Post-Game Talk: Lost to Punchable Faces — we’ll get them next time!

[dcyhabs]

I don't see the point of Xhekaj staying in the minors, he went there, produced offense, cut his penalty minutes down and helped to turn around a floundering team. They have gotten better goaltending which is also a big factor but his leadership and ability have been huge. If he comes back and falls out of favor with MSL we should trade him because I would rather see him go elsewhere instead of becoming a neutered version of what he was.

It's not so much neutered as getting some longevity. Most players who fight a lot have a good year or two and then either fight a lot less or become less effective. Xhekaj already injured himself in a fight, it may not be something he can continue to do long term.

 

[dcyhabs]

It's a convenient excuse, unwarranted,but convenient.

Most teams lose the second of back to back. They are great athletes but they leave it all on the ice and need some recovery time. The habs do worse than most, though, and it appears to be a long term thing, across player and coach turnover.

It could be that other teams are good enough to win without giving 100% so they can save more energy for the next game. The habs haven't had a team that could coast to wins in a long time.

 

[OldCraig71]

It's not so much neutered as getting some longevity. Most players who fight a lot have a good year or two and then either fight a lot less or become less effective. Xhekaj already injured himself in a fight, it may not be something he can continue to do long term.

Very true but part of what drives his engine is the ability to be a mean player out there and no, I don't want him injured either, I want him to have a long NHL career. The reports of Mailloux playing good hockey while partnered with AX is encouraging and part of the motivation in sending him there might be to develop chemistry between them for future benefit. It's games where we get pushed around that he is missed and as others have said, he isn't just a goon but a good hockey player.

 

[Apoplectic Habs Fan]

Awful game . Just throw it out

TIme to give Barron an AHL reset imo. Let him regain confidence until trade deadline, make some defense trades and hope he is more equipped to play. Guy is the definition of deer in headlights

 

[rik schau]

No facepalm from Marty but this said it all.

That's the '' what the f*** am I doing here? '' face .lol

 

[Naslundforever]

That's the '' what the f*** am I doing here? '' face .lol

I wonder how often he just feels like lacing them and asking one of the kids to hold his beer.

 

[rik schau]

It was a good game until Monahan hit the post and the rebound hopped over Slafkovský's blade, who had a wide open net, and then the puck bounced to the Sens who took it down the ice for Tkachuk to open the scoring.

So like the first 8 mins of the first?

IF Montreal scored first,might have been a different outcome.

 

[IndigoJeans]

Is this was the team who had a coach who looked like a walrus back in 2016? My band had a song with 'walrus' ya know, It goes like Goo-Goo-Goo Joob !

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

Losing all our back to backs is all we tankers have left and some of you want to take that away from us , incredible.

 

[WeThreeKings]

I don't see the point of Xhekaj staying in the minors, he went there, produced offense, cut his penalty minutes down and helped to turn around a floundering team. They have gotten better goaltending which is also a big factor but his leadership and ability have been huge. If he comes back and falls out of favor with MSL we should trade him because I would rather see him go elsewhere instead of becoming a neutered version of what he was.

Well there's a couple points.

• Guhle is playing RD right now because you have Matheson on the left and you have Struble on the left.
• Harris requires waivers and is playing well.
• Struble doesn't deserve a demotion.
• Xhekaj is doing well down there and that is helping Laval win. That is great for both Xhekaj but also all the prospects in Laval.
• Xhekaj being down there is helping Mailloux develop. Barron can't do that as he is also a right shot defenseman.
• There's no rush to put our 'best' line-up in the NHL to try to squeak out points if it means not being the best for the development of all the prospects in the organization.

 

[The Real Timo]

It's a convenient excuse, unwarranted,but convenient.

But... I thought Nos Excuses.

 

[The Real Timo]

Holy F! Did MSL really pull a goalie with score being 5-1?

Tell me that didn't happen.

 

[rik schau]

Losing all our back to backs is all we tankers have left and some of you want to take that away from us , incredible.

I've got more bad news for you,your wife just filed for divorce proceedings. lol

 

[Habssince89]

sucks to lose to the sense but honestly they do not matter. That franchise will just continue to fail a la buffalo or edm pre-mcdavid while the habs actually have a bright future ahead of us. Stutzle thought he had a clever line, too bad habs fans make up the entirety of the arena in ottawa lmao.

 

[Runner77]

sucks to lose to the sense but honestly they do not matter. That franchise will just continue to fail a la buffalo or edm pre-mcdavid while the habs actually have a bright future ahead of us. Stutzle thought he had a clever line, too bad habs fans make up the entirety of the arena in ottawa lmao.

The Sens are still the product of prior ownership failings. I wouldn’t discount what Andlauer might do just yet. However, they are an unkikeable bunch and it’s been the case for years, which makes for entertaining confrontations.

