The Last Straw, Hagel at the Top of the NHL, and the Red Jerseys at the Bell Centre

Maxime Truman
The Last Straw, Hagel at the Top of the NHL, and the Red Jerseys at the Bell Centre
Credit: Getty Images

If I had told you before the Canadiens–Lightning series started that after four games it would be tied 2–2, you would have said you were okay with that scenario, right?

Me too.

However, if I had told you that the Habs would be leading the series 2-1 before Game 4 (played at the Bell Centre) and that after 39 minutes of play in Game 4, Montreal would be up 2–0, you would have told me we absolutely had to hold onto that lead to head to Tampa Bay with a 3–1 series advantage, right?

Okay, me too.

In short, yes, I partly agree with the optimists who choose to take a step back and look at the forest as a whole, not just the few trees in front…

But I still have to remind myself that the two games the Habs lost, they lost after taking the lead. In Game 2, the Canadiens were up 2-1 late in the third, and yesterday, they were up 2-0 late in the second.

The team is young and gaining experience; that's normal… but to move to the next level, they'll need to be better at protecting their leads. Especially two-goal leads at home…

Right now, this team is showing that it isn't ready to compete for the big titles yet and that even in its own arena
, it remains vulnerable when it's ahead. It'll come.

The turning point of the game… and the series?

Juraj Slafkovsky was hit hard by Max Crozier late in the second period yesterday. A minute later, the Lightning scored their first goal of the game and got back into the contest
.

After the hit, we saw the Lightning players get fired up on the bench… and the Canadiens players start to doubt themselves, then play differently.

Martin St-Louis and the players may say that hit had no effect on the outcome of the game, but you'd have to be naive to take their word for it. The Canadiens never got back in the game after Crozier's hit; the Lightning scored three goals and didn't allow a single one between that moment and the final whistle.

That hit could be not only the turning point of Game 4, but also the turning point of the series. Reread my introduction…

Since Crozier's skates didn't leave the ice until after his check, it's legal under NHL rules.

Juraj Slafkovsky has been knocked out twice since the start of the playoffs (the first time during his fight with Brandon Hagel). And he doesn't seem to be a shadow of his former self on the ice. Just like his 51-goal-scoring teammate…

No, it's not the referees who are beating
the Canadiens right now; it's the Lightning players (and the Habs players fighting
themselves).

Hagel, MVP of the series so far

We were expecting Hage, we got Hagel…

Brandon Hagel is currently the playoffs' leading scorer with six goals, two more than any other player in the Bettman circuit—and only Jackson LaCombe has more points than him since the start of the series (one more).

Hagel scored the tying goal, then the game-winner (with his face) yesterday at the Bell Centre.

Even though on the score sheet, it's often the Montrealers who have the most hits, we have to admit that the hardest hits are delivered by the Floridians, particularly by Brandon Hagel.

We wondered why Jon Cooper and the Canadian team invited Hagel to the Olympics; now we know.

To think that in 2018, after his final season in the WHL—and after the Sabres had given up on this prospect they'd drafted in the sixth round two years earlier—Hagel was wearing a red jersey at the Habs' rookie camp. A little message to all the young players cut along the way: don't give up after a cut.

Man, I'd take Hagel on the Habs' top six right now. He's exactly the kind of player the Montreal lineup is missing at the moment.

It's up to Kent Hughes and Jeff Gorton to find one or two of them this summer. The top two lines need reinforcements.

A first lineup change?

Martin St-Louis must be wondering if he'll make a change to his lineup ahead of Game #5 on Wednesday in Tampa
.

The only option—unless Noah Dobson has miraculously recovered—is Oliver Kapanen.

The young Finnish forward doesn't seem to be finding his place against the Lightning: at center? On the wing? With Ivan Demidov on the top six? On the fourth line with the grinders?

I'm not panicking, but I think it's time to insert Joe Veleno (or Brendan Gallagher) into the lineup to inject a little something into the team.

Kapanen's ice time has dropped from 10:04 to 8:35, then to 7:32 over the last three games.

Sorry, Oliver, I like you, but I think it's time for you to watch a game from the stands. It's for your own good… and the team's.

Remember that right now, Noah Dobson ($9.5 million), Patrik Laine ($8.7 million), and Brendan Gallagher ($5.5 million) aren't playing. It's crazy, really!

Canadiens fans = machines

I had the chance to attend Game 3 at the Bell Centre; thanks to my friend JT
!

What struck me most was the percentage of red Canadiens jerseys inside the arena. I don't think I'm wrong in saying that 80 to 85% of the fans in attendance were wearing one on Friday.

There were a few other outfits, a few white or sky-blue jerseys, but otherwise, it was red from wall to wall. And it all happens organically…

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