Post-Game Talk: Habs lose season opener to Leaves

[JianYang]

Hey guys, I think this is Toronto's year. I've heard from multiple sources on this.

The regular season warriors are doing their thing.

 

[nhlfan9191]

Allen gifted 2 goals but made several great saves. The game was not even given (40 shots to 20 seriously ?)

I think the loss is not the issue. My issue is rather with the lack of defensive structure, the inability to have a dynamic possession game (except some rare moments with the Dach line). From my point of view Slaf was the best player on the ice tonight, Newhook a close second, and then Dach.

MTL D was so bad, did we watch the same game ? Goal number 5 they let Matthews all alone in front of the net, goal number 4 is for Allen, they were out of position on several PK plays. For me it was one of Harris worst games, he was outplayed several times close to the boards, Kovacevic could not clear a puck for his life, Guhle had ups and downs same for Matheson, Xhekaj was likely the best of them tonight. Savard was so slow but to his credit most of the goals were not due to him losing his duels or sight of his player. Allen saved their asses a few times tonight…

With the bolded part of your comment, I don’t think you’re ever going to see great defensive structure as long as Marty St. Louis is here. I think MSL fills a very specific role in this rebuild as a players coach who can communicate and as the team gets better and starts to take steps, they’ll eventually outgrow him and need somebody whose better with the X’s and O’s.

 

[ChesterNimitz]

Great game by everybody except Allen. Love Xhekaj so much and what a game by Slaf wow probably his best game as a hab.

Just returned to the computer after watching the game in a downtown Toronto bar jammed with rabid Leafs fans. Talk about a journey into purgatory.

Here is my assessment of the game and my ratings of the team's players.

Forwards

Line One: Suzuki (C); Caufield (C+); and Anderson (B-). I thought our first line had a largely mediocre game. Suzuki had an off night, and besides his "two' goals, Caufield really didn't drive the play. Of the three, Anderson was the most noticeable showing explosive speed, physicality and created severakl good scoring chances.

Line Two: Dach (B); Newhook ( A-) and Slafkovsky ( B+). This line was clearly Montreal best line. during the game. After a slow first period where his skating looked sluggish, Dach came alive in the last two periods and the overtime. Using his size, reach, skill and vision, Dach helped his line establish puck control in the Toronto defensive zone for extended periods. Newhook, was Montreal's best forward and showed the skating , offensive flair and grit that will make him a star in the NHL.. It was a great trade. Slafkovsky played his best game in the NHL of his young career. His offensive and physical play last night should eliminate any doubts that the sceptics harbour about his ability to play in the NHL. He will only get better and by the end of this year, Slafkovsky should confirm that he was rightly (pardon the pun) taken first over all in 2022.

Line Three: Monahan (C); Gallagher (D) and Pearson (C-) . Monahan, like many of his teammates, had an uneven game. While a lot of that may have had something to do with his weak wingers, Monahan did make a fatal error in his failure to clear the puck in the last minute of play which failure resulted in the Leafs scoring the tying goal. Enough has been written and posted about Gallagher's complete collapse as a competitive player. Slow and fatigued is a hard handicap to overcome. Gallagher is a mere shadow of the player he once was. Pearson is clearly a fading journeyman, who like Gallagher, has seen his better days. He will be replaced by a younger player by December.

Line Four: Evans (B-); Harvey-Pinard (C+); Ylonen (B-). Evans skated better in this game than he did during the entire preseason and scored a nice goal and provided the team with a level of speed that allowed him to score a goal and play an aggressive pursuit game while the team was both at full strength and killing penalties. His taking of a costly and unnecessary penalty in the offensive zone resulted in my giving him a slightly lower rating. Harvey-Pinard gave a good impression of a young Gallagher. While he will never be a high scorer in the NHL, his determination will allow him to carve out an NHL career as a useful depth player. Ylonen showed his high end skils on the beautiful goal he scored. He also displayed his superior skating by his ability to cut off and interrupt multiple Toronto breakouts. Given sufficient opportunity, Ylonen will prove to be a valuable player for this team going forward.

