Habs News: NHL, Montreal Canadiens, Jeff Petry, Carey Price, Michael Frolik, Cole Caufield, Mattias Norlinder, Laval Rocket, Trois-Rivieres Lions
ROCKET SPORTS MEDIA | LAVAL, QC. — The Canadiens’ misery continued Saturday at the Bell Centre. It was an outstanding start to the match, that ended up in a painful loss. Through 20 minutes of play, Montreal had 2-0 lead, outshooting Vegas 20-1.
In the second period, Ben Chiarot took a delay of game penalty, and the Canadiens crumbled at that point. Vegas scored 10 seconds into the man advantage, and two more times before the end of the period, to take the lead through 40 minutes. The Golden Knights added two empty net goals in third period as they went on to win 5-2.
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“Until we got that penalty in the second period, we were in control and were getting chances. They took advantage of their chance on that play that deflected off Petry. That happens. They took advantage of their chances, and I think we deserved better,” Dominique Ducharme said.
When he met the reporters post-game, Ducharme was happy with the way his team played despite the loss. “Scoring chances were 23-7 for us tonight. I’d take that every night. I think that nine times out of 10, we’d get the win,” he said.
“We’ve had games where we deserved to give up 3-4 goals in a period. I wouldn’t put tonight in that category,” Brendan Gallagher said. “I can’t sit here and fault our effort or execution. Sometimes you’re going to play a good game, and you’re going to lose. We were alright tonight, but not good enough.”
“When you have a two-goal lead like that, good teams find a way to lock it down,” Nick Suzuki said. “You can see moments where our team is playing like we should, and we have to find a way to have that consistent effort.”
Believing
On Saturday Montreal set a franchise record 10th regulation loss in the opening 13 games of the season. It’s not the way that this group of players wants to be remembered. Frustration is showing.
Jeff Petry has shown his frustration when speaking to the media following losses. On Saturday, the defenceman was furious with his teammates during a slow line change that forced Petry to turn the puck over to Vegas.
Professional athletes are wired to win. Even though the Canadiens chances of clinching a playoff spot are virtually gone, the players will try to win every single time they step onto the ice.
“It’s not going to be easy. Nobody is going to feel sorry for us. They will be licking their chops coming in here, and try to keep us in this hole,” Gallagher said about the team’s playoff chances. “Short-term mindset. It’s possible. Have that belief in the locker room, and find a way to get better here, and find those solutions, and make those improvements that we need.”
Jake Allen feels that it takes the right mindset to turn things around. “We got to finish off this home stand on the right foot, before we go on to the road. Take a day [Sunday] to regroup, and refresh, and reenergize, and try to have the right mindset to come to the rink on Monday. I think that’s sometimes the hardest thing to do when you’re in situations like this,” said the goalie.
Price Returns
The players might get a boost of energy, as Carey Price joins the team at Brossard on Monday after completing a voluntary stay with the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program. Price will meet with the team’s athletic therapists to develop a comprehensive plan for his return to action. The Canadiens netminder will not make any public statements or talk to the media until tending physicians deem it appropriate. Once Price is ready to step into game action, he will increase the odds of his team winning matches.
Frolik Sour
In an interview published on TVA Sports on Friday, former Canadiens forward Michael Frolik had some harsh words for the organization. “The Canadiens ended my NHL career,” said the forward. Frolik currently plays for Lausanne HC in Switzerland.
Last season, Frolik played eight games with the Canadiens, and played twice for the Laval Rocket during a conditioning stint. He spent the rest of the time on the taxi squad.
“It was an extremely difficult year for me. In fact, I still don’t know why the Canadians signed me to a contract. When the club submitted their offer, I was told there would be a job waiting for me,” the forward said.
The 33-year old was aware that the team had a small margin against the cap, and wasn’t pleased when Corey Perry signed a contract five days later. Frolik found himself often at the coach’s office during the season, pleading his case to get an opportunity. He was told that he wasn’t playing because of the salary cap. The forward requested a trade, that never materialized.
Frolik joined the Blues on a professional tryout hoping to get another chance to play in the NHL this season, however he was cut from St. Louis’ roster before the start of the regular season.
“The [Canadiens] just never gave me a chance. Oh, they gave me eight games, on a fourth line in meaningless games. I can tell you that I am angry with the Canadiens. No one likes to be left out over and over again. The team ended my NHL career.”
