In the Habs Room: Spent Power Breaks Ruin Montreal

tomtidgewellNovember 30, 2022

Habs wasted six chances in a frustrating opponent’s advantage in a 4–0 loss to the Sharks at Bell Center.

Article author:

Pat Hickey • Montreal Gazette

date of issue:

November 29, 2022 • 6 minutes ago • Read in 3 minutes

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Canadiens’ Christian Dvorak and Sharks’ Tomas Hertl battle it out along the boards in the third period action at the Bell Center on Tuesday night. Photo by Minas Panagiotakis /Getty Images

There seems to be a disconnect between coach Martin St. Louis’ vision of the Canadiens’ power play and the deliverables on the ice.

St. Louis has preached a shot to the net after a few quick strikes and a few passes.

The Canadiens’ power play went 0-6 on Tuesday night, and although they had only four shots on the net, that didn’t happen as they enjoyed man advantage.

A failed power play was a major factor in the 4-0 loss to the San Jose Sharks at Bell Center.

The Canadiens wasted a golden opportunity at the start of the third period. Trailing 1-0, at 5-3 he started the period 55 seconds ahead.

We had a meeting during the break and made a plan, but it didn’t happen on the ice anyway. The Canadiens passed the puck to him for 43 seconds before Cole had his only shot between his two-man advantage and was blocked.

Nick Suzuki was frustrated that the Sharks had defenders out and robbed him of his signature move of jumping into play from the blue line.

St. Louis said they would have to review the tape to see where they went wrong, but suggested they could not wait for the perfect shot and may have to net the puck. It did. That’s what Montreal couldn’t do.

It should be noted that although the Sharks are near the bottom of the Pacific Division, they boast the highest penalty kill record in the NHL and seem to enjoy blocking shots. They had 13 blocked shots in the first period, including his seven on penalties. They finished the game with 28 blocks, matching the number of pucks the Canadiens put into the net.

St. Louis expressed satisfaction with Montreal’s 5-5 play, but in reality, the Canadiens were ahead 3-0.

A successful penalty kill seemed to revitalize the Sharks, who had just 13 shots in the first two periods. San Jose scored on his two shots in the first after making a full recovery in the third period. Thomas Hertl scored at 2:29, effectively ending Montreal’s hopes of a comeback when Logan Couture made it 3–0 with his 13th goal at 3:44.

He beat Jake Allen with a shot from the pads. This is a goal you don’t want to give up. Especially after St. Louis stated earlier in the day that, despite erratic performances, Allen was still the team’s number one goaltender. Some very good plays from backup Sam Montembaugh.

Hertl also scored an empty net goal.

Giving up early goals has been a problem for the Canadiens this season, with the Sharks taking a 1-0 lead in just 93 seconds.Matt Nieto could have slipped past Joel Edmundson The goalkeeper pushed the puck behind Allen after stopping a wraparound attempt by Alexander Balabanov.

St. Louis contested the offside goal, but it was overruled by the Toronto Video Review people.

“We knew we weren’t 100% likely to win,” St. Louis said. “It was a close match and I wanted to help get the game off to a good start.”

With James Reimer injured, Kapo Karkonnen started in goal for San Jose, and the Finn made 28 saves for the shutout.

phickey@postmedia.com

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