 

[dcyhabs]

Holy F! Did MSL really pull a goalie with score being 5-1?

Tell me that didn't happen.

Not for very long, they were scored on pretty quickly after that. No surprise based on the flow of play to that point. I expect it was more a motivational exercise than a tactic.

 

[teamfirst]

Not for very long, they were scored on pretty quickly after that. No surprise based on the flow of play to that point. I expect it was more a motivational exercise than a tactic.

Motivational exercise would have been to play your best goalie and try to get to 2 pts of a playoff spot, but hey what do i know

 

[hvac412]

It's not so much neutered as getting some longevity. Most players who fight a lot have a good year or two and then either fight a lot less or become less effective. Xhekaj already injured himself in a fight, it may not be something he can continue to do long term.

As long as he doesn’t try to punch the guy into the next universe which is how he injured himself last year he’ll be fine,Laval was probably the best thing for his development.

 

[dcyhabs]

Motivational exercise would have been to play your best goalie and try to get to 2 pts of a playoff spot, but hey what do i know

At 5-2 with a few minutes left in a game they didn't how any chance of winning after the first period I doubt that was a real option. They had some scoring chances in this one but they were never really in it, and they were very much down and out in the third.

 

[OldCraig71]

Well there's a couple points.

• Guhle is playing RD right now because you have Matheson on the left and you have Struble on the left.
• Harris requires waivers and is playing well.
• Struble doesn't deserve a demotion.
• Xhekaj is doing well down there and that is helping Laval win. That is great for both Xhekaj but also all the prospects in Laval.
• Xhekaj being down there is helping Mailloux develop. Barron can't do that as he is also a right shot defenseman.
• There's no rush to put our 'best' line-up in the NHL to try to squeak out points if it means not being the best for the development of all the prospects in the organization.

Maybe they like Struble more than Arber and although he is doing well right now it's hard to think he had the same effect on the Rocket that Arber is having. He had 6 points in twelve games on a team that was underperforming at the beginning of the season, hardly grounds for a call-up to Montreal. Arber gets sent on a conditioning stint and is still there so were we told the truth or was there some credibility to the rumor that AX had fallen out of favor with St Louis?

 

[WeThreeKings]

Maybe they like Struble more than Arber and although he is doing well right now it's hard to think he had the same effect on the Rocket that Arber is having. He had 6 points in twelve games on a team that was underperforming at the beginning of the season, hardly grounds for a call-up to Montreal. Arber gets sent on a conditioning stint and is still there so were we told the truth or was there some credibility to the rumor that AX had fallen out of favor with St Louis?

Sounds like we were told the truth because Xhekaj talked about what the team had him focusing on when they sent him down and we have Houle corroborating that.

The message seems pretty consistent.

 

[teamfirst]

At 5-2 with a few minutes left in a game they didn't how any chance of winning after the first period I doubt that was a real option. They had some scoring chances in this one but they were never really in it, and they were very much down and out in the third.

Lol. i meant starting your number one, i saw the game i know they played real bad but who knows what happen if you go out of the first tied .....how the rest of the game goes, it's not a knock on Primeau more a total uncomprehension of the decision to not go with your best goalie for such an important game.

Or at least go with Allen who just played an outstanding game agains Colorado

 

[morhilane]

Holy F! Did MSL really pull a goalie with score being 5-1?

Tell me that didn't happen.

Only time MLS can get his 6v5 to get some real practice time since the habs defensive version of that is very bad. I think the Avs game was the only time they didn't get scored on actually.

 

[OldCraig71]

Sounds like we were told the truth because Xhekaj talked about what the team had him focusing on when they sent him down and we have Houle corroborating that.

The message seems pretty consistent.

So now that he has learned from his mistakes does he stay there for the rest of the season and Struble gets to stay here? I mean injuries happen all the time and he might get recalled because of it but as of right now there isn't anything to suggest that he is coming back.

 

[Runner77]

Maybe they like Struble more than Arber and although he is doing well right now it's hard to think he had the same effect on the Rocket that Arber is having. He had 6 points in twelve games on a team that was underperforming at the beginning of the season, hardly grounds for a call-up to Montreal. Arber gets sent on a conditioning stint and is still there so were we told the truth or was there some credibility to the rumor that AX had fallen out of favor with St Louis?

I thought Arber was sent down to work on improving his play in the defensive zone and to work on taking less penalties. It’s unfortunate that the timing of his demotion coincided with his activation from IR but at no time was this ever announced as a conditioning stint unless I missed it.

I never had an issue with having Arber work on his game in Laval, in fact, they should have done it sooner. I just found it odd how they sent him down immediately after being activated from IR, I thought it sent a mixed message. But, we’re way past that now.