On Thursday night, the Montreal Canadiens hosted the Buffalo Sabres. Exactly one week earlier, the Habs lost to the Sabres in Buffalo, and the result in this one was a 4-2 loss.
Here are my notes from the game.
An abysmal start meant this game was lost early.
The Canadiens seemed to learn nothing from the game a week ago. This Sabres group is not the one they handled last season. They came out sluggish and were already behind less than a minute in.
A shorthanded goal less than five minutes in was another blow, and then another goal less than three minutes into the second period were all the Sabres needed.
The Habs finally woke up after they were down by three.
What will it take for these kids to consistently play a full 60 minutes of hockey?
I think the answer is both maturation and maturity. Yes, the kids need time. But HuGo should probably consider adding a veteran. I don’t mean a veteran with one foot in retirement and the other on a banana peel. I mean one that still has legs and uses them consistently.
If opponents are wondering how to castrate the Habs power play, they should watch the first period in this one.
On the lone power play of the first, the Habs couldn’t break through that neutral zone clog to establish possession in the offensive zone.
Generally speaking, the Canadiens struggle with teams who clog up the neutral zone, and that applies beyond the power play. The coach has to find a solution, because that strategy will be on display in the playoffs.
It’s fun to have a team that can mount a comeback, but let’s not overplay that hand.
Remember when if the Habs fell behind by three – we could probably even say two – we could change the channel? There were a lot of years of no offensive punch.
Yes, Caufield wired one, and then Suzuki pounced on a rebound from a Bolduc steal and shot, but this time they couldn’t find enough magic to get it to overtime.
It’s time to learn a lesson about that and start on time.
The struggle bus had a full load in Game 51.
Kirby Dach had a decent first game back against Minnesota, but looked rough against Buffalo.
Lane Hutson is in desperate need of a defense partner and I don’t think he’s on the current 23-man roster. Two rough games in a row for Struble. Anyone else cringe when Guhle took that head shot?
Montembeault can’t be blamed for the loss, but he hardly tried on that shorthanded goal. I’m sure both he and Dobson were caught off guard by Malenstyn, but both were caught watching a little.
The coach didn’t make any line-up changes for the game against Buffalo, but he needs to rethink that for Boston.
Hab At Her 