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

Dose
Crédit:

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.