Habs Rookies Lose 4-3 Despite Dominating Play

The Habs outshot the Jets 41-25 throughout the game but ended up losing thanks to a late goal scored with 25 seconds left in the third period. This goal was an absolute backbreaker that came about 1:30 after Ivan Demidov tied the game with a beautiful backhand, forehand goal on a breakaway that took the roof off the Bell Centre. Demidov was by far the player of the game, finishing with a goal and two assists in the loss. 

The Russian forward likely could have gotten more points had his linemates finished the beautiful passes he set up for them. Nonetheless, it was refreshing to see how much chemistry he developed with Oliver Kapanen and Florian Xhekaj throughout the game. Both Xhekaj, who put up a home a Demidov rebound, and Kapanen, who sniped a perfect pass by Demidov on the power-play, were the other scorers for the Habs. 

The top line was excellent but did have a few defensive breakdowns, like when the Jets’ Chase Yoder singlehandedly tied the game 10 seconds after they got on the board in the 2nd period. It was embarrassing to see a 24-year-old who has no NHL potential dominate the Habs’ best prospects on that play like that, but thankfully, they settled down afterwards.

Other than Demidov and his linemates, who mainly stood out the whole night on offense, the players who had a great night start with goaltender Jacob Fowler. As a whole, the Habs got a mixed bag from their goaltenders as Jacob Fowler was so solid on the limited 10 shots that he had faced in his half of the game. This included a segment of 3 shots he faced late in the first period. Whereas Mikus Vecvanags looked shaky and allowed all 4 goals in 15 shots, including the game-winner that he probably should have frozen when Yoder tried jamming it past him, before Danil Zhilkin buried the winner on an awkward rebound.

On the other side of things, Jets goaltender prospect Dominic DiVincentiis absolutely robbed the Habs, making 38 saves on 41 shots, after playing the entire game. 

It would have been nice to see how Fowler would have fared throughout the whole game, but the fact that he stood strong is an amazing sign to see heading into Training Camp. A performance that he had tonight is what we would have to see from him, even if it were limited. 

On the defensive side, the start of the game was very solid, which was led by David Reinbacher, who can read the play and knows just how to cut off opponents heading to the net. The only time he was truly beaten by a Jets player was when Yoder deked him out on Winnipeg’s 2nd goal. Otherwise, he played almost exactly how you would want him to play at the team’s top shutdown defenseman. He’s not flashy, but he will get the job done. 

On the flip side, his defensive partner, Adam Engstrom, had moments where he tried to do too much on his own when carrying the puck up ice. Engstrom has the potential to be an awesome defenseman one day, but he needs to learn to use his teammates on the breakout from his zone a little more. Luckily, on Saturday he didn’t make too many mistakes.

The one guy who impressed me on his game in particular was defenseman Simon Lavigne, who is on a PTO with the Habs from Concordia University. He showed against the Jets that he is solid at keeping the puck in the zone and being a solid presence in the defensive zone. Now at 24 years, he’s unlikely to become anything at the pro level for the Habs, but it was still a good overall game for the oldest player at Habs rookie camp. 

On the physicality side of the game, both forward Tyler Thorpe and defenseman Owen Protz led the way in that category. Protz threw a 1st period hit on Jets forward Kieron Walton that took him out of the game, and then later in the game threw another bone-crushing hit. Meanwhile, Thorpe was hitting everybody that he could and kept getting under his opponents’ skin constantly. 

Xhekaj also played a strong physical game, but he relied more on an offensive role, where he played the role of a relentless forechecker for Demidov and Kapanen. As a result, he has shown that he can be more than just a physical presence and play a glue guy who helps the offensive players produce. 

The most disappointing player was easily Owen Beck, who struggled to show any offense and made a few rough turnovers during the game. Not to mention his stick was where plays went to die on the power-play. Hopefully, this afternoon, he plays much better against the Toronto Maple Leafs’ rookies. Beck will be competing to prove he belongs in the NHL, and he should be among the best players in these Rookie Showcase games and he can’t afford another performance like last night. 

Overall, Demidov was not surprisingly the best player on the ice by far, and it will be exciting to see what he can do against the Leafs at today’s 3 pm ET game. 

What were your thoughts on last night’s game?