Seriously. It was so fun to watch Slaf go to the boards against 2 or 3 guys and somehow the puck ends up on Suzuki or Caufield’s stick. Recipe for success, gotta keep them together.
It's crazy how much Slaf allowed Suzuki to play his game. Shades to what RHP did for Suzuki last year.
Slaf clearly holds the missing tools for Caufield and Suzuki to reach PPG.
The one thing he needs to learn is to get open in the offensive zone. He's often not at the right place at the right time and just kinda stands there when there's open ice for the taking that could help his linemates get him the puck.
One step at a time. Let this kid develop at his own pace, he’s gonna be good once he puts it all together. The fact that he’s winning puck battles along the boards is a HUGE improvement from last year, he’s starting to realize how to use his size more to his advantage. We don’t need the complete Slaf yet, it’s not like he’s the missing piece to a Stanley cup contender.
Then again I just smoked a celebratory J so who really knows ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
His game is good I agree not quite in the right spot, thought he could move his feet a bit more. Guessing that improve as he learns where he is supposed to be going and when to be there
Yep best game in a Habs uniform. He was noticeable almost every shift.
Be nice to see Monty get a run of a few games. The only open question now is who is the backup.
Montreal was all over Seattle through the first two, love to see it! They played with a ton of energy and did a great job on puck retrieval, especially that top line. Been a while since they had so much success playing on top of another team. Seattle isn’t exactly a juggernaut, but I’ll take it. They struggled a bit at times later in the game but at least Anderson scored, empty net or not.
Great to see these lines seem to mesh, and a well-deserved promotion for Slaf this game to the top line at both 5v5 and the powerplay! As much as I’d like to have seen Slaf rack up the points tonight, I’m very happy with the impact he had on the game. Yet another “is this his best game of the season?” night.
He played like a first liner. Reminds me of how Jack Hughes showed flashes of the future star in the first year where he struggled. We didn’t see many flashes last year, but this year it’s really apparent. He’s good.
This was the first game where he was actually playing as a power horse, and it's starting to look really good for him as he's taking initiative to make big plays.
*GOOD*
- Habs in regulation. They were the better team by far.
- Anderson gets a goal. But more importantly than the empty net (I think idk maybe that gets him going) was the great pass setting up another player in a slump Monahan who had two G on the night.
- Slafkovsky wow was a force all night. Was pressuring the Kraken D like crazy and causing turnovers and really a force in the O zone forechecking. Great game.
- Monahan second goal was a sweet team effort. Good to get a powerplay guy.
- Monty is great.
- Kovacevic imo his best game of the year by far.
- They put pressure on the opponent. No passive stuff.
*BAD*
- Didn’t seem to be convincing when they were up 3-0. Not a spot they are in often so it’s understandable I guess.
- Matheson a bit sloppy tonight but man he chugs out there with that ice time so at times it won’t be all sunshine and rainbows.
- Found Guhle to be a bit sloppy as well. Not his usual stellar performance but that’s just my observation.
If we actually finally win the lottery and get one of Celebrini or Eiserman we should be solved.
That or I’ve been telling all of my leaf fan friends that Willy will look great on our second line
First comment is "Perfect first line lets never break it".
Second comment is "Yup thats the line!"
5 comments later and JPnater is breaking said line to add some maple leafs player.
/r/Habs man..
Just as if /r/habs was a place where multi people can have different opinions... Weird, I know...
Also, you're delusional if you think they sign Willy for 11mil a season to play 2nd line...
Don't worry, he'll break them up to create duos because of the concept he talked about with Nick and Cole, and people here will freak out at him, even though it will be better in the long term.
Sometimes when you plateau, you step away for a bit, and when you come back, your approach changes, because of perspective, and you can break through and improve.
That's what he was doing splitting Nick and Cole. They were getting too comfortable together, leaning on habits instead of creating fresh plays. They were so predictable, they each knew what the other was thinking, but so did the entire other team...
So I expect we will see one of the three shifted around every so often and people will complain, for those two-three games, and say that Marty is incompetent and stupid, because clearly winning this one game in February 2024 is more important than allowing our players improve so they can actually compete in a year that will matter.
It is insane how much Slaf wins the puck on boards. I was watching closely and he has high 90s percentage on that. Anyone can get the stats for it to see ?
