Post game thread. Habs over Pens 3-2

[seventeen]

Guhle, Caufield, Suzuki. That’s a good starting point. Dach, Harris….more good stuff.

We don’t trade Monahan.

[CentreHice]

Drouin with a great pass for CC's one-timer to tie it.

[Bobs_HABit]

Oct 17, 2022 20:53:57 GMT -5 seventeen said:

Guhle, Caufield, Suzuki. That’s a good starting point. Dach, Harris….more good stuff.

We don’t trade Monahan.

Agreed.
Again, going to be lots of pain and some real ugly games this season but I'm still more excited watching the 6 you have mentioned compared to most of what has been on the ice the past few seasons...Stanley Cup run aside of course.
Nice comeback from 2 down entering the 3rd.
Even beyond that, they played with the Pens throughout.

[Disgruntled70sHab]

[Disgruntled70sHab]

[Willie Dog]

[seventeen]

There was one play in the first period where Guentzel had the puck in the (our) left corner, dodging and trying to lose Guhle and it didn't work. Guhle pinned him against the boards and the Habs recovered the puck and transitioned. That was a bit of an eye opener. I honestly didn't see anyone beat him one on one. He took out a Pen against the right boards in our zone when the guy had a lot of speed built up. He's like Weber except a much better skater and way better passer. Poor Shea can only dream of making a backhanded, cross the ice pass through traffic, to a speeding Suzuki. It was Markovesque. He doesn't have Shea's shot, but there's time to improve on that aspect. I was hesitant about Guhle because He hadn't looked that good at the Mem Cup. I believe, however, we now know he was playing injured. He has the potential, IMO, to be that elite Dman we need. How many 20 year old rookie defensemen put in almost 25 minutes of ice time? Ok, it's not like Hedman and Makar are earning ice time ahead of him, but it's still a huge compliment to him.

Now...we are still taking advantage of no one really getting up for a game against us.  They look at that defense and it takes them 20 minutes to recover from laughing so hard.  If we beat a few more contenders, that will change.   We are at .500 with 4 points in 4 games.  I can live with that.  I hate losing, even if it works to our benefit this year, but every 82 point team since 2005 has finished from 6th to 9th last.   This ensure we're getting a high quality prospect, if we can stay at .500 or less.  there's always the chance of a lottery ball hitting too, at those spots. 

So, looking ahead...if Guhle can be that dominant D-man, if one of the other defense kids (Harris, Xhekaj, Mailloux, Hutson) can be a complementary 2nd pairing dman who can play 25 quality minutes, if Suzuki can be supplemented by a very good 2c (Dach, Beck, this year's draft pick), then along with that elite scorer (Caufield), the core of every Stanley Cup champ is already in place. Big ifs but I haven't included Slaf or Mesar in that mix. One more top 9 pick this year would help escalate the time line. Still need that adequate goalie, but those are available through trade or UFA and there are 4 guys developing in our existing system, so we only need one to hit. Looking good for gettin' there, folks.

[Tankdriver]

I think it all depends on this trade deadline. If somehow magic could hit, some GM losses his mind and we could grab another 1 or 2 1st or second rounders with the trading of our FA's, Gallagher, Armia, Edmunson, this team could be good for awhile long-term.

[habsorbed]

Guhle sure is impressive. He just settles everything down because he has so many skills and a great head for the game.

Happy with the play of all the young guys: Nick and Cole are the real deal, Slafs - he's coming along, Harris- steady, Evans - a very strong 4th line d and cold be 3rd, Xman - a STRONG 3rd pairing like we've not had in awhile, Dach - always a presence and can score big goals. the future sure is bright.

Now the vets who are regular passengers are really pissing me off: Hoff, Drouin, Andy. that's a lot of cap space these guys are occupying.

Savard and Wideman are scary as our 2 vet men.

[habsorbed]

Sure was fun seeing Petry in the box on the game winner. Good riddance.

