Author: Dose

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Top-5: 10th consecutive defeat of the Canadiens’ upcoming opponents

Yesterday in the NHL, there were only five games.

Fans were still not disappointed with this beautiful day of hockey.

Here are the results and highlights:

(Credit: NHL.com)

1. A 10th consecutive loss for the Sabres

The Canadiens will face a very beatable opponent tomorrow. Indeed, the Sabres will be visiting the Bell Centre and are on a very bad streak.

Buffalo has lost its last 10 games, including yesterday’s against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Final score: 5-3.

Fortunately, Lindy Ruff’s team will face Montreal, which has also been struggling lately.

They will have the opportunity to stop their slide into the depths.

Jack Quinn and John-Jason Peterka took care of their fragile attack with two points each.

Two goals for Quinn.

2. A first goal for Max Domi; natural hat trick for John Tavares

In the same game, the Leafs took advantage of the Sabres’ visit to secure their 19th win of the season.

They now have 40 points. They are the first in the Atlantic Division to achieve such a feat.

Max Domi, a former Canadiens player, scored his first goal of the season in the victory.

The real hero of the match, however, is John Tavares.

He accomplished a natural hat trick, scoring two of the three goals for the team in 2:31.

Even the goalie almost joined the celebration.

It came close.

3. A first win since last year for Dustin Tokarski

Did you forget about Dustin Tokarski?

I’m in the same boat, but yesterday, he took part in his first NHL game since February 2023. And he won with a pretty special uniform.

27 saves on 28 shots in a 4-1 win for the Canes over the Blue Jackets.

He was even initiated into the post-game celebrations.

In the win, another former CH player made his mark.

Jesperi Kotkaniemi scored a goal.

4. Connor Bedard breaks the Islanders’ spirits

In the afternoon game, the Blackhawks dealt the Islanders a heartbreaking defeat.

The game was tied 3-3 with less than a minute remaining when Connor Bedard scored the winning goal.

This was his seventh point in his last five games for the young sensation.

Teuvo Teravainen was his team’s top scorer with a goal and two assists.

He scored the third goal for the Hawks.

Final score: 5-3.

5. Another defeat for the Rangers

In St. Louis, the Rangers lost again. This time, it was by a score of 3-2.

In the Blues’ victory, Robert Thomas extended his streak to seven games with at least one assist.

In addition to his assist on the first goal of the game, Thomas scored the winning goal.

New York scored two unanswered goals to cut the deficit to one goal, but the team was unable to equalize.

Another loss for the Blue Shirts…

Overtime

– He is excellent.

– The Knights win.

– Mike Matheson is great at generating turnovers.

 

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– Players who collected two points or more yesterday.

(Credit: NHL.com)

– Tonight’s games.

(Credit: Google)
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Cayden Primeau has not had a start since December 1st.

MONTREAL, QC - APRIL 09: Cayden Primeau (30) of the Montreal Canadiens congratulates teammate Sam Montembeault (35) at the end of the NHL game between the Philadelphia Flyers and the Montreal Canadiens on April 9, 2024, at the Bell Centre in Montreal, QC (Photo by Vincent Ethier/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Cayden Primeau must be starting to find the time dragging. The last start for the goaltender dates back to December 1 against the Bruins in Boston, where the Canadiens lost 6 to 3.

Since then, Primeau has only played a little over half of the third period on Thursday night against the Pittsburgh Penguins, replacing Samuel Montembeault after he allowed a sixth goal in a 9 to 2 loss.

That makes three goals allowed in just over 11 minutes of play. Really nothing to reassure the organization.

In eleven starts, Primeau has only 2 wins, a save percentage of just 83.6%, and a staggering average of 4.70 goals allowed per game. These are really not NHL-level numbers, even for a second-string goaltender.

The most disappointing part is that the goalie had shown interesting statistics last season with an average of 2.99 goals allowed and a save rate of 91%. Respectable numbers for a second goalie.

How can this regression be explained? Former goaltender Jonathan Bernier questions in an article published today on TVA Sports whether the Canadiens have made mistakes in developing their young goaltender.

However, Primeau played his first NHL game six years ago during the 2019-2020 season, and since then, he has not yet played 200 games in the league.

Should the Canadiens have given their young goaltender more starts and trusted him sooner? Or in trying too hard to protect him, did the organization end up wasting him? Hard to say. The development of prospects is far from an exact science and rarely offers a second chance.

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And with his recent performances, it’s possible that Primeau will see little action until the end of 2024, since aside from a two-game trip to Detroit next Friday and Saturday, the Canadiens have no other schedule of back-to-back games for the rest of December.