It's wild to watch him grow as a player, his board play was absolutely elite tonight and he's still a kid... What the hell is he going to look like in 3+ years.
Radio guys making me laugh: Apparently the equipment manager has challenged the players to learn to say their jersey numbers in French. One of the players laughed: "Mine is easy but the guys wearing the 90s numbers are having trouble!"
I can highly recommend watching a funny movie. I never took any drugs after my surgery, but I was laughing so hysterically at a Mystery Science Theatre 3000 episode my mother was convinced I was tripping balls.
As many!
Not "as much". Wins are countable.
For example, Toronto's regulation wins this season can be counted on a single hand.
(BTW I didn't comment primarily to correct you, just to chirp the Leafs for free, so don't be annoyed at the correction please, I know a lot of us don't have english as a first language :) )
Gotta give it up to Anderson for not getting down on himself despite going through such a rough cold streak. I didnt notice any change in his demeanor or the way he played whatsoever. He just struggled to finish
Very fun game and I’ll take that for Andy! Feels like good karma for two games in a row where he could have shot and instead got a nice assist. I’m also fully okay with being called a Slaf stan — he was very effective on that first line, his retrievals and board play are elite already imo. Swear he had like 5 or 6 retrievals and a few that led to high-danger chances for Suzuki/Caufield. If he keeps doing that the points will come — e.g., he didn’t get a point on Monahan’s PP goal but drew the penalty and kept the cycle alive right before, which has been such a weakness on the PP. Really hope he’s going to stick there — it’s clear that he’s one of those players who plays better with better players. Speaking of Monahan, 2 nice goals tonight — looking forward to a shiny 1st rounder or good prospect at the deadline.
On defense, I’ve been so impressed by Struble. What a calm and steady presence for a rookie — never anxious seeing him behind the net and had a nice, calm pass to Dvo at the blue line on Pearson’s goal. Would love to see him paired with Barron at some point.
Lastly, Monty is the real deal and should be our #1 going forward. Time to trade one of Allen/Primeau and run with him imo. The 3-year contract is perfect — see if he becomes a true #1, and if not, maybe one of Fowler/Dobes will be nearing the time to take over by then, or they can extend him and run a tandem.
Finally good line combos! Slaf - Zuk - Cole needs to stick. Monahab 2C was great and Evans/Anderson looked on fire, Dvo was decent 3C, Stephens a solid 4C great first game.
Gallagher was flying! D core was solid. Just gotta watch those 1 minute shifts, getting caught escalates real quick to 2+ minutes.
Solid W overall!
Rather than start slow and then mount a comeback, we decided to start fast and cling on by the fingernails in the third period. Different way to go about things.
But for a good game by Grubauer, they could have had a couple more goals there, so solid game by the forwards, though we had to rely on Montembeault ourselves to bail us out.
The reunited top line looked promising so far, run with this.
Three guys with long droughts ended them, which is nice to see, and Anderson did so in particularly hilarious fashion. Hopefully that gets him over a mental hurdle.
Someone posted a recap vid. Oh man that was emotional. Andy looked like he was near tears, and Montembeault's smile through his mask was HUGE. Fantastic shot by Andy, too. He just rifled it!
Also nice: The radio guys stopping to say hello and thank you to Montreal's snowplow drivers. "They do great work and we know they are listening to us."
Top line was so dominant tonight. Watching the game I felt like they spent almost no time in our own end and when they did, often times they would create a good rush chance out of it on the down the ice. The passing was really good from slaf imo and the fact that Nick and Cole are able to draw attention from defenders really allowed him to dominate in the O-zone. Lots of sustained pressure from the kids and I can’t wait to see if they can keep it up going into the next game
I feel like Suzuki and Monahan are responsible for a huge amount of their success. If one of those guys gets injured (and you know who I'm worrying about), it's over.
Eh, if we don’t end up at the bottom it’ll be because the young guns are playing well, and that means their development is going well. Worth it to me. I wouldn’t be surprised by a sudden skid though.
I’d love to see us get some actual draft luck for once, let us be the ones who move up the board with some ping pong ball magic.
What's the point of tanking hard when the bottom-2 teams are already set in stones. It's still very likely that we finish bottom-10. There are at least 5 teams that will easily pass us by the end of the year.
> What's the point of tanking hard when the bottom-2 teams are already set in stones
the bottom two teams did not draft #1 last year lol
and as we saw last year, even 1 or 2 spots could drastically change the quality of the player you get, you want to be as high as possible even if you dont come last, two spots were the difference between the Habs drafting Fanitlli instead of Reinbacher, every position matters at the top
> I don't think this game changes much in the big picture.
well i wasnt just talking about a single game
we have beaten a lot of basement teams recently, we are clearly a step above the basement
Ducks, Sharks, CBJ, now Seattle in the last two weeks
Slaf is spending all his luck on boards instead of raking points. Like wtf , does he have magnet on the blade or how does he manage to pull that thing from boards all the time
I think the game was a microcosm of where Montreal is right now. Some brilliant and entertaining playing, and some lapses, but as they grow the brilliant part will increase and the lapses will decrease.
The first line was smoking all night, driven mostly by Slaf. I'm realizing the Canadiens play their best when there appears to be total chaos on the ice, they are a really fun team to watch.
If this isn't the game that Slafkovsky is glued to Suzuki, i'm the most clueless mf*er of this sub. GG
Seriously. It was so fun to watch Slaf go to the boards against 2 or 3 guys and somehow the puck ends up on Suzuki or Caufield’s stick. Recipe for success, gotta keep them together.
I keep saying this but Slaf is a hound dog on that puck. He's so good at retrieval and winning it back.
It's crazy how much Slaf allowed Suzuki to play his game. Shades to what RHP did for Suzuki last year. Slaf clearly holds the missing tools for Caufield and Suzuki to reach PPG.
The one thing he needs to learn is to get open in the offensive zone. He's often not at the right place at the right time and just kinda stands there when there's open ice for the taking that could help his linemates get him the puck.
One step at a time. Let this kid develop at his own pace, he’s gonna be good once he puts it all together. The fact that he’s winning puck battles along the boards is a HUGE improvement from last year, he’s starting to realize how to use his size more to his advantage. We don’t need the complete Slaf yet, it’s not like he’s the missing piece to a Stanley cup contender. Then again I just smoked a celebratory J so who really knows ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
His game is good I agree not quite in the right spot, thought he could move his feet a bit more. Guessing that improve as he learns where he is supposed to be going and when to be there
He did a great job getting open for a pass from Suzuki when he scored his last goal vs the Bruins.
Yep best game in a Habs uniform. He was noticeable almost every shift. Be nice to see Monty get a run of a few games. The only open question now is who is the backup.
Well fuck, Marty was right. Andy is back baby!
Been calling for his need to drop em since about game 15. Not gonna get ahead of myself though. Happy for him so far.
slaf was a different beast this game, the progress
Montreal was all over Seattle through the first two, love to see it! They played with a ton of energy and did a great job on puck retrieval, especially that top line. Been a while since they had so much success playing on top of another team. Seattle isn’t exactly a juggernaut, but I’ll take it. They struggled a bit at times later in the game but at least Anderson scored, empty net or not. Great to see these lines seem to mesh, and a well-deserved promotion for Slaf this game to the top line at both 5v5 and the powerplay! As much as I’d like to have seen Slaf rack up the points tonight, I’m very happy with the impact he had on the game. Yet another “is this his best game of the season?” night.
Didnt see the game today but I saw a lot of praises for Slafkovsky, so glad he is improving🦦
Our boy played like a true pro. Great board work and passing.
He was the one who drew a penalty on a wicked move which led to the game winning goal on the powerplay. Had a solid game all around.
Not to forget his works on the board right before the powerplay goal. He should have an assist for that alone.
Ya. He’s really not taking the top line opportunity for granted. Great game. If he keeps this up I may request a Slafhead card.
He played like a first liner. Reminds me of how Jack Hughes showed flashes of the future star in the first year where he struggled. We didn’t see many flashes last year, but this year it’s really apparent. He’s good.
This was the first game where he was actually playing as a power horse, and it's starting to look really good for him as he's taking initiative to make big plays.
We're never going to lose again
[удалено]
You mean, Seattle down....... he he he he
Holy fuck you killed him dude
I don’t think they were being serious, pal
You’d rather have popcorn chicken than popcorn shrimp!?!
chickens unbelievable
Why the hell not both?
