SAINT PAUL | Wins are so hard to come by in the NHL that you can’t miss opportunities when they present themselves.
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Thursday evening, in this 4-3 loss suffered in overtime at the Xcel Energy Center, the Habs fought very well. But he came up short specifically due to his lack of opportunism.
Starting with this four-minute power play that Mike Matheson partly ruined by receiving a penalty for obstructing.
This is not the first time that officials have come close to cracking down on Martin St-Louis’ men during the carefully planned zone entry so that one of them creates an obstruction, apparently involuntary, at the enemy blue line.
At the same time, almost every team does it. But on Thursday, a zebra decided to raise its arm at a very bad time for the Canadian. It must be said that it was an evening when the referees were light-handed.
“Both teams have been at the call center which they didn’t like. The referees called a lot of penalties that normally occur,” noted David Savard.
For its part, the Wild took advantage of two of the six numerical superiorities offered to it by the Canadian. In the end, that’s what made the difference.
A quiet time
Montreal was also unable to take advantage of the fact that the Wild had to make do with 10 attackers for 17 minutes. The Wild, who started the match with 11, were reduced by another when Marco Rossi was sent off for instigating a volley that he ate from Kaiden Guhle.
In their defense, it must be said that the Montrealers still buzzed around Filip Gustavsson’s net during this portion of the game.
It was very different from what Martin St-Louis’ troops had demonstrated in the first period, when they retreated to the locker room after taking only three shots on goal.
That said, sometimes we have to be careful with what the scorecards show us.
“Our first period was not extraordinary,” admitted the Canadian coach. It’s a bit our fault. We did not maximize the time we spent in the offensive zone. They blocked a lot of shots. »
No Fleury in front of goal
Speaking of a missed opportunity. John Hynes missed another great one. Colleague Renaud Lavoie addressed this earlier this week, writing that the Wild coach erred by sending Filip Gustavsson in net in Pittsburgh.
All in the name of the pre-established plan. Pierre Gauthier once said: “French can be learned. » I say: “A plan changes. »
Moreover, if Hynes had deviated from his plan and swapped the starts of Gustavsson and Fleury, against the Penguins and Boston, Fleury would have been available last night to face the Canadian… possibly one last time.
Wouldn’t that have been beautiful?
The beginnings of Emil Heineman
Recalled on December 13, Emil Heineman played his first NHL game. Due to the numerous penalties awarded during the match, the Swede touched the playing surface for barely 5:56.
That will be one less pair of skates for Patrick Langlois to sharpen in preparation for Friday’s game in Chicago.