Logically, one might think that Primeau will get the start in Detroit on Friday night.

Which brings us to the question: what should the Canadiens do with their second goaltender? His performances are problematic and costing the team points that they desperately need? Should they throw in the towel with him and trade him or send him back to Laval to play more often?

And who would replace him? Is one of the two goalies with the Rocket ready to take on the role of number two with the team in the current context, or should the Canadiens acquire a veteran NHL goaltender with experience who could help a young team?

In short, many questions to which we may have answers later this season.

In Brief

– The week for the Canadiens.

– It’s getting worse for the Rangers.

– Historic performance for Lamar.

– Very solid!

– Great honor for Brind’Amour.

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Juraj Slafkovsky has only two goals in 27 games.

Juraj Slafkovsky has had a rather disappointing season so far with only two goals in 27 games.

After a solid second season with 20 goals and 50 points in 82 games, the big forward seems to be searching for his bearings since the start of the NHL schedule.

Many believed that his third campaign would be the one for his breakout and that Slafkovsky would play a dominant role within our top six forwards, but instead, we are seeing a regression in his case.

Although the Slovak is not the only top six forward to disappoint this year, one has to wonder if he is still carrying an injury. In fact, he had to miss three games at the end of October due to a shoulder injury that he apparently has since recovered from.

Unfortunately, with the lack of transparency from NHL teams regarding player injuries, it’s hard to be really sure, but it’s clear that Slafkovsky is not playing at 100% right now.

The way he has been playing lately reminds me a bit of his first season when he often seemed to be outpaced by the game. One of the reasons the Canadiens made the decision to send him for part of the season to the Laval Rocket.

However, earlier in the day, Brian Wilde wrote an article for Global News about the Canadiens’ loss last night in Winnipeg, in which he speaks about the former first overall pick’s lack of vision.

Although his analysis focuses on yesterday’s game, Wilde sheds light on a recurring issue this season with Slafkovsky: many poor decisions leading to aborted attacks or turnovers.

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The lack of vision or “hockey sense” of the Canadiens’ forward has often been seen as one of his weaknesses and it’s one aspect of his game that improved a lot last season.

Could the problem be more mental? Is the young player (let’s remember that even though it’s already his third season, he is only 20 years old) putting too much pressure on himself following the signing of his eight-year contract worth $60.8 million?

Because even though his contract doesn’t start until next season, Slafkovsky will need to start producing regularly if he wants to justify a salary of $7.6 million per season.

In quick succession

– Hutson is incredible!

– Sweet stuff!

– Several comebacks this week.

– Top clash!

– The Broncos are 9-5.

– Strong performance from the Bucs!

– Victory for the Cards.

– Consistency for Jake Burger.

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A victory that feels good for the Rocket

LAVAL, QC - OCTOBER 18: A view of Laval Rocket defenseman Logan Mailloux (24) during the game between the Rochester Americans and the Laval Rocket on October 18, 2023, at Place Bell in Laval, QC (Photo by David Kirouac/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

The Rocket just signed a nice victory of 6-2 this afternoon, largely thanks to a burst of five unanswered goals in the third period and a five-point performance, including three goals, from Florian Xhekaj.

However, the team has only four victories since November 20, with a record of 4-6-2 over the last 12 games.

Thus, after a historic start of 12 victories in 14 games (12-2-0), the Laval Rocket is experiencing its first slump of the season.

Although the Rocket has lost several close games (none of their defeats were by more than two goals), the team seems to have difficulty winning regularly in recent weeks.

During this period, the AHL team has recorded a performance of 34 goals scored against 39 goals allowed, for a differential of -5.

This is not dramatic, but there is notably a decline in the team’s defensive performance as the goaltending duo is less dominant.

In their first 14 games, the Rocket allowed only 31 goals for an excellent average of 2.21 goals allowed per game. In the last twelve games, the team’s average is 3.35.

This is more than one goal allowed per game, which partly explains the recent drop in form.

However, with this poor streak, Laval is quickly dropping in the standings, sitting in third place in the northern division after having been at the top since the start of the season.

Moreover, the team has only five points of advantage to secure a playoff spot.

Back to normal or a bad streak? Hard to say, but the Rocket will need to quickly bounce back and win more often if it does not want to see its chances of participating in the Calder Cup playoffs melt away like snow in the sun.

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For now, I do not believe that the Rocket’s coach, Pascal Vincent, should press the panic button while his team is still well positioned in the standings with seven games above .500.

Therefore, if the Laval players can maintain a performance of at least .500 until the end of the campaign, they should be well positioned to play spring hockey.

