Post-Game Talk: Habs shut out the Laffs in season opener!

[JianYang]

They left us in the dust by the third period. They play heavy.

I hope Hughes and Gorton are taking notes.

Playing with the lead is not a new issue for this club. I'm not just talking about the last 2 games in the previous season. They just don't deal with playing ahead very well.

Some of it will come as the team matures but it's already one of the more well known things that this team will have to get better at.

 

[Bottomshelf]

Honestly Barron does get a lot of hate, he did have some nice tie up is font of the net, but I thought the defense as a whole protected the middle quite well. My big thing is if he’s not going to be a defensive anchor (he wasn’t in junior either) He should be in a more offensive role, skates very well, honestly depending on PP performance I wouldn’t mind seeing him make some appearances to see if he can do well there. (Assuming he’s not taking time from Hutson) very least we will know what we have. But to me watching him he looks like Oilers Jeff Petry

 

[Rapala]

I expect ABB, Heinemann out. Pezzetta and Kapanen in for Boston.

I'm not sure Marty takes ABB out for some reason.

 

[Habs]

Ya, but when we play a good game and lose, then it’s all about how we can’t finish….tonight Toronto couldn’t finish so boohoo for them!!

Plus it’s game 1, we have the second youngest team in the league, we have a rookie D and guys who haven’t played in a long time, not always gonna be pretty so take the W and move on to the next game.

Monty was terrific, Habs hockey at its finest. Get hammered in your own zone for 45 min, goalie bails you out, and win by a goal lol. I don't think this formula will last long .... but hey 2 pts in the bag...

 

[Adam Michaels]

MSL: "une nouvelle etape c'est d'etre capable de fermer ces matchs la". News flash for ya, coach. If not for Montanbo, you are losing this game 5-1 at best. The only person on your team who was able to "fermer ces matchs la" was your goalie. And guess what... it won't last.

You say that it would be 5-1 without Monty, I'd come back and tell you after the first half of the game, if it wasn't for Stolarz, Habs would win it 5-2.

Monty definitely played the biggest role in this. However, there were so many times Habs shut Leafs chances down by getting their sticks in the way and blocking shots. And they didn't give them a second or third look in the same chance. They were more effective at getting the puck quickly out of the high danger area. Monty would make the save and the D helped him by clearing the front of the net.

I felt like the team's defensive game is no longer man-to-man and is more zone. Or it's a kind of hybrid.

Granted, they need to continue to work on things, but we also need to remember the Leafs are a very skilled offensively and they will vastly outshoot a lot of their opponents.

 

[Adam Michaels]

Delete: Double post

 

[OldCraig71]

Lets not pretend we played a good game, this was all Monty's win, he bailed the team out so many times.

The guy who can't have a good time no matter what.

 

[Habs]

The guy who can't have a good time no matter what.

I enjoyed Cole's goal

 

[Rapala]

Honestly Barron does get a lot of hate, he did have some nice tie up is font of the net, but I thought the defense as a whole protected the middle quite well. My big thing is if he’s not going to be a defensive anchor (he wasn’t in junior either) He should be in a more offensive role, skates very well, honestly depending on PP performance I wouldn’t mind seeing him make some appearances to see if he can do well there. (Assuming he’s not taking time from Hutson) very least we will know what we have. But to me watching him he looks like Oilers Jeff Petry

Here's the deal with Barron for me.
Last season I'd often look up after we had a decent Ozone shift and quite often it was Barron out there.
Sometimes with Arber and sometimes with Struble.
I'm not sure exactly what some people expect from a third pairing defender but that seems like a good thing to me.
People expecting our third pairing to be a smash mouthed shutdown duo need to give their head a shake.
If we are getting hemmed and our faces are against the glass that will never be his forte.
How many other third pairings in the league are exactly the same?
So if they can keep the puck out of our net and clear the zone we are ahead of the game.
His pairing was nowhere near the most pressured nor were they the ones who gave up the most scoring opportunities.
Yet Barron took the most heat I'm trying to understand why I'm good with him being a third pairing guy some obviously aren't.

 

[salbutera]

You say that it would be 5-1 without Monty, I'd come back and tell you after the first half of the game, if it wasn't for Stolarz, Habs would win it 5-2.

Monty definitely played the biggest role in this. However, there were so many times Habs shut Leafs chances down by getting their sticks in the way and blocking shots. And they didn't give them a second or third look in the same chance. They were more effective at getting the puck quickly out of the high danger area. Monty would make the save and the D helped him by clearing the front of the net.