Give Marty a lot of credit on the 4 guys he had out there for the OT, in particular Dach. All offence! Was expecting to see Drouin, Gally and Hoffman out there screwing things up for Suze and Cole. BUT NO! And we get the goal!

[Disgruntled70sHab]

Oct 17, 2022 22:41:08 GMT -5 Willie Dog said:

This ...

[Willie Dog]

Monahan will teach our young guys patience and how to use the natural vision they have to be successful

[NWTHabsFan]

That was actually a fun game to watch. Even after two down two, it felt like the Habs deserved a better fate. And when Garry Galley says something to that effect, you make the next one a double. 😜

Guhle was impressive. He is the veteran on that line, after four NHL games. Not only did he keep Sid in check, he ended up with two assists, his first NHL points.

Suzuki (23) was the old man among the goal scorers last night with Caufield (21) and Dach (21).

Petry with a hattrick last night: of penalties. Seeing his face in the box after the OT winner was a pure “welcome back, Jeff” moment.

Big Daddy Dadanov had his best game as a Hab. He needs to be a lot more like that than the dude who started the first three games of the season.

The Drouin and Monahan cross seam passes were sublime. Drouin needed a positive moment. Monahan has been a very pleasant surprise and seems to be having fun playing hockey again.

Dach’s goal was the first PP goal this season. Burrows still has an NHL job. The PK looked very good though. Quite aggressive and gave the Pens fits.

There were two Dzone breakdowns that lead to Malkin’s two goals, but other than that, Monty and the young D did infinitely better than I thought they would against a team that had scored 12 times in their last two games.

It will be an up and down year. These little ups are at least quite fun!

[habsorbed]

Always good to beat Sid and the Pens in Mtl - and to do it after being down 2 is even better.

BUT, let's keep in mind that despite Pens first 2 wins they are not a very good team. Sid and Malks are well passed their prime and not likely finish in the top scorers. Letting ain't getting any younger either.

Main thing is the kids played well and the win has to help in the confidence and their development.

Slafs sure is raw but one can sure see why HuGo picked him #1. When he grows physically and mentally he is going to be a force. By the way, Wright has been a healthy scratch for the Kraken in 2 games and played all of 6 minutes last night - wonder how the ego is doing?

[frozone]

Oct 17, 2022 23:42:28 GMT -5 seventeen said:

There was one play in the first period where Guentzel had the puck in the (our) left corner, dodging and trying to lose Guhle and it didn't work. Guhle pinned him against the boards and the Habs recovered the puck and transitioned. That was a bit of an eye opener. I honestly didn't see anyone beat him one on one. He took out a Pen against the right boards in our zone when the guy had a lot of speed built up. He's like Weber except a much better skater and way better passer. Poor Shea can only dream of making a backhanded, cross the ice pass through traffic, to a speeding Suzuki. It was Markovesque. He doesn't have Shea's shot, but there's time to improve on that aspect. I was hesitant about Guhle because He hadn't looked that good at the Mem Cup. I believe, however, we now know he was playing injured. He has the potential, IMO, to be that elite Dman we need. How many 20 year old rookie defensemen put in almost 25 minutes of ice time? Ok, it's not like Hedman and Makar are earning ice time ahead of him, but it's still a huge compliment to him.

Now...we are still taking advantage of no one really getting up for a game against us.  They look at that defense and it takes them 20 minutes to recover from laughing so hard.  If we beat a few more contenders, that will change.   We are at .500 with 4 points in 4 games.  I can live with that.  I hate losing, even if it works to our benefit this year, but every 82 point team since 2005 has finished from 6th to 9th last.   This ensure we're getting a high quality prospect, if we can stay at .500 or less.  there's always the chance of a lottery ball hitting too, at those spots. 

