The San Jose Sharks came to Montreal as the NHL’s best shorthanded team.
The Canadian has tasted their medicine.
Matt Nieto scored early in the first period, then the Canadiens were held in check in six chances on the power play, en route to a 4-0 loss on Tuesday night at the Bell Centre.
After a certain revival in terms of its productivity, the power play of the Canadian generated only one goal in 17 opportunities in its last four games.
“There are different types of shorthandedness. In general, we are more and more organized against a certain type of unit, underlined the head coach of the Canadian, Martin St-Louis. We cannot attack from the same place against certain teams. »
“Tonight, it was not working. Is it because of us? Is it because of them? I do not know. We’ll see when we review the game. »
The Canadian sometimes had difficulty countering the Sharks’ forecheck. And when he managed to settle in the opposing zone, Kaapo Kahkonen had all the answers.
The 26-year-old Finnish goaltender recorded his first shutout this season, his third career in the NHL.
Logan Couture had a goal and an assist, while Tomas Hertl hit the target twice for the Sharks (8-13-4), which snapped a three-game losing streak. Kevin Labanc had two assists.
Jake Allen stopped 20 shots in front of the net for the Canadian (11-10-1), who had won his two previous games.
Jordan Harris was back on the Canadian blue line patrol. Arber Xhekaj was left out.
The Canadiens will play their next four games in Western Canada and in Seattle. His first stop will be in Calgary on Thursday for a duel against the Flames.
CH in check
Nieto put the Sharks ahead in scoring after just 1:33 of play. He took advantage of a loose puck after Alexander Barabanov tried to outspeed Allen as he rounded the net.
St-Louis disputed the goal, believing Barabanov had beaten Couture and the puck into the zone. The game seemed very tight on the restart, but the goal was finally allowed.
“I knew we didn’t have a 100% chance of winning,” admitted St-Louis. It was close and I wanted to try to help our start to the game. »
Cole Caufield got the best scoring chance of the Canadian in the first period during a power play. Nick Suzuki gave him a great cross pass, but Kahkonen completed his side move in time and managed to make the save.
Brendan Gallagher also came close to scoring before the end of the first period, but he hit the crossbar on an overrun attack.
Christian Dvorak scored for the Habs 4:42 into the second period. However, the goal was immediately disallowed as the referee called a penalty against Evgenii Dadonov, who shoved defender Nick Cecik into his net. In his fall, Cecik had knocked Kahkonen off balance.
The Sharks then took four minor penalties in a row before the end of the second period. The Canadian was unable to take advantage of it.
Meanwhile at the other end of the rink, Barabanov beat Allen with less than five minutes to go, but his shot slammed into the post.
Even at five against three for 55 seconds to start the third period, the Canadian was unable to challenge Kahkonen.
The Sharks then increased their grip on the win with two goals within 75 seconds.
Hertl first scored at 2:29 by deflecting a Labanc snap into the top of the net. Couture then foiled Allen between the pads on a breakaway.
True to form, the Canadian did not give up. Even the fourth line generated good chances, but neither Michael Pezzetta nor Juraj Slafkovsky managed to find the back of the net.
Hertl added an empty-netter with 2:14 to go.
Locker Room Echoes
Sean Monahan believes that it is justified to point the finger at the numerical advantage to explain the defeat of the Canadian.
“Absolutely, I would blame the power play. We got several chances at crucial moments in the game. In this context, you have to manage to execute the plays or at least send the puck to the net to provoke something. »
Nick Suzuki praised the Sharks’ work in 5-on-5 defensive territory.
“I think we still had the puck five on five. On the other hand, they did a good job of staying in the center of their zone and blocking shots. They forced us to stay on the periphery and deprived us of quality opportunities. »
Mike Matheson came to the defense of Jake Allen, who gave in early in the game.
“It’s never easy for the team, but it’s not the fault of any one individual. He (Allen) is a pro. We know how strong he is for us. »