Biggest smile in Bell Centre was on Jesperi Kotkaniemi's face after he scored for Hurricanes in 4-1 win to drop Canadiens' record to 0-5.
Article content
So, that’s what a $6.1-million smile looks like.
Advertisement
Article content
The biggest smile in the Bell Centre Thursday night was on Jesperi Kotkaniemi’s face after he scored the third goal for the Hurricanes in a 4-1 win over the Canadiens.
It was Kotkaniemi’s first point in three games this season after agreeing to a $6.1-million offer sheet from the Hurricanes that the Canadiens decided not to match and it helped Carolina improve its record to 3-0-0, while the Canadiens fell to 0-5-0.
There were no smiles on the Canadiens’ faces after the game. They have now been outscored 19-4 this season are are 1-for-19 on the power. The Canadiens went 1-for-6 against the Hurricanes with Tyler Toffoli scoring their first power-play goal of the season to cut the Hurricanes’ lead to 2-1 at 17:57 of the second period.
Advertisement
Article content
Kotkaniemi deflected in a shot to make it 3-1 at 9:23 of the third period and Sebastian Aho scored his second of the night into an empty net to seal the Carolina victory with 39 seconds left. The same Sebastian Aho Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin tried to get out of Carolina with a five-year, US$42.295-million offer sheet two years ago that the Hurricanes matched. Aho also had an assist.
“It’s tough right now,” the Canadiens’ Nick Suzuki said after the game. “The confidence for our group just seems to be low. There’s plays that we make all the time and we’re just not executing them. It’s definitely a tough patch. We had some of these my first (year) and even last year, these stretches. Good teams find a way to get out of it. We need to really bounce back.”
Advertisement
Article content
Suzuki is still looking for his first goal this season, as is every other player on the Canadiens with the exception of Jonathan Drouin (who has two), Chris Wideman and Toffoli.
“This is the NHL … it’s not easy to score goals,” said Toffoli, who led the Canadiens with 28 goals in 52 games last season. “We’re trying. We’re slowly getting there. Not necessarily time’s running out, but we got to come together and capitalize on our opportunities.”
The Canadiens appeared to take a 1-0 lead at 5:33 of the first period when Brendan Gallagher deflected in a point shot on the power play, but the goal didn’t count after a video review for goalie interference.
“It’s such a fine line,” Toffoli said about goalie interference. “I’m not here to complain. But one game it’s a goal and the next game it’s not. It’s definitely frustrating. For Gally, too, that’s how he scores his goals.
Advertisement
Article content
“It’s not an easy job,” Toffoli added about the video judges. “Whatever their decision was is what we had to go with and you can’t use that as an excuse. We got to find a way. It’s still early in the game and there’s no excuse for it.”
The Canadiens were outshot 33-28, but they had plenty of chances to score.
“We’re working at it as much as we can,” Josh Anderson said. “There was multiple chances there in the blue paint. We just couldn’t finish the puck. We got a goal called back. But we just got to keep grinding away. We got 20 guys in that locker room each and every night. You got to keep working at it and fight through together and once you do go on a roll from there.”
Suzuki admitted the frustration level is growing in the Canadiens’ locker room as the losses pile up without any wins.
Advertisement
Article content
“When everyone gets frustrated you start to get on different pages and that’s never a good thing for a hockey team,” he said. “It’s definitely really frustrating right now. Somehow we have to find a way to get that first one in. But we started the game well, some pucks just didn’t go in the net or they were right in the crease.
“It’s a team game and when a team has success all the players have success and you start having fun,” Suzuki added. “It hasn’t been fun losing all these games. We just need to find our first one and I think we can get the ball rolling and get a pile of confidence back and really help the team out.”
Kotkaniemi looks like he’s having a lot of fun with the Hurricanes. He was at left wing on the first line with fellow Finns Aho and Teuvo Teravainen, logging 12:58 of ice time with three shots and three hits to go along with his goal.
Advertisement
Article content
“I like his potential, for sure,” Canadiens head coach Dominique Ducharme said after Thursday’s morning skate when asked what he liked about Kotkaniemi during his time in Montreal. “I think at times he really showed that. Being consistent is hard for a young player and going through those ups and downs. But he’s a good kid. He’s liked by his teammates.
“I’ve said it before, I wish I could have kept working with him but I understand his situation where they put that pile of money on the table for him. He said yes. Who would have said no?”
Exactly.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMieGh0dHBzOi8vbW9udHJlYWxnYXpldHRlLmNvbS9zcG9ydHMvaG9ja2V5L25obC9ob2NrZXktaW5zaWRlLW91dC9pbi10aGUtaGFicy1yb29tLWl0cy1yZWFsbHktZnJ1c3RyYXRpbmctbmljay1zdXp1a2ktc2F5c9IBpgFodHRwczovL21vbnRyZWFsZ2F6ZXR0ZS5jb20vc3BvcnRzL2hvY2tleS9uaGwvaG9ja2V5LWluc2lkZS1vdXQvaW4tdGhlLWhhYnMtcm9vbS1pdHMtcmVhbGx5LWZydXN0cmF0aW5nLW5pY2stc3V6dWtpLXNheXMvd2NtLzkxMWMzNTcxLTdhMDctNDQ0NS05YWExLTA2ODZmYzRlYTNhYy9hbXAv?oc=5
2021-10-22 11:03:45Z
52781952751486
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar