Post-Game Talk: Habs lose again to the Jets

[WeThreeKings]

Timmins, Timmins, Timmins, Timmins, Timmins, Timmins

You know Bergevin has had the power to fire his Head Scout for his entire tenure?

He is happy with the results, so you can spam Timmins' name all you want but he's the one making the calls.

 

[Whitesnake]

It doesn't even matter.. even with Danault, it's almost a 50/50 proposition.. so you don't even have good odds of winning possession, and what if you have it? Danault and Armia have the puck.. it's gonna end up back with the other team almost immediately.

Not talking exclusively about yesterday. Those 2 kids needs better faceoffs numbers. Name top 6 C's with faceoffs numbers below 45%. There is Backstrom. Malkin. But the problem with us is that we have 2 guys that are below 45%. Nobody else has that. They have to work on it. You want to be less dependant on an inept offensive players like Danault? Work on what you think is now his only strength.

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

Timmins, Timmins, Timmins, Timmins, Timmins, Timmins

Let's start with the man in charge

 

[Habs]

I thought it was a good game by most, except Jeff Putrid. Tons of shots, Allen was good.. great effort. Credit when it is due, if they play like last night they will win more than lose.

 

[ArtPeur]

I’ve said it a few times but without this board I wouldn’t be watching the Habs. Coming to this board is my entertainment. Normally I put the game as background noise.

I don't even put the game as background noise, that's how low the Habs have fallen for me in recent years. I'll watch other stuff on TV.. then on commercial breaks, I'll go and take a look at the score. Last game I watched fully was probably in 2019 because I was in a bar

 

[The Real Timo]

You put Danault simply to win faceoffs? How in the f***ing world do they NOT practice Suzuki and Kotkaniemi faceoffs, EVERY f***ING DAY OF THE WEEK??? Why don't they hire a faceoff specialist? Bring Carbonneau for that. Bring whoever. DO SOMETHING!!!!!

... And Danno promptly loses that faceoff... so... what do we conclude from this?

 

[The Real Timo]

Not talking exclusively about yesterday. Those 2 kids needs better faceoffs numbers. Name top 6 C's with faceoffs numbers below 45%. There is Backstrom. Malkin. But the problem with us is that we have 2 guys that are below 45%. Nobody else has that. They have to work on it. You want to be less dependant on an inept offensive players like Danault? Work on what you think is now his only strength.

Those 2 kids cannot be the 2 centers Habs rely on. They are too young. And lack support at every level. So basically, Habs are back where they used to be for the past 25 years. The don't have a true #1 center. (except for Danno, of course)

 

[The Real Timo]

I thought it was a good game by most, except Jeff Putrid. Tons of shots, Allen was good.. great effort. Credit when it is due, if they play like last night they will win more than lose.

The thing with Petry is that he has always been like that. Just like the rest of this team, he was great at the start of the season and this very board was screaming that Weber needs to go because we have our #1 in Petry. Well, every single year Petry has series of games where he looks like Paul Coffey and then a series of games where he looks like... well... pick you favorite Habs whipping boy dman. I think we are just seeing the regular Petry that he always is. He is a solid #2 or #3. Nothing more nothing less.

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

... And Danno promptly loses that faceoff... so... what do we conclude from this?

That there's a meager 10-15% more chance to win the faceoff with Dano and it's a bad excuse/mentality to prioritize a player who will be 90% worst at holding play at 3vs3 just because there's an additional 10% chance he'll win the faceoff (only to lose possession shortly after).

 

[The Real Timo]

I don't even put the game as background noise, that's how low the Habs have fallen for me in recent years. I'll watch other stuff on TV.. then on commercial breaks, I'll go and take a look at the score. Last game I watched fully was probably in 2019 because I was in a bar

I still cling to the hope that Habs will provide some entertainment... but like mentioned before... I am sick and need help.

 

[CHfan1]

Team had a really strong 3rd. I thought KK had a solid game. Need someone better than Lehkonen on his wing though.

Overall, a much better effort especially on D.

The team's defense actually kills possession in the offensive zone with all their useless shots. Instead they need to pass it down to a forward, and try to work for a better scoring opportunity.

Seriously, forward steals the puck, passes it to trailer, trailer to D, D shoots with no one in front -- faceoff, end of possession. Repeat infinity on PP, with the added benefit of Montreal clearing Jets zone on behalf of Winnipeg.

Losing 3 on 3 is no shock. Interesting thing is Jets had 3 FORWARDS on: Ehlers, Connor and Stastny.

I was about to say Montreal should start KK, Suzuki and Romanov when Jets scored.

Oh well, this was a shit road trip. Calgary with a win over Sens on Monday will pass us in the standings and we'll be out of a playoff spot.

Scheifele was on the Ray and Dregs podcast this week and they talked about the Jets going with 3 forwards in OT this season. He said they’ve done it a few times, it’s a possession game in OT, and players are roaming everywhere so having a d-man out there isn’t as important. Obviously these
results show he’s right. It’s a smart way of coaching and something the Habs should do since they are limited with mobile D.

 

[Le Barron de HF]

There was an article analyzing all the 3 on 3 games since its introduction on The Athletic and first possession (winning FO) hardly means anything in terms of success. Danault shouldn't be in our top 3 forward duos for OT.

 

[OldCraig71]

This is still a bad hockey team but I won't lose any sleep because of it.

 

[Habs]

The thing with Petry is that he has always been like that. Just like the rest of this team, he was great at the start of the season and this very board was screaming that Weber needs to go because we have our #1 in Petry. Well, every single year Petry has series of games where he looks like Paul Coffey and then a series of games where he looks like... well... pick you favorite Habs whipping boy dman. I think we are just seeing the regular Petry that he always is. He is a solid #2 or #3. Nothing more nothing less.

