To a man, the Montreal Canadiens harassed and harried Tampa Bay all over the ice. They were the faster, more energetic team to the surprise of many. To put it simply, they were the better team for the majority of the game.<\/p>\n
The penalty kill surrendered very little save for a Victor Hedman point shot that rang off the post. Jake Allen was still called upon to make some crucial saves but for the most part the shorthanded Habs hung in there with the Lightning.<\/p>\n
With the season lost already and so many important veterans out of the lineup, the only thing that fans are asking for from their team is effort. If the Habs keep up the work rate they displayed last night, they\u2019ll earn the respect of their fans.<\/p>\n
Leave Suzuki alone<\/p>\n
Nick Suzuki has rode the same rollercoaster as his teammates all season long. He has struggled for long stretches but has played some impressive hockey at times as well.<\/p>\n
Last night was more of the latter. Suzuki\u2019s skated better than he has in a while and put up a goal and an assist in the loss. He and his linemates Mike Hoffman and Jonathan Drouin appeared to find some instant chemistry together.<\/p>\n
Now don\u2019t touch it.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s easier now for head coach Dominique Ducharme with so many potential wingers for Suzuki out of commission. But maybe the reason why the Habs young centreman has been so hot and cold this year has been the crazy combination of players he has had to play with.<\/p>\n
Drouin. Hoffman. Anderson. Toffoli. Gallagher. Lehkonen. Caufield. The revolving door on Suzuki\u2019s wings has been constant through 27 games. Like Romanov last year, maybe part of the reason why Suzuki hasn\u2019t been at his consistent best just yet it because he hasn\u2019t had anyone to build any consistency with.<\/p>\n
Just a thought.<\/p>\n
The Evans experiment comes to an end<\/p>\n
In a season filled with curious decisions by head coach Dominique Ducharme, trying to shoehorn Jake Evans into a role on the wing has been one of the strangest.<\/p>\n
Ryan Poehling has emerged, to the delight of the organization and the fanbase. And the injury crisis hasn\u2019t helped. But Evans has arguably lived up to expectations more so than any other Habs centreman so far this season.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s been one of the team\u2019s most used players on the penalty kill. Not to mention one of their better faceoff men. Whichever wingers he has been forced to play with, his line has played with a hard-working identity.<\/p>\n
Since being moved to the wing, he has been nowhere near as noticeable. Evans hasn\u2019t been able to impact the game in any meaningful way. He has been held pointless in six straight games.<\/p>\n
Evans\u2019 role is likely to be a moot point after Christian Dvorak was forced to leave the game against the Lightning with an apparent left knee injury. But whatever happens the rest of the season, his best position is clearly down the middle of the ice.<\/p>\n
Putting the whistles away late<\/p>\n
Corey Perry sparked the comeback late in the third period against his former team and Ondrej Palat capped it off with less than 40 seconds left in regulation. But it was a sneaky Montrealer who made both plays possible, each time by illegal means.<\/p>\n
Beaconsfield native Alex Killorn pulled off some spectacularly sneaky nonsense on both Tampa Bay\u2019s game-tying and game-winning goals.<\/p>\n
First, Killorn held the stick of Habs defenceman Ben Chiarot on Perry\u2019s game-tying goal. Steven Stamkos\u2019 cross-ice pass to Perry could have been intercepted by Chiarot if not for Killorn inter-locking his arms with the Canadiens blueliner<\/a>.<\/p>\n Then in the build up to Palat\u2019s winner, Killorn was in a one-on-one battle with Mathieu Perreault behind the Lightning net. Killorn fell over on to his back and in his desperation grabbed Perreault\u2019s foot and tripped him up while he was fighting for a loose puck. He jumped on the loose puck in the neutral zone after David Savard\u2019s attempted pinch at the blueline. Killorn centred the puck to Palat on a 2-on-1 for the win.<\/p>\n In fairness to the referees, they weren\u2019t in a great position to make either one of those calls.<\/p>\n Kidding, of course. They were staring directly at both infractions.<\/p>\n In the NHL, you can get away with murder if it\u2019s within the finals five minutes of regulation. It shouldn\u2019t matter to Montreal Canadiens fans as each point lost is a step towards their goal of a better draft pick. But for the players who put forth a spirited effort last night, it\u2019s unfortunate they had a better result taken away from them.<\/p>\n \t\t![\"avatar\"](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1769122752_405_07ba55ead0c73509df880c421e3023e5ac7c7d9f55b4c9b9a5aeeb184bcdf689.png\")
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