Carey Price was his best self as the Montreal Canadiens stole game one from the Maple Leafs in Toronto on Thursday night. Saturday night desperation entered the mix for the Leafs, who could not afford to go down two in the series. They played desperate, dominating the contest and winning 5-1 to even the series before heading to Montreal for game three.
Wilde Horses
Not a lot to like for Montreal Canadiens fans in this one. It was a dominating performance for the Maple Leafs. The shot count of 34 to 23 told an honest story of game two. Probably the best Canadiens player was Jesperi Kotkaniemi.
He got the only goal for the Habs on the night on a terrific play that he started and finished. The Leafs had possession and it was Kotkaniemi’s hit and hurry that caused the turnover. The weak clearing attempt led to Montreal regaining possession. Kotkaniemi then went hard to the net where he created traffic in front of the net, then found the loose puck to put the Canadiens in front.
After that, there really weren’t any Canadiens that stood out. They created very little and defended most of the evening. You could throw a bouquet to Carey Price for keeping it close, because it could have been an embarrassing scoreline if not for the Canadiens goaltender. Funny sentence to say when the margin was four, but it was that kind of night.
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Wilde Goats
The Canadiens power play has been horrific for a good long time after a brief strong start under Alexander Burrows. It’s been even worse since the return of Shea Weber as the players on the ice can not get out of the habit of predictably looking to him all of the time.
The blueprint for Montreal’s success was right in front of them in game two. It was supplied by the Maple Leafs. Toronto had four straight looks in the second period and it was a shooting gallery at Carey Price. The set-up is simple, and the Canadiens have the player who can be their Auston Matthews. The best sniper in hockey was firing from the right off-wall as he is a left-handed shot.
The Canadiens could do exactly the same thing with their best shooter as well. They will, however, need to put him in the line-up to have any chance to execute this. Watching Cole Caufield at Wisconsin for two years, it was easy to see a lot of terrific power play shots from him as he scored just shy of a goal-per-game for an entire college hockey season.
Caufield is a right-handed shot, so put him on the left side where he can get the best look at the net angle-wise. Caufield from 20 feet as a set-up is much better than Weber from 50 feet. If you’re going to get in a habit and focus entirely on one play, why not make your favourite option the kid from 20 feet who can find the top corner as well as any shooter in hockey.
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One of Marc Bergevin’s favourite quotes is, “some players get you to the playoffs and some players get you through the playoffs.” Based on the body of work of Tomas Tatar in the playoffs, he seems to be a great regular season player. Tatar has been on the Canadiens best line for the last three years. In fact, it’s one of the best lines in the entire league. However, in the post-season, one member of the line is gone for good, and you might want to think a bit about another member, Philip Danault, as well.
Danault on the Auston Matthews rebound goal simply did not give it enough hustle and he lost his check. You can’t take two seconds off when Matthews is driving to the net, or he’s going to burn you. You have the assignment of the great Matthews and you have to take it seriously.
However, in Danault’s defence, that’s just one mistake. It’s a pretty big mistake, but a mistake is not your body of work. Where Tatar is concerned, the entire body of work is not good. He’s not hard on the puck. He can’t win battles at this heightened energy level. He isn’t engaged enough.
It’s not the first time either. Tatar was a throw-in in the Nick Suzuki for Max Pacioretty trade because he was so bad in the playoffs for Vegas that he didn’t even play most games on their long run towards the Stanley Cup final. When you are a healthy scratch in the playoffs, that’s not a good precedent.
It’s early here at only two games played, so this may be premature, but if Tatar doesn’t show up soon, it’s hard to imagine the memory of this will entice GM Marc Bergevin to offer a lot to keep him on the roster with an attractive unrestricted free agent offer. It’s early, but the sample is poor.
Wilde Cards
John Tavares is gone for the first round of the playoffs. Maple Leafs GM Kyle Dubas gave an update Saturday morning saying Tavares is out a minimum two weeks with a knee injury.
Dubas also indicated that Tavares suffered a concussion. That aspect of the assessment does not have a timeline. Dubas, putting life before hockey, indicated a return from a concussion can’t be known, saying, “He has a young family. We have an onus to protect him in that regard.”
Class like this is extremely refreshing from a league whose general managers who only three years ago were still saying, “He just got his bell rung, so he’ll be fine”.
Additionally, Tavares has been cleared of all structural damage to his head, neck and spine.
Dubas also said the Toronto Sun’s cover of Tavares crossed the line and was ‘disgusting.’ Without putting too much more light on what should remain in the dark, the cover showed Tavares in neurological distress while using a callous and uncaring caption.
In moments like this, people reveal themselves. Dubas, once again, a man of grace and honour; the newspaper industry, not so much.
Brian Wilde, a Montreal-based sports writer, brings you Call of the Wilde on globalnews.ca after each Canadiens game.
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