A solar eclipse, a streak of four wins for the Canadian and a victory against the Hurricanes. Of these three rare phenomena, the April 8 eclipse is probably the only one we will see this season.
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We can already eliminate the victory against the Hurricanes from the events to be expected. Defeated by a score of 3 to 0, Saturday evening, the Habs suffered a ninth loss in a row against the team of Rod Brind’Amour. His last victory against this team dates back to February 29, 2020.
It’s been such a long time since the world was even paralyzed by the pandemic. Saturday’s setback therefore prevented Montreal from scoring four victories for the first time since the five successive victories in February 2022.
In the morning, Martin St-Louis expressed the hope that his troop would continue to get closer to the caliber of the Hurricanes. Wish that was granted.
“It’s the closest we’ve been to this team. We managed their pressure much better [que lors des deux confrontations précédentes], praised the Canadian head coach at the end of the meeting. We were much better organized. We were more balanced on the ice, more engaged in terms of anticipating the movement of the puck. »
Lack of opportunism
In doing so, despite the absence of Kaiden Guhle, who was serving his match suspension for darting Travis Konecny, on Thursday, the Habs gave nothing to the Hurricanes at even strength.
It was the special teams that made the difference. Jordan Staal opened the scoring shorthanded, then Sebastian Aho added to the score with a man advantage (the last was scored by Seth Jarvis into an empty net).
The Canadian even dominated 14 to 11 in shots on goal in the second period. A statistic worthy of mention considering that this engagement is the one during which the Hurricanes are the most productive. Which is the complete opposite of the Habs.
“We weren’t opportunistic with the scoring opportunities we got in the second half. And at 2 to 0, the Hurricanes are a difficult team to come back from,” argued St-Louis.
Koktaniemi in indifference
As part of his fourth visit to the Bell Center since accepting the hostile offer from the Hurricanes in September 2021, Jesperi Kotkaniemi went virtually unnoticed. Hidden on a fourth line, the Canadian’s first choice in 2018 no longer even plays at center. No usage time on the massive attack or, of course, shorthanded.
The Finn had an interesting start to the season. In his first 22 games of the campaign, he had 15 points. But, since December 1st, it has been practically dead calm. The 23-year-old forward was limited to 10 points in 52 games during this period.
And, as was the case on Saturday (11 mins 28 s), he plays barely more than 10 minutes per match. To think that the Hurricanes must pay him an average of $4.82 million per season until July 2030. That’s expensive right now.
Moreover, Kotkaniemi was not entitled to the traditional round of boos reserved for former CH players or a hated opponent. Radio silence every time he touched the puck. Until the middle of the third period when we felt that the fans were trying to vent their frustration in any way possible.
Being treated with silence and indifference is quite possibly the worst affront an athlete can endure. Worse than boos.