(Montreal) As Martin St-Louis likes to say on occasion, one could say that he was not a Picasso.
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In fact, it looked much more like a Muriel Millard, from her sad faces period. Because indeed, this evening was rather sad, from one end to the other with lengths in between, and in the end, it was the Carolina Hurricanes who left the Bell Center with a victory of 3-0.
No, we did not have a classic before our eyes, and if in 10 years, you are asked to list the best moments of this match of March 30, 2024, you will have a hard time doing it.
Often, the Canadian has been able to stand up to the best this season, but there are also nights where the Canadian has looked like what he is, that is to say on 27e club in the general classification of the National League.
It was one of those evenings.
PHOTO MARTIN CHAMBERLAND, THE PRESS
Jake Evans tries to control the puck.
“We played a good match, we just didn’t score,” Juraj Slafkovsky said. I think we’re going in the right direction, but games like that will happen. You can’t win by not scoring. We missed so many chances, me first…”
The Hurricanes are not where they are by chance, and against a team of this quality, the rare chances offered must go into the back of the net, otherwise it could be a long evening.
That’s probably a bit of what happened.
“We worked well, the effort was there,” explained Samuel Montembeault, who made 27 saves. They scored two goals on special teams, and I think we also played well five on five. We had chances in the second, and [Pyotr] Kochetkov made some good saves for them. They’re so good at playing with a lead, they had a little lead and in the third they didn’t give us anything. »
PHOTO MARTIN CHAMBERLAND, THE PRESS
Juraj Slafkovsky and Brent Burns
After three victories in a row, it was probably a bit too much to ask for a fourth. This Canadian is still taking small steps, like a child learning to walk, and between the 27e place in the general classification and 3eposition of the Hurricanes at the time of writing this, there is still a world of difference.
We didn’t take advantage of our opportunities during the second period. In the third period, they scored, and they made it 2-0. It’s very difficult to make up ground against this team, but we continued to fight.
Martin St-Louis
In the end, the Hurricanes scored a third goal at the end, into an empty net, but we must not forget that the visiting team fired four shots at the Montreal goal posts, a small reminder that the final score would have could have been a little more annoying for the locals.
Whether one is from the school of Picasso or the more niche school of Muriel Millard, the Canadian remains a bit like those unfinished paintings on which painters can work: a work in progress.
That, sometimes, can take time.
Rising
Juraj Slafkovsky
He didn’t score, like all his teammates, but his six shots represent a high among players on both teams.
Falling
Nick Suzuki
One of the very few difficult evenings for the captain this season.
The number
3
The Canadian suffered his third shutout of the season.
In details
An evening without Guhle
We already knew that the Canadian was going to have to spend this Saturday evening without Kaiden Guhle, because the defenseman was serving a one-game suspension for having darted Philadelphia Flyers forward Travis Konecny from his bench during the game in Thursday at the Bell Center. What we perhaps didn’t know is that this absence was going to shake up the Canadian’s training a little. Thus, Johnathan Kovacevic was brought back into the picture for this game against the Carolina Hurricanes, and he found himself on the third defensive pairing, along with Jayden Struble. Jordan Harris got a promotion and found himself on the Canadiens’ first pairing, along with Mike Matheson, and it was a little difficult at times for both players; Matheson went down, setting up Jordan Staal for the first goal of the visit, and Harris took a costly penalty early in the third period, leading to the Hurricanes’ second goal.
Aho uncompromising against his former club
PHOTO ERIC BOLTE, USA TODAY SPORTS
Sebastian Aho
Obviously, Sebastian Aho has very bad memories of the three or four minutes he had to spend as a member of the Montreal Canadiens. We don’t really know if it’s out of revenge, but obviously the striker likes playing against his former club, and he took advantage of Saturday night’s match to add to it. Thus, by scoring the visitors’ second goal during a power play in the third period, and adding an assist on the last goal in an empty net, Aho found himself with a record of 10 goals and 13 assists for a total of 23 points in 20 career games against the Canadian. It’s not nothing.
Kotkaniemi very quiet
PHOTO MARTIN CHAMBERLAND, THE PRESS
Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Rafael Harvey-Pinard
It’s always good to hear from Jesperi Kotkaniemi when the Carolina Hurricanes are in town, and let’s face it, the news isn’t very good. This former third overall pick has become a supporting player, and he started Saturday night’s game at the Bell Center hidden on the left wing of the fourth line. Aside from a few boos towards him during the third period, Kotkaniemi was not very visible, and his detractors will say that he is not often, having collected 25 points in 75 games this season. At $4.82 million per season, you could say that’s an expensive point, but hey, it’s not our money.