Post-Game Talk: Habs lose to the Devils

[Miller Time]

I hate radio pundits, but yesterday one of them on 98.5 said something that seems real, relevant and not much talked about concerning our toll of injuries.

The team gets pressed to perform and when players are asked to be in positions they shouldn't be, outmatched, our players chase the puck a lot more. This, according to him, gives way to more injuries. I partly agree. Any thoughts, other than outright management-does-no-wrong dismissal?

Doesn't sound very convincing

Lots of teams predicted to be lottery teams end up there without league leading man- games lost to injury.

Even if a correlation btw the two could be established, it wouldn't be clear wether icing a weaker lineup led to the injuries or the injuries led to the poor results

 

[sandviper]

Playoffs 2027-28?

I think so. We’re still in the middle of the rebuild, so no playoffs this season or next. 2025-26 possibly but I’m expecting a 14 to 16 finish. 2026-27 I’m hoping we can be playoff contenders again.

 

[DaPhazz]

I would put Primeau on waiver ,,, terrible

Comments like this, lol. This place, I swear

 

[Rapala]

Devils missed the playoffs 9 out the last 10 years before last season. Are you ready for that kind of sucking?? Based on the comments in this thread some can't even stomach a couple of losses lol

They also won two lotteries. Something we weren't blessed with for some reason.

 

[Catanddogguitarrr]

By and large people liked Tofoli. He just didn’t fit the rebuild plan. Why keep him here if we’re not winning anything? We’d be wasting him.

If Toffoli was with the Habs today, he would be on the line of Suzuki and CC and that line would be much better. Or he could fit well with Monahan. But the thing is, there are 32 NHL teams and saying we would never win a SC with these players is true if there is not a solid improvement somewhere.

They also won two lotteries. Something we weren't blessed with for some reason.

We tank in thje wrong years.

 

[The Real Timo]

We would’ve seen some improvement this year. But Dach got hurt… That f***ed everything up.

So, instead of getting a bottom half pick we’ll draft top five.

Can't wait

 

[morhilane]

Suzuki said he decided to work on his defense, but it looks more like a self-excuse to self-hide his laziness.

Anderson thinks he's an average speed 5'11'' perimeter finesse player.

CC is trying offensively but too often he has zero/doesn't wait for his support cast and he learned to shot in goalie's chest.

Pearson/Monahan/Gally is the most constant line and Dvorak's return might crap it up, but might free Money for a top 6 spot too. They are the only forwards beside Evans and Pezz in the right chairs.

Ylonen is underused offensively.
Anderson is not a top 6/PP guy.
RHP is not a top 6 guy.

There is rarely an Hab in position to hit a rebound near the slot. So many prime scoring chances missed because of it. And Vanecek is very generous with rebounds, you think the players would try to capitalize on that but nope.

I don't even understand the Habs line change mechanism. Players seems to stay there until they are dead tired and crawl back to the bench breaking offensive momentum or creating defensive gaps because they change without making sure the puck in a safe place first most of the time.

The Ds are actually fine considering how young they are and the team lacking an actual top pair dmen vet. Saying that, Dzone play is atrocious, too much puck watching.

All in all, on-ice execution and bench/puck management is a big zero all around since Julien and that was two HC ago...

edit: Forgot to talk about Slaf/Newhook. Newie is not a 2nd line center, but he's managing right now. Hopefully, Dvorak takes Money's spot and it become Slaf/Monahan/Newhook.

As for Slaf, he's slowly improving despite the rest of the team slowly...regressing.

 

[Catanddogguitarrr]

Can't wait

Can we fast forward that sh*tty year and discuss who we draft at #5 spot?

 

[NHLInjuryViz]

Doesn't sound very convincing

Lots of teams predicted to be lottery teams end up there without league leading man- games lost to injury.

Even if a correlation btw the two could be established, it wouldn't be clear wether icing a weaker lineup led to the injuries or the injuries led to the poor results

There is a weak correlation between injuries and results over the season overall. However, a significant part of the “weaker lineup leading to injuries” side of the coin is teams falling out of contention (or never planning to contend in the first place) shutting players down more often and sooner, which increases the MGL numbers without impacting on outcomes (playoffs vs non-playoffs at least).

 

[Rapala]

The continuing criticism of Matheson is baffling. He plays 25 minutes a game, plays in all situations, is a team leader, is one of the increasingly rare players who actually wants to play in Montreal, displays elite skating and has the skill to score the type of goal against the Devils last night that will probably end up being one of the goals of the year. I guess he’s just not doing enough for some of our loyal and knowledgeable fans.

C'mon man he's been terrible for much of this season. Minute munching doesn't cut it. I don't see him moving the puck very well at all. To be fair our forwards don't seem to be much help on the breakouts but still he was falling all over the ice last night. He's definitely not PP1 material either but we keep trotting him out there so I'll cut him some slack. He was playing much better towards the end of last season with nothing on the line.

 

[The Real Timo]

Can we fast forward that sh*tty year and discuss who we draft at #5 spot?

I am sure there is a defenseman somewhere there we can pick up.

 

[Gillings]

I think we are going to be shown to fail at the draft with slaf and Reinbacher, don't like the picks. I really believe we will be looking for a #1C and D for another 5 years, I have zero faith in the scouts once again. Where we going to get a goalie anyways?

It’s not about finding a #1c

It’s about selling tickets in the states, and making Canadian. Fans believe we have one to sell tickets.