Defencemen

All of the Montreal defencemen had uneven games. Matheson (C+) failed to use his near elite speed on a consistent basis and largely had a workmanlike game and was not particularly good nor bad. For the team to win against superior opposition, Matheson has to do more. He has to be the best defenceman on the ice. Guhle (C), like Matheson was largely non-descript in his play. I didn't see enough ( if any) of those puck carrying forays that puts pressure on opposing teams. I still retain doubts as to whether Guhle develops into the top - two style/level of defenceman that so many here predict. I thought that Harris (C) had an okay game. All the Montreal defenceman had trouble containing Toronto's top forwards off the rush. Harris and Kovacevic (C+) were not different. When the wave of defensive prospects start arriving over the next two years, both will probably be replaced. Savard (C+) played a ton of minutes and in all situations except the power play. With the right partner, Savard will be a useful player to a contending team. He will almost certainly be traded by the TDL. Xhekaj (B+), along with Newhook and Slafkovsky, were Montreal's most impressive players. Xhekaj played with confidence and great physicality, including throwing a tremendous open ice hit and standing up to Reaves, who is the reigning NHL heavyweight, which physical play provided a great omen of the future. As did his surprising offensive skills. This kid could quietly and quickly become an important player and leader for this young team going forward. It may have already happened.

Goaltending

Frankly, without better goaltending Montreal cannot compete against the better teams in the NHL. That being said, Allen made many strong saves against the Leafs who were often in prime scoring spots. Without those saves, this game is over in the second period. I think Allen began to tire in the third period and started guessing. The fourth and fifth Leafs' goals were, unquestionably, weak.

Overall

The score flattered the Canadiens, who were outshot and outplayed for extended periods of the game. That is to be expected as the Leafs are a legitimate Stanley Cup contender and we are, in most probabilities, going to be a draft lottery participant.

 

[LV426]

Hey guys, I think this is Toronto's year. I've heard from multiple sources on this.

 

[Aces on the road]

Cole and suzuki were not good.

They need Armia

 

[jaffy27]

Habs would be better with Armia and Heineman over Pearson and Gallagher. Yep I said it

True….but I’m really good with Heineman spending a good 70+ games in Laval, same with Mailloux, Struble, Roy.

Go get your reps, your touches, go win something in Laval with Dobes, Davidson and Norlinder!!

Habs should finish bottom 10, get another excellent pick!!

As long as we see progression in Dach, Newhook, Slaf, Xhekaj and Guhle, I’m very good with another sacrificial season for the better good.

I also want to see a 75+ pt season from Suzuki and a 35+ goal season from Cole the Goal.

Entertaining hockey with my aforementioned would be a success in my books.

 

[RationalExpectations]

With the bolded part of your comment, I don’t think you’re ever going to see great defensive structure as long as Marty St. Louis is here. I think MSL fills a very specific role in this rebuild as a players coach who can communicate and as the team gets better and starts to take steps, they’ll eventually outgrow him and need somebody whose better with the X’s and O’s.

I agree with that statement but I think they ll keep MSL as their main guy. That being said I would love for them to replace the assistant coaches with experienced coaches (e.g. Richardson, Boucher) who can bring that structure.

 

[Habssince89]

Can't believe we ended up with Dach, Newhook and Caufield lol.

Very excited to see another season of Suzuki/Dach as our 1-2 punch. As many others have said, Dach has a wide open path to displace Suzuki as our 1C without requiring Suzuki to play poorly to do it.

 

[Hostile Offer]

Hockey is such a weird game. Looked solid until Allen let in that weak shot by Gregor and then the wheels just completely fell off. Then the Leafs went all Leafs mode and let us score three unanswered goals out of nowhere, only to get their shit back together and win the game. You just can't trust that any lead is going to hold regardless of who is seemingly dominating the play.

 

[MadMslm]

A few thoughts :

- I can’t blame Allen for this game. He did give two weak goals, but he kept his team in the game. Leafs pressure was just too high and out players weren’t able to calm things down which becomes extremely hard for a goaltender. Four of the five goals were scored with a man advantage.

- There’s no structure on the defensive end. At one point they need to fix that because the second there’s some sustained pressure, all the players fumble their assignments. This will be the reason why we will lose so much.

- The powerplay in overtime was absolutely horrible. It was just so obvious that the plan was to give the puck to Caufield. That failure is on Burrows. In a setting like this one, players should just focus on creating movement by using Monahan on the goal line to force players in so Dach and Caufield can have more space.

- Monahan shouldn’t be stuck with Gallagher and Pearson. He made multiple plays to keep possession of the puck because his wingers couldn’t and even body blocked a player behind his net stopping a good opportunity. It’s too much ice to cover for a guy who is injury prone. He should be with Suzuki or Dach helping them with possession not carrying two corpses.

- Gallagher is done, not that there was any doubt, but he’s clearly not an effective player anymore. Even a fourth line, there’s no way he brings more Pezzetta or one of the young guns. It’s a sad reality, but they need to limit his minutes. He’s late on almost every play and fumbles most of them.

