Habs Blow Another Late Lead And Lose In OT

On top of the loss, goaltender Jakub Dobes no longer has a perfect record in the nets and is now 6-0-1 on the year, still undefeated in regulation, though. Last year, Dobes lost a game very similarly in OT against the Devils, so it’s almost like a deja vu for the Habs goaltender. He took the loss on Thursday very hard, proving just how much of a gamer he really is.

The Canadiens had multiple point streaks snapped on Thursday night. Suzuki’s 12-game point streak came to an end, which was the best streak since Pierre Turgeon’s 13-game point streak during the 1995-96 season. On top of Suzuki’s point streak being snapped, Lane Hutson’s 7-game point streak has come to an end. Both Habs players will be looking to get back on the scoresheet next game against the Utah Mammoth.

It took the Devils only 1:53 to get on the board, when forward Cody Glass came up the ice along the left half wall and fired a puck past Dobes to open the scoring. It was a shot that surprised Dobes and one that he probably should have stopped. However, compared to the goal the Habs scored to tie it, that wasn’t that bad.

Only 1:07 after Glass opened the scoring, the Canadiens got on the board with what, quite frankly, is the flukiest goal of the season so far. Noah Dobson shot a puck towards the net, which deflected off Kirby Dach’s back and into the net. It may have been an awkward goal, but the Habs will take it. Just 3 minutes into the game, it was tied at 1.

Both teams played solid defense the rest of the period, and the game was tied after the first period. Early on in the 2nd period, both teams missed prime scoring chances, which included Cole Caufield and Jesper Bratt both getting stopped on breakaways in the same shift. 

Around midway through the 2nd period, Simon Nemec found Ondrej Palat at the side of the net, not being watched by a defender, and he buried his first goal of the season to get the lead back for the Devils. The Canadiens weren’t able to get a puck past Markstrom during the period, taking only a few shots despite spending a lot of time in the offensive zone. It seems like the Habs try to always find the perfect shot rather than just get the puck to the net, which could have backfired badly if not for the 3rd period. Honestly, Thursday night’s game was the type where just getting it to the net was how to score rather than setting up a nice play for a goal.

Just 59 seconds into the 3rd period, Jake Evans scored from an awkward angle on the right side of the net by simply putting the puck on net, and it went through Jacob Markstrom’s pads for the goal. For the 2nd time in the game, the Habs scored a fluky goal by just putting the puck on net. It should be noted that Dobson had a quietly strong offensive night by having an assist on the Habs’ first two goals.

Halfway through the 3rd period, Alex Newhook took the puck out of the corner and shot it on Markstrom, who left a big juicy rebound for Oliver Kapanen to get his 5th goal of the year and give the Habs the lead for the first time of the game. It was clear the Habs realized the strategy for beating Markstrom was to just get it on net, finally. 

The Habs were looking strong, holding onto their lead, but unfortunately, Mike Matheson blocked a shot that left him banged up in the last minute of the game. As a result, he was stuck on the ice while the Devils pushed to tie it with the extra attacker out; it was hard for Matheson to keep up with his man in the defensive zone. After Dobes failed to freeze the puck with just over a minute left in regulation, Timo Meier, who was left open by a battered Matheson, was able to dig out a rebound and flip the puck over Dobes to tie the game, leaving the Habs to go to overtime for the 4th straight game.

Unfortunately, in overtime, the Canadiens never had true control of the play, and after Newhook’s pass was blocked, Jesper Bratt was sprung on a breakaway, which he didn’t miss for the 2nd time of the night and beat Dobes for the game-winner, handing the rookie netminder his first loss of the season.

The Habs may not have had the best game plan to beat Markstrom early on, but once they figured it out, they started taking advantage of making him leave rebounds, but it may have been too late, as they were never given a chance to do anything dangerous in overtime. Nonetheless, the most frustrating thing is that they couldn’t hold on to their late in the game yet again. 

What do you think is the main reason that they can’t close out games late?