 

[ReHabs]

C'mon man he's been terrible for much of this season. Minute munching doesn't cut it. I don't see him moving the puck very well at all. To be fair our forwards don't seem to be much help on the breakouts but still he was falling all over the ice last night. He's definitely not PP1 material either but we keep trotting him out there so I'll cut him some slack.

We don't have better. He's not a 1D, and for good reason. He's in over his head and it isn't his fault. Bad teams fall apart with very predictable fault lines: poor defensive performance from the Top6 fwds, inability to play low-mistake hockey by the minute-eating d-men, poor concentration from the goalie.

MSL's job is to tighten the team just enough that they don't expose themselves to back-breaking goals against. He can't work miracles with veteran players, Matheson is a good asset and I would've loved him on a contending team but he's not a top-pairing dman.

He was playing much better towards the end of last season with nothing on the line.

Less pressure from opposition, dead rubber games. Yup.

 

[Runner77]

Yes, it was the Battle of the Somme. And Gallagher was the first man over the top.

As in the Battle of the Somme of his Parts — harnessing those that were still functional in the broken animatronics Chuck E. Cheese phase of his career.

 

[The Real Timo]

C'mon man he's been terrible for much of this season. Minute munching doesn't cut it. I don't see him moving the puck very well at all. To be fair our forwards don't seem to be much help on the breakouts but still he was falling all over the ice last night. He's definitely not PP1 material either but we keep trotting him out there so I'll cut him some slack. He was playing much better towards the end of last season with nothing on the line.

I agree. Matheson (other than his highlight reel goal last night) has been flat out bad. Yesterday he made me want Jeff Petry back. Btw, I am still pissed Hughes traded Petry. Since when do players get to choose where they play? Who care if he'd be unhappy to play in Mtl again? And by all indications it wasn't really the case. There is no more Covid restrictions so Mrs Petry should have been ok. Sigh.

 

[waitin425]

Let's all take a deep breath.

Dach is out for the season. He was trending to possibly be our best forward this year. Certainly top 3.

Guhle is out. He was poised for a break out season.

Remove two crucial pieces from any lineup and everyone suffers. This season is going to have many many growing pains.

I just can't wait until we ice a complete team...............in October 2024

 

[Habz4]

We tank in the wrong years.

True, yet we could've still came out with Tkachuk and Cooley

 

[morhilane]

True, yet we could've still came out with Tkachuk and Cooley

You mean Zedina and Wright.

 

[Leon Lucius Black]

People need to chill out, New Jersey has an excellent team and the Habs were in the game for the first 2 periods. Aside from the Minnesota game they've managed to stay in most of the games despite playing without two important pieces in Dach/Guhle for most of the season.

Some things I would like to see going forward:
- Try Barron on the first PP, it isn't working with Matheson
- Move Ylonen to the top six, RHP has struggled and it is hard for Ylonen to do anything offensively with Evans/Pezzetta
- I wouldn't mind moving on from one of Allen/Monty and giving Primeau an extended chance this year. Primeau looked solid for most of the game yesterday, give him more games and see if he can be part of the future. Worst case he sucks and we get a better draft pick.

 

[Nicko999]

Let's all take a deep breath.

Dach is out for the season. He was trending to possibly be our best forward this year. Certainly top 3.

Guhle is out. He was poised for a break out season.

Remove two crucial pieces from any lineup and everyone suffers. This season is going to have many many growing pains.

I just can't wait until we ice a complete team...............in October 2024

Lol, until Dach and Guhle get injured again.
It's time to move on. Trade them, get max return and accelerate the rebuild. It will be another 5 years at least until we are competitive.

 

[waitin425]

Lol, until Dach and Guhle get injured again.
It's time to move on. Trade them, get max return and accelerate the rebuild. It will be another 5 years at least until we are competitive.

The injuries were fluke accidents and not indicative of a player being soft or made of glass. I never buy into that analogy unless they have an injury that is truly career threatening. Was Sid made of glass in the early part of his career when he had all those concussions and missed the better part of a couple of seasons?

 

[ChesterNimitz]

We would’ve seen some improvement this year. But Dach got hurt… That f***ed everything up.

So, instead of getting a bottom half pick we’ll draft top five.

There are worse fates.

 

[Nicko999]

The injuries were fluke accidents and not indicative of a player being soft or made of glass. I never buy into that analogy unless they have an injury that is truly career threatening. Was Sid made of glass in the early part of his career when he had all those concussions and missed the better part of a couple of seasons?

Sidney Crosby played 81, 79, 53, 77 and 81 games in his first 5 seasons. He had a proven track record of somewhat durability except for his 3rd season.

Dach and Guhle have always been injured and missed significant time since their professional careers started. It is very naive to magically think they would become durable all of the sudden.

 

[The Real Timo]

Let's all take a deep breath.

Dach is out for the season. He was trending to possibly be our best forward this year. Certainly top 3.

Guhle is out. He was poised for a break out season.

Remove two crucial pieces from any lineup and everyone suffers. This season is going to have many many growing pains.

I just can't wait until we ice a complete team...............in October 2024

Sure, just so that the same thing happens by end of Oct 2024? The complete teams don't fall apart just because 1 or 2, even if they are key, players are out of the lineup. Complete teams are able to complete even with a depleted lineup. Dach is not McDavid. Guhle is not Makar. Team should not fall apart just because they are not available.

 

[expy]

We would’ve seen some improvement this year. But Dach got hurt… That f***ed everything up.

So, instead of getting a bottom half pick we’ll draft top five.

Definitely hurts missing Dach and Guhle, but I don't think it would've changed much in last night's outcome. Coaching staff and players could not figure out NJ's forecheck.