- Pearson is also done. He will have moments where he will do a good play here and there because he’s a veteran but even him can’t keep up the pace. It would be better to have someone faster that brings talent or aggressiveness. Heck, I rather Armia over him. At least he can win battles and help possession, which Pearson can’t really do.

 

[Runner77]

 

[bobholly39]

So why did MSL start Allen?

Tanking as of game #1?

 

[ReHabs]

I was on a flight and missed the opening game. Having read through many pages and watched the recap, I have a question for the astute viewer: Is MSL capable of putting together a serious NHL team with serious ambitions in the near-future? (ie his remaining Habs career)

And I don't mean to ask this in a misleading way -- I would answer the question in the affirmative and substantiate it with certain notions... but first I'd like other people's impressions if they care to share.

 

[BLNY]

Gallagher needs to be sent home forever.

With Armia waived, he's the tank commander. Gallagher: where plays go to die. He's so slow. He can't keep up with the pace of play. Sad.

Better goal tending and we win. Better officiating and we perhaps win handily. Those two homer calls that favoured Domi and Tavares were pretty sad. Nothing like a wave of the stick making contact with knee/thigh causing your feet to go out from under you.

 

[McGuires Corndog]

I was on a flight and missed the opening game. Having read through many pages and watched the recap, I have a question for the astute viewer: Is MSL capable of putting together a serious NHL team with serious ambitions in the near-future? (ie his remaining Habs career)

And I don't mean to ask this in a misleading way -- I would answer the question in the affirmative and substantiate it with certain notions... but first I'd like other people's impressions if they care to share.

I’m not sure.

I think he’ll need to evolve as a coach in order to back us to a championship, he does seem to have a great touch for helping develop young guys though so at the very least he’s the right coach for this time. Hard to ask for more.

We can cross that 2nd bridge in 2-3 years time

 

[Colezuki]

Savard needs about 70 games to get into shape -ish. Habs still have so much dead weight and not a lot of help coming up.

I mean I don’t know if I agree? I’m Laval Roy, Heine, Mailloux and a couple others are all there we’ll get hit with injuries at some point and the call ups will start.

We need to use our three best centers as centers and drop the boat anchors to the press box. I'd use Newhook as 3C and drop our current 3rd line wingers either to 4th or press box. Have a chat with Gallagher about LTIR if he won't be demoted. Give Anderson to Newhook and play Monahan on the first line. Profit. And make Monty the starter. This game was winnable with incrementally better goaltending.

Once DVo comes back I’d move him up but yeah the Andy Caufield Suzy experiment doesn’t work. Andy’s game is based on speed but as many have pointed out every year it’s the same he bull rushes the net makes a bleh shot and gives up possession where caufield and Suzuki don’t score as much off the rush. Andy’s best served on the 3rd line where he can take advantage of mismatches. Once dvo is back it’ll get better

I was on a flight and missed the opening game. Having read through many pages and watched the recap, I have a question for the astute viewer: Is MSL capable of putting together a serious NHL team with serious ambitions in the near-future? (ie his remaining Habs career)

And I don't mean to ask this in a misleading way -- I would answer the question in the affirmative and substantiate it with certain notions... but first I'd like other people's impressions if they care to share.

At this point I don’t see any evidence of why he can’t and to go with it he seems to have a long leash to do it with both management and fans. He’s been implementing a system on 5on5 which is where I find we’re the strongest, which is how you win playoff games and now transitioning to special team's, which is how you win regular season games. by his own admission that’s the priority for this year so if by the end of the year the special teams are a repeat then I’ll have my doubts for sure but for now I’d say yes.

On the loss it happens, my view is that young players tend to get a little lost when the ice gets tilted for stretches and we saw that tonight. As they mature they’ll learn how to slow that down.

Also can someone please teach this team off the boards and not up the middle during clear outs

 

[WeThreeKings]

Honestly that's like the perfect game for this year.

Xhekaj neutered Reaves.
Most of the young players got points and had moments of looking very good.
We scored 5 goals!!
We did enough to not collect 2 points.

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

1- Suzuki didn't play that bad of a game. He faced one of the best top lines in the league while carrying three guys who are not supposed to be on a first unit. Matheson, Savard and the tourist Anderson do not belong where they were.