However, the Rocket should not experience too many stretches like the current one, especially since several of the teams behind them have multiple games in hand.

By the way, Laval was able to count on reinforcements as Noel Hofenmayer, acquired by the Canadiens earlier this week for Jacob Perreault, made his debut with the team today.

In Brief

– It’s going to cost a lot for Vlad!

– Another victory for the Chiefs.

– The Ravens too strong for the Giants.

– Ninth victory for the Texans.

– And for the Commanders.

– A nice hat trick!

– Canada wins.

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Only one hope from the CH will participate in the junior world championship.

Kent Hughes set the bar too high.

The Junior World Hockey Championship will take place from December 26 to January 5 in Ottawa.

We now know the rosters of all the clubs that will participate… Finland has shared its official roster in anticipation of the tournament.

It’s tough for Aatos Koivu, but he didn’t make the team:

It is often said that this tournament is for 19-year-old players.

That being said, Aatos Koivu celebrated his 18th birthday a few days before the last NHL draft in June, and it’s normal to see that there are other players who made their mark before him.

Additionally, Saku’s son had to deal with mononucleosis at the start of the season and had to miss five weeks of action.

It’s hard to gain points when you can’t play…

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In the end, there will only be one Canadiens prospect at the World Championship this year.

And we’re not talking about a super exciting prospect: we’re talking about Rasmus Bergqvist, a guy who was selected by the Canadiens in the 7th round of the last draft.

In 21 games this season in the Swedish league, the defenseman has one assist and a differential of -4.

And perhaps he won’t even have a big role on the Swedish roster…

Ultimately, Ivan Demidov would have been there if Russia had the right to participate in the event.

We can also believe that Michael Hage deserves a spot, even if he wasn’t invited by Canada to the training camp.

Otherwise, it’s just bad timing. Jacob Fowler and David Reinbacher (2023 draft) would have been too old, as is the case with Bogdan Konyushkov… And after Koivu’s selection in the 2024 draft, there weren’t really any guys who had logical chances to go to the tournament.

That said, there will still be things to watch because the Canadiens have (for now) nine picks in the first four rounds of the 2025 draft.

This will be a great opportunity to scout young talent ahead of the draft!

In Brief

– He is so good.

– That’s crazy.

– There’s action today in the American League.

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Overview of the CH hopes: Michael Hage scores a magnificent goal in overtime

While Lane Hutson continues to amaze Montreal Canadiens fans, notably with his first goal in the NHL, the Canadiens’ prospects outside of the NHL are also standing out.

Indeed, across the various other leagues, several Canadiens prospects are performing very well.

Here are the performances that caught attention this weekend.

Michael Hage – Center – 18 years old

Since the beginning of the season, Hage has been simply dominating in the NCAA.

In his first season in this league, he is performing really well, which is very encouraging for the continuation of his development.

After missing two games last weekend due to an ankle injury, Hage was back this weekend to play both games for the University of Michigan.

Unfortunately, Michigan was shut out 3-0 on Friday night against the University of Wisconsin, but Hage made sure his university got revenge last night, scoring the winning goal in overtime.

Indeed, the Canadiens prospect led his team to a 3-2 victory with a beautiful goal.

This brings him to ten goals and 18 points this season in 15 games.

This is an excellent production pace for an 18-year-old, and Canadiens fans can certainly be excited about him.

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Tyler Thorpe – Right Winger – 19 years old

Here’s another prospect drafted by the Canadiens in 2024 during the last draft, this time in the fifth round (130th overall).

Given his draft rank, Thorpe isn’t the prospect most talked about or followed closely in terms of performance.

However, after leaving a great impression at the Canadiens training camp this season, Thorpe has made a name for himself among the Canadiens prospects.

Many fans like him, especially due to his 6-foot-4, 215-pound frame.

So, here’s an update on Thorpe, who is currently having a great season in the WHL with the Vancouver Giants.

Last night, he scored two goals in a 6-3 defeat of the Giants against the Victoria Royals.

He even scored the goal that triggered the teddy bear toss in Vancouver.

Thorpe has a very good shot, and he proved it last night.

He now has 12 goals and 26 points in 30 games this season, which is a slightly better production pace than he maintained last season.

If he continues to progress well, Thorpe could very well become a solid fourth-line player for the Canadiens one day.

In case you missed it, here are the other Canadiens prospects who were in action yesterday.

In Summary

– The Rocket will be back in action today after losing 4-2 last night against the Hartford Wolf Pack.

– What do you think?

– Bad news for the Islanders.

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Seven shots on goal: Patrik Laine accounted for a quarter of the shots for the Canadiens last night.

