On Sunday night the Montreal Canadiens and the Tampa Bay Lightning were back in battle at the Bell Centre. The result was a 3-2 regulation loss for the Canadiens.
Here are some notes from the game.
The good news is Cole Caufield scored.
We would have preferred to see a five-on-five goal, and for that goal to be the beginning of the top line breaking through Lightning coverage. But at least Montreal’s best goal scorer made the red light go on for the first time in this series.
We shouldn’t be shocked that the top line is struggling at even strength. The Bolts have just one true scoring line to shut down. The games the Habs won saw contributions from other lines. Both the Danault line and the Dach line have provided secondary scoring, but the line that should be the second line is quite incomplete.
HuGo will remedy that this summer, but that’s not helpful in this moment.
Penalties sunk the Habs.
Yes, the officiating is as consistent as east coast weather. Yes, the Lightning like to dive, and yes, Cooper is whiny as an overindulged toddler, and yes, Kucherov recovered faster than Trump after an assassination attempt.
But the Habs fell apart after the Slafkovsky hit and discipline went out the window.
You can’t give the Lightning seven power plays, or whatever it was. And if you do, you can’t pretend Brandon Hagel isn’t on the ice.
Post-game, St. Louis said the Lightning are a veteran team and they know how to get the Habs to take penalties. It’s best two out of three now. The young Canadiens better mature a little before Wednesday.
How close is Noah Nobson?
For the first game of the series, the D group faltered. It was a very rough night for Matheson and Carrier and nowhere near rough enough for Hagel. They should have just left a picnic basket for him at the front of the net.
After last game some were asking who you take out when Dobson is good to go. Simmer down. This is a minor detail. When he’s good to go, he immediately takes his place top pair and let the rest of the chips fall.
Matheson is missing Dobson for sure, but the top line is also missing Dobson’s transition game.
If Dobson is ready by Wednesday, that could be a real boost for the Habs.
Hab At Her 