The Montreal Canadiens take on MacLean Celebrini and the exciting San Jose Sharks on Tuesday night in California.
As expected, the young star emerged, helping the Sharks to a 7-5 victory in a chaotic and goal-heavy game.
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Let’s dive into the highlights!
Rookie impact
Oliver Kapanen opened the scoring with a fortuitous deflection of his shot, but as we all know, they don’t ask how, just how many times.
For the record, this is his 19th goal of the year, and all things considered, the scoring efficiency is incredible.
I’ve been somewhat critical of his use as a second-line center, mostly because of his poor underlying numbers alongside Ivan Demidov and Juraj Slavkovsky. In an ideal world, the second line of defense should have a center who can help the team maintain a positive possession share, but that’s not an ideal world, and no one can deny that Kapanen does a great job closing out games.
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In this sequence, he not only scores, but he darts through the neutral zone, shows great speed in transition, and then controls his way into the offensive zone. The Canadiens tend to struggle in transition, making the 22-year-old Finn’s performance very encouraging.
Unfortunately for the Canadiens, their first line of defense failed them quickly, with none of the three forwards able to intercept the puck before Colin Graf scored his 16th goal of the year.
Level three rating
The Canadiens have a slight advantage in shots and high-danger scoring chances, a situation that could backfire if they don’t manage to score and take a one-goal lead again.
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The Habs don’t typically rely on their front six, but the third line broke the tie, with center Phillip Danault scoring his fourth goal of the season on a penalty kick.
The Sharks responded immediately, with the Habs again making an optional defensive shift to tie the game at 2-2, a recurring theme this season.
we need a bigger boat
San Jose took over midway through the second half as Celebrini scored his 30th goal of the season, a solid shot that fooled Jakub Dobes somewhat easily. The home team went on to build a 4-2 lead late in the second period with help from Alexander Weinberg.
Josh Anderson committed a completely unnecessary roughing penalty in the box, and San Jose extended their lead to three goals on a power-play goal from Will Smith, his 19th of the year.
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Another comeback? In this economic climate?
The Habs answered back early in the third period when Ivan Demidov scored his 13th goal of the year, a power-play goal.
Alex Newhook followed, scoring the crucial goal just 18 seconds later. Without trying to take too much credit away from the visiting team, it was clear the Sharks were trying to rest on their laurels, the ultimate hockey sin, especially in the third quarter.
The Canadiens completed their comeback midway through the third quarter, with Newhook scoring another goal. Although Newhook missed significant time with an ankle injury that required surgery, he hasn’t missed a beat since rejoining the team.
Once the scoring started, things got heated, although it must be said that Dobbs was lucky not to be penalized for a slash late in the third quarter, despite two serious touches from Sharks players in a short space of time.
Last goal wins
The Canadiens continued to show the same discipline as a hungry bear breaking into a honey factory, taking a too-man penalty late in the third quarter. This gave the Sharks a great chance to win and they quickly took advantage of it thanks to Kiefer Sherwood’s first goal for his new team.
The Montreal Canadiens are back in action on Friday against the Anaheim Ducks. Puck drop is scheduled for 9 p.m. ET.
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Unless otherwise noted, all Montreal Canadiens stats are 5v5 and sourced from Natural Stat Trick.
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