2- Slaf played a very good game, but let's not get ahead of ourselves. At times he made good plays, other times he killed plays and was often a passenger while Newhook and especially Dach did most of the cycle work. It's a good step in the right direction. Much better than last season. He won't be a bust, but it's still up in the air just how good he will be.

3- Monahan was good in the O-zone, but mediocre on defense.

With the bolded part of your comment, I don’t think you’re ever going to see great defensive structure as long as Marty St. Louis is here. I think MSL fills a very specific role in this rebuild as a players coach who can communicate and as the team gets better and starts to take steps, they’ll eventually outgrow him and need somebody whose better with the X’s and O’s.

St-Louis is dealing with a really crappy D. I'd hold off making judgments until he gets a good D squad.

 

[hvac412]

Tanking as of game #1?

Same reason he still has Burrows around,they still can’t figure out the second period.Definitely not headed in the right direction with him,I wanted Boucher as an assistant but Marty’s ego wouldn’t allow it.

 

[Habs10Habs]

TOR had twice as many shots as MTL… as soon as they accelerated MTL was completely outplayed. If anything MTL got lucky not to experience a heavy loss given how they played in the second period / early third period…

Very true, but once we had a 2 goal lead late in the third period. There's no way the Leafs should have come back.

 

[ChesterNimitz]

True….but I’m really good with Heineman spending a good 70+ games in Laval, same with Mailloux, Struble, Roy.

Go get your reps, your touches, go win something in Laval with Dobes, Davidson and Norlinder!!

Habs should finish bottom 10, get another excellent pick!!

As long as we see progression in Dach, Newhook, Slaf, Xhekaj and Guhle, I’m very good with another sacrificial season for the better good.

I also want to see a 75+ pt season from Suzuki and a 35+ goal season from Cole the Goal.

Entertaining hockey with my aforementioned would be a success in my books.

Realistically, that is the best we can hope for this year.

 

[rickthegoon]

Allen played a good game. Not great but good. Some of you guys are out to lunch

He had a weird outing ; made at least 12 fantastic saves , and looked real bad on goal #3-#4-#5.

 

[dcyhabs]

I hate the replay for offside. If offside is so crucial add off ice or tech checks to catch it immediately. It’s a double waste of time checking the replay to roll the game clock back.

I thought Kovacevic had a good game. He’s one of the few who doesn’t lose focus when they are in their own zone.

Fun high scoring game. Too bad Matthews is such a horrible person or his goals would be more enjoyable. The habs are completely missing a shutdown line and the current third line is weak. A few free agent signings once the habs are ready to win will fix that. Goal tending will depend on prospects. Power play will require one of the prospects to QB.

Things are lining up for 2026 or so.

 

[BLONG7]

Hockey is such a weird game. Looked solid until Allen let in that weak shot by Gregor and then the wheels just completely fell off. Then the Leafs went all Leafs mode and let us score three unanswered goals out of nowhere, only to get their shit back together and win the game. You just can't trust that any lead is going to hold regardless of who is seemingly dominating the play.

Allen was good, Allen was bad.................so, really Allen was Allen. Not a fan of this goalie, never was.

Weird game, but entertaining game for sure.
We should have won in OT with the PP, but I digress.
Slaf had a great game, but especially the 3rd period....the kid is going to be fine.
Glad we scored five, goals, but the PP's carried the leafs to some dominating swings during the game.

Lots to tighten up..........as Chester mentioned earlier, Habs can't compete with the better teams without very good goaltending yet.......

 

[NMacrules]

No shame in losing to the best team in the league.

I know you were trying to be funny but fact is, the Leafs could in fact win the presidents trophy this year, which would actually make them the best team in the league....in regular season.

I said it a few weeks ago and I stick to it. The Habs will make the playoffs. Many don't know what you have. You have lots of size, tons of speed and developing skill. That was the first game. Habs are going to be better.

Lots of people picking on Allen. Leafs peppered him with 42 shots. Samsonov only faced 24 shots and only let in one less goal. And many of the Leafs shots were in close 2 feet from the crease. Samsonov's save percentage was .792 and Allen was .881. Allens career is .909. Thats not to shabby!

Perspective people. Allen also turned away 93% of his shots within the PSA (prime scoring area). Sammy only faced 42% of his shots within the PSA.

Your tending was way better tonight. This came down to Matthews going beast mode. Shutting him down was where your problem was. But for Pete's sake, stop blaming Allen. He was one of your better players tonight. The only stinker Allen let in was the first goal. The Nylander goal was a complete screen shot. The others were scrambles right in front of him and he scrambled like a greco roman wrestler to make many of those saves.