hutson found another gear, which is impressive since he already tends to outwork most of his opponents in the first place.
Full marks to Josh Anderson for scoring his third goal of the year, it was certainly an essential contribution now that the first line is no longer driving all the offensive zone time.
The goal gave the Canadiens life in the third period, cutting the Blue Jackets lead to just 3-2.
Hutson was not done there. He would go on to score the game-tying goal with just a little more than a minute left to play in the third period, yet more evidence that he's the player you want on the ice when the game is on the line.
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Full marks to Slafkovsky, who used his Clifford The Dog-like size advantage to screen Jet Greaves , and helped send the game to overtime for the eight time already this season.
Unfortunately for the Canadiens, the shootout ended in Columbus' favour, and the Blue Jackets emerged with a 4-3 win.
The New Lines
Martin St-Louis decided to mix things up in his line combinations, a perfectly logical reaction to losing three games in a row.
Juraj Slafkovsky was used alongside Oliver Kapanen and Ivan Demidov , while Zachary Bolduc was promoted to the first line with Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield .
It's too early to lose any sleep over the statistics, but it's fair to say the new lines struggled to control the shots at 5v5.
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They'll need a longer runway to build chemistry, but it does seem like Joshua Roy found instant chemistry alongside Jake Evans and Josh Anderson, as the third line controlled over 93% of the shots while they were on the ice (14-1). Unfortunately, I get the sense the only play people will remember was one that featured less-than-stellar puck management by Roy.
The Montreal Canadiens are back in action on Thursday. They will face the Washington Capitals , with the puck drop scheduled for 7 pm ET.
All Montreal Canadiens statistics are 5v5 unless otherwise noted, via Natural Stat Trick .
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