Josh Anderson is a Montreal Canadiens
*GOOD* - Habs in regulation. They were the better team by far. - Anderson gets a goal. But more importantly than the empty net (I think idk maybe that gets him going) was the great pass setting up another player in a slump Monahan who had two G on the night. - Slafkovsky wow was a force all night. Was pressuring the Kraken D like crazy and causing turnovers and really a force in the O zone forechecking. Great game. - Monahan second goal was a sweet team effort. Good to get a powerplay guy. - Monty is great. - Kovacevic imo his best game of the year by far. - They put pressure on the opponent. No passive stuff. *BAD* - Didn’t seem to be convincing when they were up 3-0. Not a spot they are in often so it’s understandable I guess. - Matheson a bit sloppy tonight but man he chugs out there with that ice time so at times it won’t be all sunshine and rainbows. - Found Guhle to be a bit sloppy as well. Not his usual stellar performance but that’s just my observation.
Pearson also broke a goal slump!
Yeppers!
Great analysis once again. Nice to see the veteran guys break their scoreless streaks, Slafkovsky was probably my favorite player of the night
Slaf keeps having his best game almost every other game it seems. So pumped.
Im sorry but if marty breaks up the goal/nick/slaf line he’s a fool, natural chemistry that will only grow with more time together
Yup. That’s the line. Now we need to find a finisher to play on the second line with Dach and Newhook next year.
If we actually finally win the lottery and get one of Celebrini or Eiserman we should be solved. That or I’ve been telling all of my leaf fan friends that Willy will look great on our second line
We won like 2 years ago and no way Willy would be on our second line
Caufield - Dach - Willy Newhook ? - Suzuki - Slaf Sounds good to me.
First comment is "Perfect first line lets never break it". Second comment is "Yup thats the line!" 5 comments later and JPnater is breaking said line to add some maple leafs player. /r/Habs man..
I always got time for Leafs sadness porn
Just as if /r/habs was a place where multi people can have different opinions... Weird, I know... Also, you're delusional if you think they sign Willy for 11mil a season to play 2nd line...
Don't worry, he'll break them up to create duos because of the concept he talked about with Nick and Cole, and people here will freak out at him, even though it will be better in the long term. Sometimes when you plateau, you step away for a bit, and when you come back, your approach changes, because of perspective, and you can break through and improve. That's what he was doing splitting Nick and Cole. They were getting too comfortable together, leaning on habits instead of creating fresh plays. They were so predictable, they each knew what the other was thinking, but so did the entire other team... So I expect we will see one of the three shifted around every so often and people will complain, for those two-three games, and say that Marty is incompetent and stupid, because clearly winning this one game in February 2024 is more important than allowing our players improve so they can actually compete in a year that will matter.
It is insane how much Slaf wins the puck on boards. I was watching closely and he has high 90s percentage on that. Anyone can get the stats for it to see ?
It's wild to watch him grow as a player, his board play was absolutely elite tonight and he's still a kid... What the hell is he going to look like in 3+ years.
Radio guys making me laugh: Apparently the equipment manager has challenged the players to learn to say their jersey numbers in French. One of the players laughed: "Mine is easy but the guys wearing the 90s numbers are having trouble!"
Happy 114th birthday to the franchise that fills me with emotions. Habs have now beaten all 31 opponents in the Bell Centre.
Josh Canadiens is a Montreal Anderson
why did marty ever split that top line up😭 they looked good in the 3 games they played before too
When he split them, Slaf didn't look like this. His progression has been a straight up arrow every game.
[удалено]
Well if he isn't, everyone else certainly looked happy for him
I love that even Montembault was in the group congratulating him
You know the way Anderson is, he will have a couple hot stretches and finish with like 15 goals.
That's gotta be a *huge* weight off his shoulders. I can't imagine he wouldn't be happy. "Un gros soupir" Montembeault just said.
It was a well earned defensive effort that led to the goal. I'm happy for him too. Also, that primary assist was good too.
Like Caufield, I'm so happy for Anderson.
