Frustrating Road Trip | Habs Notepad

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Cole Caufield, Montreal Canadiens (screenshot)

Habs News: NHL, Montreal Canadiens, Cole Caufield, Nick Suzuki, Kirby Dach, Laval Rocket, Trois-Rivieres Lions

Cole Caufield, Montreal Canadiens (screenshot)

ROCKET SPORTS MEDIA | LAVAL, QC. — The Montreal Canadiens ended the 2022 calendar year in Washington on Saturday. Five minutes into the game, the Capitals had a 2-0 lead. It was an early indication on things to come in the final 55 minutes of the contest as the Capitals went on to 9-2 victory.

“I thought that in the second half of the first we were coming. The second period I thought was a really good period for us, and you lose that period. It’s really deflating,” coach Martin St. Louis said.

Cole Caufield scored Montreal’s both goals, allowing him to reach the 20-goal mark. He became the third Canadiens player after Guy Lafleur and Stephane Richer to record consecutive 20-goal seasons before age 22.

Frustrating Road Trip

The Canadiens conclude their seven game road trip on Tuesday in Nashville. Montreal is currently on a five-game losing streak, with one win through the first six contests.

Frustration is creeping into the dressing room. “It’s frustrating. We understand fans are feeling the same emotions that we are. It’s on us to isolate a couple areas of our game that we need to improve and make those corrections,” forward Brendan Gallagher said.

Some fans are pleased with the results as all losses help the team’s chances of winning the draft lottery. None of the players like to lose.

“I hope everyone understands that we’re not enjoying this. It’s not fun to go through,” added the forward.

“It’s tough. These past few games it just feels like the bounces are always going the other team’s way,” Caufield said. “It seems like we’re in every game and all of a sudden down by three or four. It’s tough to come back and tough to get yourself going in games like that.”

Despite the low expectations heading into the season, the Canadiens were competitive in every game. During this trip, the team looks more like last season when Dominique Ducharme was behind the bench.

St. Louis is confident that the team will be at a better spot than last year. “We have a good group of guys, proud guys, hard working coaches. We might look like we don’t have the answers right now, but I’m confident we’ll go out and find them.”

Top Line Shut Down

Since the start of the trip on Dec. 19th, Montreal has been outscored 28-11 in six games. A difficult task to have success with those kind of numbers.

During this trip, defenceman Arber Xhekaj leads the team with four points, one point ahead of Caufield.

After a hot start, forwards Nick Suzuki and Kirby Dach have struggled finding the back of the net. Suzuki has one goal in 12 games, while Dach has scored once in 23 games.

Since Sean Monahan‘s injury, the opposition needs to game plan to shut down Suzuki’s line. The remainder of the roster has not been able to generate enough offence to be considered a threat by the opponents.

Rocket Positive End

The Laval Rocket ended the 2022 calendar year by hosting the Syracuse Crunch at Place Bell. Syracuse led 1-0 through 20 minutes before Laval answered back with five goals in the final two periods and headed to 5-1 victory.

“Excellent game. I thought the guys played really hard, good team win, a lot of blocked shots, scored on some big opportunities. I’m very proud of the players effort,” coach Jean-Francois Houle said.

Laval ended the year with five wins in their last seven games and is part of the playoff race. “I think we’re playing good in all three zones. The big difference is defensively. Everybody is playing good defensively. The defence, the goalies are doing a great job and offensively were tracking back a little bit better and helping our defence. That makes a huge difference for us,” Rafael Harvey-Pinard explained the team’s recent success.

After a slow start, Harvey-Pinard’s production has picked up as the season progresses. In his last 13 games, the forward has six goals and six assists. Houle sees Harvey-Pinard as Montreal’s next callup.

“He doesn’t have the points that he had last year at this point, but he’s a player that plays the right way, he goes to the net, wins the battles along the boards and plays well defensively. I think he has a chance to get a couple of games this year,” the coach justified his selection.

Laval resumes the four-game homestand this week by hosting the Manitoba Moose on Wednesday and Friday.

Lions in a Slump

The Trois-Rivieres Lions ended the year with a pair of road games in Maine and Adirondack.

On Friday, the Lions opened the scoring but the lead disappeared quickly as the Mariners took the lead in the second period and headed to 5-2 victory.

“The guys gave their all. Obviously, when you don’t have the lead much in the game, you are often catching up. You spend time defending and in your zone. That meant that we took penalties related to all that and fatigue. We also have to credit Maine that played an excellent game,” interim coach and general manager Marc-Andre Bergeron said.

On Saturday, the Adirondack Thunder took a 3-0 lead early in the second period and never looked back as they went on to 5-2 victory.

The Lions are feeling the effect of a roster decimated by recalls to the AHL, and injuries. Trois-Rivieres is currently through its worst stretch of the season with two wins in their last eight games.

Defenceman Olivier Galipeau was named to the ECHL’s Eastern Conference roster. Galipeau totalled 15 points in 19 games before being recalled by the Rocket.

The Lions head home to host the Maine Mariners on Wednesday before travelling to Newfoundland on the weekend.

(Quotes courtesy of Le Nouvelliste)

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By Chris G., Senior Writer
All Habs Hockey Magazine
Copyright © 2022 Rocket Sports

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