A defeat is a defeat, but at least yesterday, the Montreal Canadiens lost honorably, as they put up a great fight against the best team in the National Hockey League.

The CH lost 4-2 to the Winnipeg Jets, and even though they didn’t earn a point, they managed to compete with the top-ranked team.

In fact, the Canadiens had more shots on goal than the Jets in this match, finishing the game with 28 shots against 27.

In this regard, the CH can give a big thank you to Patrik Laine, who recorded exactly a quarter of the team’s shots in this loss.

Indeed, the Finnish sniper, who was back in Winnipeg where he started his career, unleashed seven shots on goal last night.

Unfortunately, he did not find the back of the net, but that wasn’t for lack of trying, as Laine faced a Connor Hellebuyck in great form.

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Moreover, Hellebuyck did not hesitate to boast at Laine’s expense, stating that he understood why his former teammate had missed their last encounters.

In short, Laine really did everything he could to score at least one goal and make a difference against his former team, but in the end, his shots couldn’t deceive Hellebuyck’s vigilance.

It’s too bad because a goal from Laine would have really helped the CH last night.

If Laine does not score, the Canadiens’ power play is running dry, and the Canadiens lose.

Indeed, since Laine returned to the CH lineup, he is the only one to have scored on the power play, which means that in the last six games, the CH has been shut out on the power play during the three losses.

If we go even further, it is noted that the Canadiens have still not won when Laine does not score.

The Canadiens have a record of 3-0 when Laine scores and a record of 0-3 when Laine is shut out.

This speaks volumes about the importance of the Finnish sniper since his return from injury.

Martin St-Louis’s squad will therefore need to find a way to make Laine one of several important elements of the team, and not the only possible hero and savior.

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As for the rest of the match, here’s what I took away.

1. Nick Suzuki’s point streak ends at eight games.

After racking up 11 points in his last eight games, Suzuki couldn’t collect at least one point last night, ending his impressive streak of games with at least one point.

For Lane Hutson, his streak had ended in the last game at seven, which is really too bad considering that with his first goal in the NHL last night, it could have extended to nine.

2. Three players accounted for half of the CH’s shots.

With Laine’s seven shots, Cole Caufield’s three shots, and Christian Dvorak’s four shots, the CH recorded 14 shots, which represents half of the entire team’s shots last night.

Nine players, on the other hand, didn’t even get a single shot on goal.

3. The CH’s third line was solid.

Josh Anderson, Brendan Gallagher, and Christian Dvorak combined their efforts for the CH’s second goal while being quite solid overall.

They had good presences and generated nice opportunities for the team, as evidenced by Dvorak’s four shots.

Anderson deserves some love for playing good hockey this season and finding his role, even though we continue to see that his potential remains limited due to his poor game vision.

In Brief

– Interesting.

– Nothing is going well for the Rangers. A coaching change could happen very soon.

– Wow. One must believe that the Chiefs have a very good defense.

– To be continued.

– A big surprise.

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Top-5: the Senators’ emergency goalie rushes to the arena

After a Friday with a game in the National Hockey League, we were treated last night, as 30 teams faced off across 15 different games.

Several highlights captured attention, including the beautiful save by Matvei Michkov against his own team and the first career goal for Lane Hutson in the NHL.

Here are the other highlights from the day.

1. The emergency goalie rushes outside to make it to the game on time

An absolutely crazy story occurred last night just moments before the Ottawa Senators’ game against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Anton Forsberg, the Senators’ backup goalie for the game, was injured during warm-ups, forcing the Senators to call in an emergency goalie.

This emergency goalie is Zach Dietz, a 22-year-old netminder who plays for the University of Ottawa.

Called in at the last second, Dietz had to hurry, resulting in incredible footage of him running on the highway with all his goalie gear, as he tried to make it to the game on time.

In short, Dietz didn’t end up needing to come in during the game, but he certainly did everything he could to not miss a potential chance to play in the NHL.

The Senators won 3-2 in overtime and found themselves in a playoff position after 30 games for the first time in eight years, since the 2016-2017 season.

2. Nathan MacKinnon reaches the 50-point mark

Who better than MacKinnon to be the first to reach this milestone in the NHL.

The Colorado Avalanche beat the struggling Nashville Predators 5-2 last night, and MacKinnon took advantage of the opportunity, scoring two goals and adding an assist.

It’s worth noting that Mackenzie Blackwood was excellent in his first start with the Avalanche, stopping 37 of the 39 shots directed at him.

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3. Jeff Petry scores his first two goals of the season

The former Canadiens player may not be getting any younger at 37 years old, but he still manages to score goals from time to time.

