Habs News: Montreal Canadiens, NHL, Phase 4, Max Domi, Nick Suzuki, Tomas Tatar, Brendan Gallagher, Philadelphia Flyers

ROCKET SPORTS MEDIA | LAVAL, QC. — The Canadiens post season run ended on Friday as the Flyers advanced to the second round with a 4-2 series win. When I made my series prediction, this is exactly (not really) how I anticipated things going. The duel between the teams wasn’t headed to be memorable, however the intensity went up one notch in game five.

Montreal went scoreless for a second consecutive match as they lost 2-0 in game four. When Kirk Muller saw that the forward combinations weren’t able to get the puck into the net, he shuffled all this trios looking for chemistry.

“We’re trying different combinations and trying different players in different spots. The series is going fast; you don’t have much time to figure out the lines, so you just have to do whatever is available there. We’re just trying to create a spark,” explained the interim head coach after the game. Muller even kept some key forwards off the ice for the majority of the third period.

“I guess if the coach feels other guys are going to do the job better than you, that’s his job. That doesn’t mean I sit there and accept it. My job’s to play, so when I’m put on the ice, just try and help out,” said Brendan Gallagher when asked about being on the bench for a stretch of 10:12 of the final period.

After being challenged by his coach, Gallagher set the tempo from his opening shift in game five and scored his first in the postseason later that night. His teammates responded to Gallagher’s energy as the Habs went on to force a sixth game with a 5-3 win.

“From the first shift you saw Phil’s [Danault] line, Gally [Gallagher] obviously had a great first shift, and I think everyone kind of grabbed that momentum and tried to follow their steps,” said Jonathan Drouin.

Gallagher’s playoff run ended after getting his jaw broken courtesy of a cross check by Matt Niskanen with 5:07 remaining in the third period. Niskanen was suspended for one game by the National Hockey League’s (NHL) Department of Player Safety.

Philadelphia’s Matt Niskanen has been suspended for one playoff game for Cross-checking Montreal’s Brendan Gallagher. https://t.co/x8zPyvNmGX

— NHL Player Safety (@NHLPlayerSafety) August 21, 2020

Gallagher had surgery on Friday before heading back home to Vancouver, and during his end of season press conference, Marc Bergevin advised that Gallagher was playing with a hip tear that he suffered in the series against the Penguins.

Montreal used Gallagher’s absence as a rallying point, but fell short losing 3-2 in game six. “It’s tough to replace a guy like Gally. You just can’t really do it. I think everybody stepped up, I think that the commitment was there, the effort was there. They were just fortunate to get a couple of bounces early, and we just couldn’t seem to find our break,” said Shea Weber.

Turning Point

In my mind, the turning point of the series was the fourth game, when the Canadiens couldn’t score on Carter Hart for a second consecutive contest. The odds were already stacked against Montreal and if you add in the time of their last goal from game two, they were shut out for 129 consecutive minutes. The lack of an offensive game-changer on the roster was evident during the scoreless stretch.

“I don’t think we tested him very much the last two games and we definitely need to get better on the net and be hungrier” evaluated Phillip Danault after the game. According to Natural Stat Trick, the Canadiens finished with 11 high danger chances for, and allowed four to the Flyers in game four.

Suzuki Ready for Spotlight

If I had to choose one positive out of the series against the Flyers, it has to be the performance of Nick Suzuki. In the two elimination games, Suzuki scored three crucial goals for his team. In game five, he scored the game winning goal and in game six, he scored both of Montreal’s goals.

“He’s a smart player on both sides of the puck, you saw it during both series. He became better at every game. The coach had confidence in him in any situation. He’s young, but he doesn’t play his age,” said Drouin at the conclusion of the series. Suzuki and Drouin led the team with seven points each in the 10 post season games.

Suzuki became a talking point for the Flyers in the series after he tapped Hart with his glove on the top of the helmet in game five when Gallagher scored. The Canadiens rookie didn’t let the opponents attention affect his play. Derek Grant returned the favour at the end of game six and Shea Weber wasn’t pleased about it.

https://twitter.com/Sportsnet/status/1296987461873172480

Tatar and Domi Disappointing Performances

It was hard for me to choose only one negative to come out of the series, therefore I will cheat by selecting two. Or, let’s call them negatives 1A and 1B.

After being left off the scoresheet in the series against the Penguins, Tomas Tatar scored two goals in the first round. Both goals were scored in game two where Montreal won 5-0. Tatar was given 15:11 average time including time on the second power play unit, and took a total of eight shots in the first round.

“We’re not going to hide it, but Tuna [Tatar] had a difficult series, but I saw a player that was working hard, the puck would often bobble on his stick. He wanted to do so well that he was forcing plays,” evaluated Bergevin.

Tatar underperforming in the post season has become a trend. Vegas traded him to Montreal after sidelining him for most of their playoff run that took them to the Stanley Cup Final. In 35 career playoff games, Tatar has six goals and five assists.

Max Domi was scoreless in the series against the Penguins. The easy alibi was that he was playing on the fourth line with Dale Weise and a rotation of players consisting of Jordan Weal, Jake Evans, and Alex Belzile.

Domi was bumped up to the top nine as of game 2 against the Flyers. He came off to an impressive start collecting three assists in Montreal’s 5-0 win, and then went scoreless for the remainder of the duel.

Domi was given 15:08 average time including time on the second power play unit, and took a total of 10 shots in the first round. Bergevin told the media during his end of season review that he was expecting more from Domi in the post season. I think it’s safe to say that we were all expecting more.

Canadiens Connection podcast

These issues, including post-game audio, and other current Habs topics were discussed on this week’s episode of the Canadiens Connection. Listen and subscribe!

By Chris G., Senior Writer
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