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Defeat hurts, but it’s good to see the Habs showing effort

 Marc-Olivier Cook
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Defeat hurts, but it’s good to see the Habs showing effort
Credit: Getty Images

It’s not necessarily the defeats that have been frustrating so far this season.

The problem has been the team’s failure to show up every other game.

When the Canadiens decide not to play with effort, it shows in the result. But even if the result was disappointing this afternoon in New York, you can’t say the guys didn’t show up to play. And that feels good.

Seeing the guys play with emotion makes a difference.

We saw intensity throughout the match and that’s how the club should behave night after night. And it’s by playing at such a level – in my humble opinion – that the team will continue to progress.

Because I’m sure I’m not alone on my island: I enjoyed watching the match this afternoon.

I liked it, seeing that the players fought hard to get the W… Even if, in the end, the club lost.

That said, it was time for the guys to show some emotion on the ice. It looked like the players weren’t there to fool around, and I hope we’ll watch the film after the game to see just how much it pays to play like that.

But we won’t just talk about the level of effort to describe this match.

What caught my attention?

1. Once again… The refereeing was really ordinary.

Referees missed calls and decisions were questionable. Martin St-Louis was angry after the game, and rightly so:

2. Kirby Dach had another ordinary game even though he finished the match with four shots on goal.

He only spent 13 minutes and 40 seconds on the ice and his penalty at the end of the game was unnecessary.

You can’t get popped 200 feet from your net… with only a few minutes left in the game.

Things haven’t been going well for #77 lately: he has just one point in his last seven games. We’ve got to find a way to get him going again…

3. Eille! Can we talk about Josh Anderson?

I don’t know what the forward put on his toast this morning, but it worked.

We saw the Josh Anderson of the good old days: he hit the opposition, he disturbed opposing players throughout the game, he was involved in every facet of the game and he even threw down the gloves.

Hard to ask for more.

4. Simon Boisvert won’t be happy if I say this, but Lane Hutson is a wicked good hockey player.

His pass on Nick Suzuki’s goal was perfect.

He now has 13 points in 23 games:

5. Samuel Montembeault wasn’t perfect.

He stopped 24 of 28 shots and gave up three powerplay goals.

Hard to beat the Rangers’ powerplay…

Note that the goalie hasn’t won since November 18.

6. Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield both found the back of the net.

A 14th for #13 this season… And a 9th for the captain.

They were good during the game, creating scoring chances. It was more difficult for the other trios…


Prolongation

The Canadiens head to Boston for tomorrow’s game against the Bruins, also in the afternoon (3 p.m.).

Cayden Primeau will be in net, and it will be interesting to see if there are any changes in Martin St-Louis’ line-up.

Remember that today, Jayden Struble was left out of Martin St-Louis’ defense. Will this be the case again tomorrow?

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