NHL: No recovery this time for the CH against the Detroit Red Wings

Thursday, 10th of Oct. 2019. 18:47
(Update : Thursday, 10th of Oct. 2019. 21:53)

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            <p style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt"><strong>SUMMARY</strong>

MONTREAL – After three wild games, the Canadiens' players did not show the same excitement for their local opening, probably as the Detroit Red Wings managed to bother them for a 4-2 win at the Bell Center.

Here are five observations from this meeting of the Habs who was in action for a second evening in a row and who failed to orchestrate a recovery this time. With the win, the Wings earned their first time in regulation in Montreal since 2007 and ended a nine-game losing streak against the Canadiens.

A lack of cohesion in defense

If the Canadian had presented some exciting games since the start of the calendar, his defensive performance was poor. Unfortunately, it continued during the Wings' visit when several players were surprised by Jeff Blashill's men.

There are some examples in which even Jeff Petry was beaten by opponents like Andreas Athanasiou. We also saw Tyler Bertuzzi and Taro Hirose being forgotten in the enclave.

"They played a good game for a team on the road, they were patient. They caused our mistakes and they knew how to take advantage of them, "admitted coach Claude Julien before putting his finger on the bobo.

"On our side, I would not say it's fatigue. We are not sharp mentally, we make a lot of mistakes. These errors become expensive. Because we are not really 'in point', our transition game suffers too, "said the coach bluntly.

Jonathan Drouin, who received a nice standing ovation from the crowd, was so honest.

"They were ready especially since it's a team with speed. They had a nice transition in their game. Honestly, we were a bit sloppy in the first period another time. I do not think it was a bad match, but it was clearly not our best, "he said.

Julien had chosen to rely again on Mike Reilly and Christian Folin as the third duo in defense. This result could allow Brett Kulak and Cale Fleury to return to action in the next match.

Julien does not want to use the excuse of energy spent in Buffalo and overtime games. The fact remains that it was not ideal to start the season in Montreal with a duel 24 hours earlier, the emotion was lacking.

"Of course he has a second part in it all, it's a little flat for your opening, but it's part of the game. We played with a bit of negligence and we did not have our legs as usual, "commented Drouin.

Carey Price saves the day

In such circumstances, Carey Price needed to be at his best, and on a number of occasions he took on high-quality threats.

His best stop was against Hirose, but there were many among the Wings to notice his great form after a night off.

However, Jonathan Bernier, his vis-à-vis, had the upper hand and thus enjoyed a first career victory in the Montreal amphitheater (1-9-2).

Anthony Mantha is on fire

The Canadiens knew he had to be wary of Anthony Mantha, who had seven points, including five goals, in three games.

The imposing Quebec striker continued his momentum by scoring his sixth of the campaign – the one that is worth the second rank of the NHL – during a game of power. Exceptional shooter, he found the back of the net on reception and with great precision. Earlier, he had stumbled to the horizontal bar on another shot unchecked quickly.

Joel Armia does not fit

The CH can also rely on a player who is illustrated by the times and it is about Joel Armia. Author of two goals the day before in Buffalo, Armia added his third of the year late in the first period.

"I'm not surprised, you're more than me. He is a player with excellent shooting and immense talent. We see him in training and I often played against him. He is finding more and more confidence, "said Drouin.

Julien had the foresight to delegate Phillip Danault for a big faceoff in the offensive zone. Armia took advantage of the situation to shoot a precise shot immediately after.

The problem is that the Wings were able to retaliate only 30 seconds later as a result of a lucky rebound via Bertuzzi. Darren Helm was the first Wings scorer and Luke Glendening completed the score in a deserted net.

An expensive punishment of Suzuki

The scenario was repeated for the HC while a punishment has sealed its efforts. This time, it was Nick Suzuki's turn to be unruly and that's where Mantha donned the needle.

During this match, Suzuki stayed with Max Domi and Tomas Tatar for just over two periods, but that was not very convincing. Julien decided to replace by Paul Byron then. Suzuki still needs to find some benchmarks with a higher pace

It should be noted however that Tomas Tatar did not take off and it did not help his cause.

Note that Max Domi was the author of the other goal of the Montreal clan and it came on the power play. If he played a bit of luck, this rollout of the power play was encouraging from the first second.

As for the ceremony before the game, we mainly remember the beautiful interpretation of the play Hallelujah, the classic of Montreal's Leonard Cohen.

On Saturday, the Canadiens will try to take over from none other than the Stanley Cup champions, the St. Louis Blues. The following week, the Lightning and the Wild will present themselves in Montreal.