I felt like the team's defensive game is no longer man-to-man and is more zone. Or it's a kind of hybrid.

Granted, they need to continue to work on things, but we also need to remember the Leafs are a very skilled offensively and they will vastly outshoot a lot of their opponents.

Haters will hate & see only what they want to see.

Just as Gallagher, Anderson contracts blind the fact they now have the opportunity to face bottom-6 opposition regularly and the rest of division has a putrid bottom-6 - that “should” put the Habs in an advantageous position to compete using depth factor

 

[Theodore450]

Worst part about late night was that incredibly corny (Caufield and Dach led ) celebration. Mickey Mouse clubhouse Canes level of cringe.

Also I hope the bell center one day realizes how dumb it is to have a Dj between periods

Just play highlights or something.

 

[OldCraig71]

Winning is everything but man, that win shouldn't have been ours. Monty stood on his head, 47 saves are you kidding me? 4 goal posts and domination from the Leafs for over half of the game. I didn't see a strong defensive effort like some of you did but rather the same running around from last year but hey, the stars aligned and everything went in our favor. It could have easily been 4-1 for the "Figs" but that's how it goes sometimes.

I did like what I saw from some of our guys, Newhook, Savard, Matheson and Guhle were our best skaters with an honorable mention to Hutson(on offense) and others will probably be better in Boston, most likely Suzuki. The GDT was great as usual but I must have missed the morbid stuff that @Runner77 referred too, you'll have to let me know what that was about. Cheers.

 

[YukonCornelius 5thOA]

Here's the deal with Barron for me.
Last season I'd often look up after we had a decent Ozone shift and quite often it was Barron out there.
Sometimes with Arber and sometimes with Struble.
I'm not sure exactly what some people expect from a third pairing defender but that seems like a good thing to me.
People expecting our third pairing to be a smash mouthed shutdown duo need to give their head a shake.
If we are getting hemmed and our faces are against the glass that will never be his forte.
How many other third pairings in the league are exactly the same?
So if they can keep the puck out of our net and clear the zone we are ahead of the game.
His pairing was nowhere near the most pressured nor were they the ones who gave up the most scoring opportunities.
Yet Barron took the most heat I'm trying to understand why I'm good with him being a third pairing guy some obviously aren't.

There was one moment where he cross checked someone after the whistle, and I was like yes Barron, you’re out there with Arber, be mean, he’s got your back. And Xhekaj was right there. So I’m hoping he’ll learn to take advantage of his current partner more in regards to moments like that.

He made some nice plays, but definitely had some blunders too. But so did most of the team last night.

 

[OldCraig71]

I enjoyed Cole's goal

Okay but you still bitched about the beautiful orchestral performance, it was amazing. I am worried, you don't seem as upbeat as last year.

 

[Habs]

Okay but you still bitched about the beautiful orchestral performance, it was amazing. I am worried, you don't seem as upbeat as last year.

I have ptsd and can only enjoy the team when we are losing now, it's what I've come to expect
unsure how to deal with a win
81 more games to go, I'll probably be super positive and a pleasure to be around.

 

[salbutera]

Here's the deal with Barron for me.
Last season I'd often look up after we had a decent Ozone shift and quite often it was Barron out there.
Sometimes with Arber and sometimes with Struble.
I'm not sure exactly what some people expect from a third pairing defender but that seems like a good thing to me.
People expecting our third pairing to be a smash mouthed shutdown duo need to give their head a shake.
If we are getting hemmed and our faces are against the glass that will never be his forte.
How many other third pairings in the league are exactly the same?
So if they can keep the puck out of our net and clear the zone we are ahead of the game.
His pairing was nowhere near the most pressured nor were they the ones who gave up the most scoring opportunities.
Yet Barron took the most heat I'm trying to understand why I'm good with him being a third pairing guy some obviously aren't.

Someone who doesn’t play scared and exhibits character and a willingness to pay the price to use his skill set - Lord Barron von Dipshit fails on both counts miserably..

Habs traded a solid work ethic + character NHL regular w guaranteed 10+ year career for a part timer

 

[Rapala]

Someone who doesn’t play scared and exhibits character and a willingness to pay the price to use his skill set - Lord Barron von Dipshit fails on both counts miserably..

Habs traded a solid work ethic + character NHL regular w guaranteed 10+ year career for a part timer

Thank you for that. The exit is over there.

