MONTREAL | The final score did not illustrate this match. The Hurricanes won 3-0 against the Canadian. But to get a better indication of the dominance of Rod Brind’Amour’s men, we need to look at two other stats.
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The “Canes” dominated the CH 50 to 14 in terms of shots on goal. For attempted shots, it’s just as dizzying at 83-25.
“Yes, the shots are a reflection of this meeting, whispered captain Nick Suzuki. They take several shots with their defenders, but we didn’t block enough shots. We knew they would use this strategy, but we had no answers. We didn’t have a good execution.”
“It was clearly one of our worst games in a long time,” continued Suzuki. It’s quite frustrating.”
With 15 shots, defensemen Brent Burns (8) and Brett Pesce (7) had more shots than any Habs player.
At this 77e game of the season, the Habs scored two sad marks: shots allowed (50) and shots on the opposing net (14).
“We had no space on the ice and we almost felt like there were six players on the ice,” said goaltender Samuel Montembeault. The Hurricanes are a well-oiled team and they played a very good game.
Only one positive aspect
In a press conference, Martin St-Louis was a man of few words. If he recognized that the duel remained unequal on paper, he did not seek to find positive where there was none.
“We weren’t there tonight,” said the head coach.
When asked to describe the shooting disparity, St. Louis offered a simple answer.
“I was happy for Montembeault with the choice of the third star.”
In the eyes of the coach, there was only one thing to remember from this match: “Montembeault”.
The masked Habs man ended his night with 47 saves.
“The numbers speak for themselves, we weren’t in the game,” defender Jordan Harris said. The Hurricanes have a good team and they proved it once again by beating us easily. Luckily Monty was there to limit the damage.”
Savard: season over
To add another negative layer to this evening, the CH lost another important soldier.
After the match, the team confirmed the absence of defender David Savard for the remainder of the season with a right knee injury.
If the Canadian has found a way to fight with dignity despite a multitude of injuries, there is now less and less gas in the tank of this team. There are still several players in the infirmary with Cole Caufield, Kirby Dach, Josh Anderson, Sean Monahan, Kaiden Guhle, Arber Xhekaj, Juraj Slafkovsky and Christian Dvorak.
What we notice
Harvey-Pinard absent
Winner of the Molson Cup for the month of March, Rafaël Harvey-Pinard received his trophy in a jacket and tie instead of his CH uniform. For the first time since being recalled from the Laval Rocket on January 17, number 49 has withdrawn due to a minor injury. Martin St-Louis said his winger needed a day off to take care of injuries.
Take out the abacus
Martin St-Louis often racks his brains to concoct his training. With the many injuries, the head coach has no choice but to opt for experiments. For the visit of the Hurricanes, Nick Suzuki skated in the center of the first line with Jonathan Drouin and Jesse Ylönen. Alex Belzile found himself at the center of the second line with Sean Farrell and Mike Hoffman, while Jake Evans had Michael Pezzetta and Brendan Gallagher on his wings. For the fourth line, Rem Pitlick was in the center of Denis Gurianov and Joel Armia.
The tireless Brent Burns
“A unique character, but an incredible leader.” That’s how Jordan Staal described Brent Burns after the Hurricanes’ morning practice. Despite his 38 years, the man with the big beard has absolutely not slowed down. In his first season in Raleigh, he led his team’s defensemen with 56 points (14 goals, 42 assists) in 75 games. He obtained an assist against CH on his team’s second goal, that of Paul Stastny.
most
Samuel Montembeault
There is only one possible choice in the CH camp. Montembeault had another good outing with a .940 save percentage. He made one of his finest saves when he pulled out the mitt on a shot from Jaccob Slavin, when he had just lost his stick by blocking a strike from Brent Burns.
The least
The 18 players
There are team victories, but also team setbacks. Against the “Canes”, the CH had no energy or desire to win.