In fact, last night he scored his first two goals of the season in a 4-2 victory for the Detroit Red Wings against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

He also scored the game-winning goal.

In the loss, the Maple Leafs still demonstrated great teamwork, as shown in this sequence.

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4. Nazem Kadri scores another beautiful goal

After scoring a fantastic goal earlier this week by jumping over a defender from the Tampa Bay Lightning, Nazem Kadri put on another show, this time against the other team from Florida.

Indeed, in a 3-0 victory against the Florida Panthers, Kadri scored a spectacular goal thanks to a beautiful fake.

This brings him to 11 goals and 20 points in 30 games this season.

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5. A sensational save by Marc-André Fleury

It’s not just

In Summary

– First NHL goal for Declan Carlile.

– Here are the results from the previous night.

– Here are the top scorers from the previous night.

(Credit: NHL.com)

– On the agenda today in the NHL: five games.

(Credit: Google/NHL)
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Matvei Michkov prevents a goal… from his own teammate

One thing is for sure, Matvei Michkov is full of talent.

His 27 points in 30 games in his rookie season demonstrate this well.

However, he has often been criticized for his defensive game and his behavior.

And on this Saturday afternoon, during a matchup between the Philadelphia Flyers and the Minnesota Wild, Michkov seems to have taken notes on defensive play.

He even prevented a sure goal… from his own teammate Travis Konecny.

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Incredible…

John Tortorella has probably talked to him about his shortcomings, and Michkov probably misunderstood his coach.

He prevented a goal and it was well thought out… if it wasn’t his teammate who was about to score.

As Pete Blackburn succinctly stated in his retweet above: “And people say he’s not good defensively.”

The defensive IQ of the Russian may not be very high.

Following this game, the excellent page Big Head Hockey published a summary of his performance this afternoon.

“He’s doing things that no one thought were possible in the NHL.”

I love this comment.

-1 goal and -2 plus/minus, that’s something…

Michkov’s defensive game: another dilemma to solve for Tortorella.

Maybe he will have to give up this battle, just as he has given up the debate over Michigan goals.

At least, Torts can count on the offensive contributions of his young protégé, even if he does not have a candidate for the Frank J. Selke Trophy (best defensive forward).

In brief

– Good news for the Laval Rocket.

– We’re getting attached, everyone.

– We can expect a big tournament for Schaefer who has strong reasons for competition.

– Worth reading.

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The huge cut on Michael McCarron’s face

As we know, in hockey, things can get pretty rough.

Fights, big checks, and unfortunately serious accidents and injuries can happen.

When Adam Johnson died from a skate cut, it sparked controversy regarding neck protection. The famous kevlar neck roll or a simple “neck guard.”

Some leagues have started to mandate neck protection to limit cuts of this nature after this unfortunate death.

The NHL has not yet forced its players, and on Thursday night, we almost faced another similar catastrophe.

Former Montreal Canadiens player, Michael McCarron, was cut in the upper neck by Lian Bischel’s skate, who was playing his first NHL game.

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Looking at the photo, it’s hard to say that it’s truly in the upper neck, since the cut appears to extend to the jaw and is close to the ear as well.

What stands out most in this situation is the fact that McCarron mentioned even with a neck guard, he would not have been able to avoid this injury.

The cut was too high.

Nonetheless, it’s clear that a neck guard certainly wouldn’t have harmed, and it might have still reduced this cut…

After having checked the young defender (who is even bigger and stronger than McCarron), Bischel’s skate flew up and cut McCarron.

A sequence that oddly recalls that of Richard Zednik, but on a smaller scale.

Here’s the sequence in question:

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Frank Seravalli makes a very good point, however.

“Every NHL team should be forced to watch a montage of the dozens of plays where the worst was avoided this season alone. McCarron was cut, but still incredibly lucky.” – Frank Seravalli

It happens all too often that the worst is avoided on sequences similar to McCarron’s.

The NHL cannot wait for a serious accident to require players to protect themselves.

I understand that some don’t like to have it on their neck while playing because it can be bothersome or restrict their head movements. But personally, if my career depended on it, I would do everything possible to avoid such injuries.

And that starts with wearing a neck guard.

By requiring players to protect themselves, everyone would be on the same level.

Moreover, I can’t believe that there will never be an invention of an ultra-thin neck guard that does not hinder your head movements (if it doesn’t exist already).

We seriously need to think about better protecting players, especially since hockey is a dangerous sport…

In Brief

– Worth reading.

– Another candidate for save of the year.

– A good start for young Commesso.