Petry is a #2 on any team. DID YOU KNOW HIS DAD PLAYED BASEBALL PROFESSIONALLY?

 

[WeThreeKings]

Not talking exclusively about yesterday. Those 2 kids needs better faceoffs numbers. Name top 6 C's with faceoffs numbers below 45%. There is Backstrom. Malkin. But the problem with us is that we have 2 guys that are below 45%. Nobody else has that. They have to work on it. You want to be less dependant on an inept offensive players like Danault? Work on what you think is now his only strength.

I have no problem if the coach is confident more in Danault or someone else to take a key defensive draw late..

but winning the first face-off of a 3-on-3 overtime, in the neutral zone, is completely fruitless.. even if Danault wins it, the guys with the puck are going to turn it over very quickly because they have no ability to attack.

The outcome is the same, the Jets with 3 forwards will have the puck on offense.. and that predictable outcome was a loss.

 

[Mrb1p]

This is still a bad hockey team but I won't lose any sleep because of it.

How would you know

 

[Habs]

This is still a bad hockey team.

Its just still too small up front. This tight schedule will favor bigger teams, I don't think the Leafs will fare well down the stretch either. They should get Mantha, and Sam Bennett, get rid of Tatar, Byron, Leks and Kotkaniemi while he has value. Need a real #1 Center, maybe Buffalo is ready to send someone packing.

If we don't start winning the draws, we are doomed anyways.

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

This is still a bad hockey team but I won't lose any sleep because of it.

As if that was possible

 

[Gustave]

Hopefully March will be better for the Habs than February was.

In February, they played 12 games and went 4-5-3, picking up 11 pts of a possible 24.

At some point the whole organisation will have to realise that winning OT’s and SO matter.

Maybe practice or come up with a plan, anything different from the last 3 years.

 

[OldCraig71]

How would you know

I know.

 

[OldCraig71]

As if that was possible

Ba dum tiss!

 

[Ozmodiar]

This is still a bad hockey team but I won't lose any sleep because of it.

lol

 

[LaP]

Scheifele was on the Ray and Dregs podcast this week and they talked about the Jets going with 3 forwards in OT this season. He said they’ve done it a few times, it’s a possession game in OT, and players are roaming everywhere so having a d-man out there isn’t as important. Obviously these
results show he’s right. It’s a smart way of coaching and something the Habs should do since they are limited with mobile D.

The only dman we have that you can justify icing in OT is Petry.

 

[superstar436]

Let's start with the man in charge

I am afraid the next gm keeps him just like the 2 others did. So bergie firing him first then getting fired

 

[LaP]

Alright so full disclosure, I didn't watch the entire game, stopped after the 2nd.

Here are some observations:
- I liked Romanov's game, he was more patient with the puck before taking his shots and he utilized his skating to get into a better position instead of shooting in a standing still position.
- I also liked KK's game, it was simple but in terms of overall impact it was similar as to what we saw in his rookie season.
- Petry seems to be more into 17-18 form where he was doing too much and had multiple brainfarts a game than what we've seen in last 2 seasons. Petry hasn't been good in the recent rough stretch and I think that speaks a lot of how much the team revolves around him with our lack of PMD. He's been making 1 brutal mistake a game that either causes a direct goal or some good scoring chances.
- Drouin had a pretty subpar game, I've come to accept what type of player he is but he's playing like the Drouin of old in the last few games. I think he's trying to do too much and needs to go back to way he used to play.
- I think it's time to try out Suzuki on the left wall instead of the right wall. Would open up more plays (kind of like that tap in goal he set up for Toffoli at start of the year). and make his shot more of a threat which we haven't really seen at the NHL level so far.
- Here are line-up changes I'd like to see:
Drouin - KK - Gallagher
Toffoli - Suzuki - Anderson
Tatar - Danault - Armia
Lehkonen - Byron - Perry

I'd like to see changes on D, promote Romanov on either top 4 pair.


Team didn't play bad from what I saw and it was more competitive than prior games but they still need to improve on way they create offense. There were maybe 3-4 actual good scoring chances but a lot of perimeter shots like we've seen for quite some games now. Another disturbing trend is the SOG by our team. We outshoot a lot of teams but if you take a look at who the leaders are on the team, we have 4 Ds on our top 8 leaders. If we were SJ, it wouldn't be too much of an issue but Chiarot and Romanov are not the same threat as guys like Tatar or Suzuki who haven't been shooting much. In his first 2 seasons with MTL, Tatar averaged 2.4 SOG/game, right now it's 1.8. For one of our more proven scorers, that's a problem. Suzuki is shooting about the same but with his shot, it should be higher than 1.8 on avg a game. KK is at 1.7 SOG on avg. Drouin is at 1.4 SOG avg which is well below the 2 he's averaged in his time with MTL. Same story for Armia at 1.7 SOG. We had a thread earlier this year about how many 15 goal scorers we might have, well that was one of issues that was brought up is that there's only 1 puck and that some guys will see a regression in terms of shot attempts, we're seeing that right now but it's also either a personnel problem if coaches are saying to utilize the point or a player problem if they don't adapt and read what's in front of them instead of going for the defacto play.

When the opposition is defending and they know that X player is unlikely to take the shot and will most likely set it up at the point, it makes it easier to defend and box out players so they take shots from the perimeter. There is some merit to taking shots from the point but this can't be our only strategy especially with the make up of our D. Otherwise these are hope plays that rely on mostly luck. Another problem has been the lack of shooting/scoring from our centers. It makes it even easier to defend since those guys have a big influence on how things will play out in the offensive zone.

Drouin was awful. Slow on his skate. Shots from bad angles. No creativity. He'll be 26 soon people have to accept he's a 2nd line winger and honestly not really a dominant one.