GDT Game #15 Utah at Montreal 7pm sat nov 8

[Prime Minister Koivu]

I feel like we need a really dominant game tonight

 

Go Habs Go

[dlbalr]

44 minutes ago, Prime Minister Koivu said:

I feel like we need a really dominant game tonight

 

Go Habs Go

 

I'd be surprised to see that.  Utah is off to a great start this season and they're a lot like Montreal in terms of playing style.  They're a hard team to dominate against.

[dlbalr]

 

[DON]

Hopefully the Matheson/Dobson combo 'limit' their egregious turnovers and that the Habs string together 3 solid periods.

[Habs Fan in Edmonton]

Two talented young teams, should be a fun game. 

[Prime Minister Koivu]

Montembault 😬

[xXx..CK..xXx]

Veleno has no points yet this year and usually does get points from time to time.

 

Montembeault looking shaky.

 

Hoping for a reverse jinx on each player. 

[Prime Minister Koivu]

Some good and some not so good. Utah is clearly a good team and Montreal is losing the puck in the neutral zone too much. 
 

Montreal had some decent opportunities and Kapanen goal was a nice play from the start

[dlbalr]

Just now, Prime Minister Koivu said:

Some good and some not so good. Utah is clearly a good team and Montreal is losing the puck in the neutral zone too much. 
 

Montreal had some decent opportunities and Kapanen goal was a nice play from the start

 

They're two very similar teams - young and fast.  It could be a track meet with not a lot of high-end chances if the defences are paying attention.

 

I'm skeptical that Kapanen is the long-term solution as a second centre but if nothing else, he's buying the Habs some time to see if they can get one.  

[sbhatt]

Montembeault has had two pucks put past him already (thank-you Jake Evans)...more of same from him tonight looks like.

[tomh009]

5 minutes ago, dlbalr said:

I'm skeptical that Kapanen is the long-term solution as a second centre but if nothing else, he's buying the Habs some time to see if they can get one.  

If he can keep up this level of play, he is good enough for at least this season, prior to the actual contention window, removing the need for a panic trade for a 2C. And, in the longer term, he should be good enough for 3C at least. 

[The Chicoutimi Cucumber]

Yeah, pretty fast-paced period. Monty looks shaky, which is ominous. An unconvincing game by Dobes against NJ, now this…if Dobes glides down to earth and Monty keeps scuffling, you can see a world where problems at G become a story for this team. Hopefully that story is reserved for some other timeline.

 

Fantastic goal by Kapanen.

[Prime Minister Koivu]

4 minutes ago, dlbalr said:

 

They're two very similar teams - young and fast.  It could be a track meet with not a lot of high-end chances if the defences are paying attention.

 

I'm skeptical that Kapanen is the long-term solution as a second centre but if nothing else, he's buying the Habs some time to see if they can get one.  

Kapanen is likely the long term Evans replacement, assuming Dach holds 3C spot - at least that makes sense to me. 
 

Demidov needs a higher level centre

[tomh009]

2 minutes ago, Prime Minister Koivu said:

Kapanen is likely the long term Evans replacement, assuming Dach holds 3C spot

If Dach is not going to make it to 2C, I expect him to end up on the wing.

[The Chicoutimi Cucumber]

Crazy few minutes. Monty had no chance on that goal.

 

Caufield has to be one of the best players in the NHL at scoring from low-percentage angles. He’s a frigging precision artist.

 

On Kapanen: I may be mistaken, but I recall that when Pleks came up, most people had his ceiling pegged as a #3C. Yet he evolved into a legit #2/#1A. I’m not saying he’s Pleks 2.0, but who knows, Kapanen could be one of those sleepers who winds up surprising us. It’s not like we were all studying him closely over in Europe. Maybe his potential is higher than we think.

[BCHabnut]

D zone play is horrible tonight. Monty looking good.

[Commandant]

That Newhook goal.  My god.

[Prime Minister Koivu]

7 minutes ago, BCHabnut said:

D zone play is horrible tonight. Monty looking good.

Yep some good saves by Montembault and Struble is having trouble getting the puck out. 
 

Very solid last 10 minutes of the second period

[BCHabnut]

Xhekaj is having a good game. Or good 3rd anyway.

[Commandant]

Hes not fully there yet but Monty is definitely looking better.

 

We are gonna need both goalies to play well if we want to be a top team.

[Prime Minister Koivu]

First period 60/40 Utah

Second period 60/40 Habs

Third period 85/15 Habs

 

Montembault was good

 

Fun game

[Prime Minister Koivu]

[The Chicoutimi Cucumber]

5 minutes ago, Commandant said:

Hes not fully there yet but Monty is definitely looking better.

 

We are gonna need both goalies to play well if we want to be a top team.

 

Agreed. Monty had a really strong night, battling away like a guy who is fighting to turn the corner and can feel that it might be happening. He needed this and the team needed him to get results.

 

The Mammoth were much the stronger team for the first half. I’m not sure what happened thereafter. The 3rd goal seemed to deflate them and shatter their fragile confidence as a slumping team.

 

The last two games have been interesting - both against fast young teams, similar to ours, but a bit further along in their developmental arc than the Habs. I think what we saw is that the bottom end of our roster is maybe not quite there. Conversely, just when I was starting to accept that my cautious optimism about Kapanen/Newhook was illusory, they come up with a monster game.

 

Meanwhile our top line was simply dominant in the 2nd half. I am going to enjoy every night of this, the best line we’ve had in decades and easily one of the best in the entire NHL. It’s been a loooong wait to see performances like that up front.

 

[Habs Fan in Edmonton]

1 hour ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said:

On Kapanen: I may be mistaken, but I recall that when Pleks came up, most people had his ceiling pegged as a #3C. Yet he evolved into a legit #2/#1A. I’m not saying he’s Pleks 2.0, but who knows, Kapanen could be one of those sleepers who winds up surprising us. It’s not like we were all studying him closely over in Europe. Maybe his potential is higher than we think.

 

Tend to agree, Kapanen has impressed me, perhaps at the very least a high end 3C. 

 

And Newhook is playing with a ton of confidence. Nice goal by Dach, created the play all by himself.  A lot of positives tonight. 

[The Chicoutimi Cucumber]

Just now, Habs Fan in Edmonton said:

 

Tend to agree, Kapanen has impressed me, perhaps at the very least a high end 3C. 

 

And Newhook is playing with a ton of confidence. Nice goal by Dach, created the play all by himself.  A lot of positives tonight. 

 

Dach is a potentially major X-factor, for sure. Keep it up, kid!