So, looking ahead...if Guhle can be that dominant D-man, if one of the other defense kids (Harris, Xhekaj, Mailloux, Hutson) can be a complementary 2nd pairing dman who can play 25 quality minutes, if Suzuki can be supplemented by a very good 2c (Dach, Beck, this year's draft pick), then along with that elite scorer (Caufield), the core of every Stanley Cup champ is already in place. Big ifs but I haven't included Slaf or Mesar in that mix. One more top 9 pick this year would help escalate the time line. Still need that adequate goalie, but those are available through trade or UFA and there are 4 guys developing in our existing system, so we only need one to hit. Looking good for gettin' there, folks.

I remember Bergevin being all excited about how well Guhle kills plays. I think that really lowered the expectations of a lot of fans... a defensive dman drafted in the first round? Wasn't exciting for a team and fanbase that needed goals. And then what we saw over the past couple of years was how well rounded the kid is as a hockey player. Hopes went up a bit. And now we're seeing a kid who is willing to play with a bit more risk and a willingness to explore his ceiling. So now it's getting exciting. I think the coaching staff is excited too based on the 1:54 PP time that they gave him.

I'm happy for Drouin. It actually looked like he enjoyed playing hockey again late in the game. Hopefully it's a turning point for him, because he's playing in a fog as though his insomnia is back. And no, I have no expectations for him to actually turn his game around, but hopefully he can improve some things in his life. I just can't bring myself to root against him or to call him names when he looks so broken out there.

I thought Dadonov looked like Tatar, which was a nice surprise, and Hoffman played well but was still a tad mistake prone. Moneyhan, Dach, Suzuki, CC... all great performances. There really wasn't much to complain about last night. Perhaps I'll sound off on the lack of team communication though, because it seems that Montembeault has no clue that we're counting on him to LOSE these tight games. Seriously, he played great. What the heck!

[Disgruntled70sHab]

[PTH]

Oct 18, 2022 0:05:32 GMT -5 habsorbed said:

Guhle sure is impressive. He just settles everything down because he has so many skills and a great head for the game.

Happy with the play of all the young guys: Nick and Cole are the real deal, Slafs - he's coming along, Harris- steady, Evans - a very strong 4th line d and cold be 3rd, Xman - a STRONG 3rd pairing like we've not had in awhile, Dach - always a presence and can score big goals. the future sure is bright.

Now the vets who are regular passengers are really pissing me off: Hoff, Drouin, Andy. that's a lot of cap space these guys are occupying.

Savard and Wideman are scary as our 2 vet men.

Yup. Agree on all points.... I'm thinking we need one more high pick this year, next year with the progression of the 3 young D who already don't look out of place, Suzuki, Caufield, Slaf and Dach, we'll have a solid core to build around. I just don't want us ending up with the 12th or 15th pick this year.

[CentreHice]

Oct 18, 2022 10:27:33 GMT -5 Disgruntled70sHab said:

Just a great play all-round.

Suzuki wins the draw...Gallagher steps in and gets the puck back to Guhle, who fools his checker with a nice backpass to Drouin. Guhle with prime poise already.

CC reads it and moves in off the point a la the Markov back-door....a little dangerous, as an errant pass from Drouin may have sent the Pens to the empty net....

But...perfect execution. Nice to see.

[folatre]

I missed the game last night, but I watched most of it after work today. Most of the kids stepped up and played good hockey. Even Montembeault deserves some credit here.

It was nice to see Drouin make a play in clutch time. And breaking the power play slump in dramatic fashion in OT was awesome for the boys.

Monahan is having a bounce back season thus far. He looks good out there. However, my assumption is Montreal will be far from the playoff cut line come February and I imagine management will not hesitate to trade pending UFAs. That is just how the business works. Could Monahan re-sign in Montreal? Maybe, but finding the sweet spot (term more so than AAV) will be hard when a vet is seeing the next contract as potentially his last one and the club is seeing an injury history.

[CentreHice]

Cool edit of the broadcast and some fan perspectives of the 2-2 and 3-2 OT goals. Kinda captures the being-there atmosphere of scoring and winning in Montreal.