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Post Game Poutine: Montreal Canadiens Winning Streak Ends at Five

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2 years ago

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The Montreal Canadiens were down by four goals with less than 10 minutes played in the first period; reminding many of the teams’ defensive woes during the first half of the season. However, the Canadiens had other plans, roaring back to score four unanswered goals, three of which came from veteran winger Josh Anderson. However, Anderson’s first career hattrick was spoiled by the Canadiens running into penalty trouble in the 2nd and 3rd periods, and it eventually sunk them. The Montreal Canadiens allowed three consecutive powerplay goals after tieing the game at 4-4, en route to an 8-4 loss to the Winnipeg Jets, bringing their winning streak to an end.

There was a lot to like in this game from a Canadiens standpoint, especially when you look at the impact the top line of Anderson, Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki continues to have for the Habs down the stretch. That being said, the defensive breakdowns and poor performance from Samuel Montembeault showed there is still work to be done in improving the defensive corps of this team moving forward.

Here’s your MHN Postgame Poutine:

GOLD STAR: Josh Anderson– Anderson was the best player on the ice, despite the score. His hattrick, fast-tempo, physicality and smart play made him the most noticeable player on the ice, finding himself in the right place at the right time when it counted. He was an absolute puck hound out there, drawing two penalties, creating a ton of offensive chances and making room for Suzuki and Caufield all over the ice. The Powerhorse came to play.

TABARNAK: Jeff Petry’s costly penalty – After the Canadiens had mounted an improbable comeback, coming back from a 4-0 to tie it 4-4, Petry took an unfortunate high-sticking penalty at 15:41 in the 2nd period. Up until that moment, the Montreal Canadiens has full momentum in the game and this powerplay let the Winnipeg Jets back into the conversation.

TURNING POINT: Andrew Copp’s powerplay goal – Before the end of the Petry penalty, Andrew Copp gave the Jets back the lead. This effectively pulled the rug out from under the Canadiens, who had all the momentum in the game up until that point. The Winnipeg Jets went on to score two more goals on the powerplay in the 3rd period to win the game 7-4.

HONORABLE MENTION: Mark Scheifele– Going into this game, Mark Scheifele had to deal with a plethora of questions about his hit on Jake Evans during Game 1 of last year’s playoffs, but he didn’t let it bother him against the Canadiens in this game. Scheifele played a very sound two-way game while posting two goals and one assist in this game. His second goal, the 6th for the Jets, was the dagger that truly ended any hope the Canadiens had of attempting another comeback.

BY THE NUMBERS: Here’s how the Montreal Canadiens lined up Tuesday Night:

Forwards

Cole Caufield-Nick Suzuki-Josh Anderson

Mike Hoffman – Laurent Dauphin – Brendan Gallagher

Rem Pitlick – Jake Evans- Artturi Lehkonen

Joel Armia – Ryan Poehling – Mathieu Perreault

Defence:

Alexander Romanov – Ben Chiarot

Brett Kulak-Jeff Petry

Corey Schueneman -Chris Wideman

Goalies:

Sam Montembeault

Andrew Hammond

QUOTE TO NOTE: ”I don’t know what to tell you. It’s been one of those things where I’ve been through slumps before, but nothing quite like this. For whatever reason, I’m not beating goalies” – Brendan Gallagher

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