 

[Habs Halifax]

Honestly Barron does get a lot of hate, he did have some nice tie up is font of the net, but I thought the defense as a whole protected the middle quite well. My big thing is if he’s not going to be a defensive anchor (he wasn’t in junior either) He should be in a more offensive role, skates very well, honestly depending on PP performance I wouldn’t mind seeing him make some appearances to see if he can do well there. (Assuming he’s not taking time from Hutson) very least we will know what we have. But to me watching him he looks like Oilers Jeff Petry

Agreed and something I notice as well. I honestly don't think most fans understand how rebuilds go. Not everyone is going to shine early like Caufield, Hutson, Guhle, Slaf, etc. There are many cases like Barron where they make modest gains season/season and when they are in the age 23-25 range, they are touching prime. Prime starts earlier for others but that's exceptions.

Said it many times before.... Baron has the size, skating, and shot power and is a rare RD. All he is missing is experience/maturity. This is likely to happen to Enstrom and Reinbacher as well.

There was one moment where he cross checked someone after the whistle, and I was like yes Barron, you’re out there with Arber, be mean, he’s got your back. And Xhekaj was right there. So I’m hoping he’ll learn to take advantage of his current partner more in regards to moments like that.

He made some nice plays, but definitely had some blunders too. But so did most of the team last night.

Well said. Some fans are obsessively looking at Barron's flaws and ignoring mistakes others are making at the same time.

 

[Habs Halifax]

Playing with the lead is not a new issue for this club. I'm not just talking about the last 2 games in the previous season. They just don't deal with playing ahead very well.

Some of it will come as the team matures but it's already one of the more well known things that this team will have to get better at.

I was watching the game last night and said to myself... there is no way they hold this 1-0 lead. Wrong! Regardless of how many posts or luck, they earned that shutout.

Still don't think we make the playoffs but the % is not 10% or less. I felt that way heading into the season and I feel more strongly about it now. If we have a hot start and stay away from major injuries, this team is going to be in the mix.

 

[OldCraig71]

I have ptsd and can only enjoy the team when we are losing now, it's what I've come to expect
unsure how to deal with a win
81 more games to go, I'll probably be super positive and a pleasure to be around.

Try to reverse that trend in tonight's GDT,, I'll be watching.

 

[Rapala]

You say that it would be 5-1 without Monty, I'd come back and tell you after the first half of the game, if it wasn't for Stolarz, Habs would win it 5-2.

Monty definitely played the biggest role in this. However, there were so many times Habs shut Leafs chances down by getting their sticks in the way and blocking shots. And they didn't give them a second or third look in the same chance. They were more effective at getting the puck quickly out of the high danger area. Monty would make the save and the D helped him by clearing the front of the net.

I felt like the team's defensive game is no longer man-to-man and is more zone. Or it's a kind of hybrid.

Granted, they need to continue to work on things, but we also need to remember the Leafs are a very skilled offensively and they will vastly outshoot a lot of their opponents.

Indeed we saw that from game one in the pre-season.
It's going to be a work in progress trying to balance our push vs our defend but Marty isn't wrong.
This is not a game we would have won last year. The one thing I did like was how Montembault was able to track the puck.
He wasn't screened very often at all which is night and day from many outings we saw last season.

 

[jaffy27]

What excuses fig fans saying today?

They won’t have to, Sportsnet and TSN will be right there to pick up the slack!

 

[Runner77]

Winning is everything but man, that win shouldn't have been ours. Monty stood on his head, 47 saves are you kidding me? 4 goal posts and domination from the Leafs for over half of the game. I didn't see a strong defensive effort like some of you did but rather the same running around from last year but hey, the stars aligned and everything went in our favor. It could have easily been 4-1 for the "Figs" but that's how it goes sometimes.

I did like what I saw from some of our guys, Newhook, Savard, Matheson and Guhle were our best skaters with an honorable mention to Hutson(on offense) and others will probably be better in Boston, most likely Suzuki. The GDT was great as usual but I must have missed the morbid stuff that @Runner77 referred too, you'll have to let me know what that was about. Cheers.

It wasn’t morbid as much as it was evoking the downside of getting older and existential musings.

I just reminded him that most of us were here to not be reminded of life’s burdens.

But, our b’y @sheed36 was certainly in a deep state of thought. We might have to cheer him up some as the best time to have fun was yesterday and the next best time, is now.

 

[Habs]

Try to reverse that trend in tonight's GDT,, I'll be watching.

are we dressing all Smurfs and newly acquired superstar ABB tonight???

 

[Runner77]

This one’s a little syrupy but it was an imaginative way of rendering Caufield’s celly from last night.

https://x.com/i/web/status/1844378512586834211