Top Six Minutes: Habs can't complete the sweep - Habs Eyes on the Prize

First period

• T.J. Oshie lifts Kaiden Guhle’s stick into Dylan Strome’s face. It’s initially called a penalty, but the officials discuss and decide to wave that one off.
• Anthony Mantha sees a puck dribbling through the crease after getting through Jake Allen, and it’s 1-0 Washington.
• Trade value fading.
• There;s no time to dwell on the play of the goaltender, as Arber Xhekaj blasts in a goal from above the circles. You don’t see that often from Montreal’s defencemen.

• Joshua Roy is very good at picking off knee-high pass attempts in the neutral zone.
• Cole Caufield pickpockets Alexander Ovechkin and leads a two-on-one the other way. Juraj Slafkovský just can’t solve Darcy Kuemper on his shot.
• The sloppiness of this game is making it an entertaining one so far. Both teams are getting open space to create shots.
• It’s the puck that Oshie lifts on the power play, right over the shoulder of Allen. It came on Washington’s 13th shot of the opening 10 minutes.
• 300 goals for Timothy Jimothy.
• Kuemper isn’t look a whole lot sharper than Allen, so just keep putting pucks at him. He just about had one go up and over him.
• Xhekaj just did a cartwheel in the neutral zone, but it distracted the Capitals from taking advantage of it.
• Aliaksei Protas likes Alex Newhook’s more than his own, but he should have waited until after the game for an exchange. Now he’s in the box.
• After a 30-shot period, the score is 2-1. Montreal looked a bit better to end it, but there a lot of room to tighten things up.

Second period

• Looks like Montreal lost about four shots during the intermission audit. Sometimes a little trigger happy on the counter tonight.
• Alex Newhook uses his speed to get open just enough for a shot on a one-on-four. Kuemper gets his blocker on it.
• Brendan Gallagher gets spun around in the neutral zone, leading to a Washington chance, but Allen stops a breakaway.
• The quality of the hockey has not improved.
• Montreal is beginning to get some chances now. Alternating between Joshua Roy setups and top-line passing.
• Allen stops Ovechkin after a turnover in Montreal’s end.
• Trade value rising.
• Xhekaj crunches a cycling forward below the goal. That gets a cheer almost as loud as his goal.

• Allen is actually keeping this game close now. The defence has not been strong.
• Jake Evans’s goal-scoring streak is in jeopardy tonight. His line hasn’t mustered much of anything.
• The Newhook line was due one. The centre ties the game up.

• Newhook is now tied for sixth in team goal-scoring with Gallagher.
• Thanks to Allen stopping the good chances, the Canadiens won that period on the scoreboard to get it tied. The team that solidifies its structure the best might win in the third, but this is the kind of game that has a 10-round shootout feeling.

Third period

• The energetic Anderson shift to open the period is wasted on an icing call.
• The pairing of Xhekaj and Johnny Kovacevic gets caught in its own end, and it results in a goal for Sonny Milano.
• Like it did last game, the top line was awoken after a goal against. Slafkovský fights through a defender trying to box him out to sling a shot just off Kuemper’s toe.
• Gallagher drives to the net for a pass from Brandon Gignac, and draws a penalty in the process. An effective shift from the fourth line.
• Nick Suzuki ties up the game with his 20th of the season on the power play Gallagher earned. It’s a tie game.

• Points in 10 consecutive games for Suzuki. Eight in a row for Slafkovský.
• Jayden Struble gets hit in the hand with a shot, and the defensive structure doesn’t recover to prevent the 4-3 goal.
• Newhook takes a high stick on what was essentially a six-on-five power play with the net empty. Armia was brought on as a net-front addition.
• There are plenty of chances for the sixsome, but the clock expires before they can find a goal. Washington wins 4-3.

EOTP 3 Stars

3) It’s good that someone is making use of them

2) He better slow down before next season’s retirement ceremony.

1) This is the more believable situation

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2024-02-18 03:04:57Z
CBMikgFodHRwczovL3d3dy5oYWJzZXllc29udGhlcHJpemUuY29tL21vbnRyZWFsLWNhbmFkaWVucy13YXNoaW5ndG9uLWNhcGl0YWxzLTIwMjQtMDItMTctdG9wLXNpeC1taW51dGVzLXJlY2FwLTMtc3RhcnMtbmljay1zdXp1a2ktZ29hbC1jb2xlLWNhdWZpZWxkL9IBAA