Frolik has played 858 regular season games in the NHL, scoring 159 goals, and 384 points. In the playoffs, he scored seven goals, 19 points in 47 games, and won the Stanley Cup with the Blackhawks in 2012-13.
Rocket Lose a Pair
The Rocket were on the road for a pair of matches over the weekend. On Saturday, Laval was blanked 4-0 by Syracuse. “We started the first eight minutes of the game well, and then we took a penalty that cost us. I think we played a lot better in the second period, we put pressure on them, and got a lot of chances during our power plays, but we didn’t find the back of net,” coach Jean-Francois Houle said.
The Rocket headed to Utica on Sunday to face the Comets. The Devils’ AHL affiliate was playing their third game in three days. Utica took a 2-0 lead through 40 minutes, before Laval started threatening. Unfortunately, it was too late as the Comets held on to win 4-2.
“The guys gave it everything, and never quit. We tried coming back against a really good team,” Houle said. “We gave too many odd man rushes in the second period, Michael McNiven made some really big saves to keep us in the game.”
Sunday’s match extended Laval’s losing streak to four games, and fifth loss in their last six contests. “We’re going through a bit of adversity right now, and it’s good for the team to go through adversity especially at the start of the season. It will be good for us in the long term. I think each player needs to look in the mirror and find what they can do better to help the team,” captain Xavier Ouellet said.
Laval will play three homes games this against Belleville on Wednesday, Bridgeport on Friday, and Utica on Saturday.
(Quotes courtesy of 91.9 Sports)
Caufield and Norlinder Debut
Cole Caufield made his season debut with the Rocket this weekend. On Saturday, he took four shots on goal and finished minus-2 playing on a line with Ryan Poehling and Rafael Harvey-Pinard. “It’s obvious on the ice that [Caufield] has offensive flair, and he’s dominating in the offensive zone,” Harvey-Pinard said.
On Sunday, Houle slotted Dauphin on the first line to play with the Canadiens two key forward prospects. Caufield finished the contest with two shots on goal on Sunday and obtained an assist on Dauphin’s goal. The Comets winning goal was on a sequence that began with an inaccurate pass by Caufield in the offensive zone.
“I think it went well. We were in their zone a lot, we created chances that we didn’t capitalize on like we wanted,” Dauphin said.
Mattias Norlinder made his AHL debut on Saturday playing on the third defensive pair with Tobie Paquette-Bisson, and finished the night at minus-1. “He had a good game, and was a little shy, so I asked him often to talk to me to get him more comfortable. He just joined us, and barely had time to have one practice with us,” Paquette-Bisson said.
“It was his first game, so it wasn’t easy for him. I found that he did good zone exits, he skated with his head up, and for a first game, I thought he was okay,” Houle said.
On Sunday, Norlinder was slotted with Ouellet on the first pair. He took one shot on goal and finished minus-1. “You can see that he has a lot of talent, and a lot of assets,” evaluated Ouellet.
(Quotes courtesy of 91.9 Sports)
Lions First Home Win
The Reading Royals visited the Colisee Videotron for back-to-back contests against the Trois-Rivieres Lions. On Friday, the Royals broke a 3-3 tie at the 8:28 mark of the third period, and went on to a 4-3 victory.
“I think we did a lot of good things today. There were a lot of penalties which took away from our pace. I can’t be disappointed with the effort though,” coach Eric Belanger said.
On Saturday, the Lions came back three times from one goal deficits during regulation time, and ended up winning 4-3 in shootout. Cam Hillis, Canadiens third round draft pick in 2018, scored the game winning goal.
https://twitter.com/Lions3r/status/1457345543861067784?s=20
“The guys were a bit flat at 2-1, but we were resilient on top of doing so many great things. We did well on five-on-five. We deserved to win this game. It shouldn’t even have gone to the shootout,” Belanger said about the franchise’s first ever win on home ice.
After being a healthy scratch on Friday, Arsen Khisamutdinov responded on Saturday with one goal and one assist. “I liked his offensive play. In Arsen’s case, it’s a long process to get involved in one-on-one battles and stop on the pucks defensively. It’s continuous work, but his response was good,” coach said about the Canadiens sixth round draft pick in 2019.
The Lions will head to Maine to face the Mariners on Friday, and Sunday.
(Quotes courtesy of Le Nouvelliste)
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