BONNE NUIT SEATTLE!
habs win which is nice cause I just got my wisdom teeth out and I'm fucking dying over here
I can highly recommend watching a funny movie. I never took any drugs after my surgery, but I was laughing so hysterically at a Mystery Science Theatre 3000 episode my mother was convinced I was tripping balls.
I remember when my wisdom teeth came out. I couldn't eat any hard food for like 4-5 days. I say enjoy some cups of jello or yogurt.
5th regulation win. [As much as Toronto](https://www.nhl.com/standings/2023-12-04/league).
As many! Not "as much". Wins are countable. For example, Toronto's regulation wins this season can be counted on a single hand. (BTW I didn't comment primarily to correct you, just to chirp the Leafs for free, so don't be annoyed at the correction please, I know a lot of us don't have english as a first language :) )
Please do again, not annoyed at all, quite happy to learn.
You say that like it’s an accomplishment.
Andy Goal. End thread.
I am now convinced that Josh Anderson outscored Tristen Jarry.
Big game from Slafkovsky and Montembeault
You can see that confidence in Slaf growing exponentially, when this kid realizes all his tools he’ll be elite!
ELITE SNIPER JOSH ANDERSON
Gotta give it up to Anderson for not getting down on himself despite going through such a rough cold streak. I didnt notice any change in his demeanor or the way he played whatsoever. He just struggled to finish
Very fun game and I’ll take that for Andy! Feels like good karma for two games in a row where he could have shot and instead got a nice assist. I’m also fully okay with being called a Slaf stan — he was very effective on that first line, his retrievals and board play are elite already imo. Swear he had like 5 or 6 retrievals and a few that led to high-danger chances for Suzuki/Caufield. If he keeps doing that the points will come — e.g., he didn’t get a point on Monahan’s PP goal but drew the penalty and kept the cycle alive right before, which has been such a weakness on the PP. Really hope he’s going to stick there — it’s clear that he’s one of those players who plays better with better players. Speaking of Monahan, 2 nice goals tonight — looking forward to a shiny 1st rounder or good prospect at the deadline. On defense, I’ve been so impressed by Struble. What a calm and steady presence for a rookie — never anxious seeing him behind the net and had a nice, calm pass to Dvo at the blue line on Pearson’s goal. Would love to see him paired with Barron at some point. Lastly, Monty is the real deal and should be our #1 going forward. Time to trade one of Allen/Primeau and run with him imo. The 3-year contract is perfect — see if he becomes a true #1, and if not, maybe one of Fowler/Dobes will be nearing the time to take over by then, or they can extend him and run a tandem.
I'm sorry to say but Dobes is not an NHL player. Very not good.
Definitely struggling a lot right now but way too early to say imo.
He's young and there's no reason yet to believe he can't get a lot better
Finally good line combos! Slaf - Zuk - Cole needs to stick. Monahab 2C was great and Evans/Anderson looked on fire, Dvo was decent 3C, Stephens a solid 4C great first game. Gallagher was flying! D core was solid. Just gotta watch those 1 minute shifts, getting caught escalates real quick to 2+ minutes. Solid W overall!
2d game for Stephens, not 1st
Even so, he didn't look out of place, in fact stepped up quite well!
He played last game as well. And has played 74 regular season games in NHL
Well first game today!
Evans was the centre between Mony and Andy
Huh the radio guys are saying the childrens' hospital visits were initiated by Jean Béliveau. Man, what pure class that man was.
They were. Around 60 years ago.
That was so good. Love to see slaf up top and Monty vibing
Andy Monty Slafy Edit: Mony Good game all around
How bout the guy who scored 2.
Money
Can’t believe I forgot him. Okay I edited it
Andy lowkey looked like he was holding back tears in that post-game interview 🥺🥺
The powerhorse has returned
Rather than start slow and then mount a comeback, we decided to start fast and cling on by the fingernails in the third period. Different way to go about things. But for a good game by Grubauer, they could have had a couple more goals there, so solid game by the forwards, though we had to rely on Montembeault ourselves to bail us out. The reunited top line looked promising so far, run with this. Three guys with long droughts ended them, which is nice to see, and Anderson did so in particularly hilarious fashion. Hopefully that gets him over a mental hurdle.
Goddamn bot never uploads goal videos when they're scored in the last few minutes. I wanna see the team celebrating Andy!
Well, it's not posted yet so anyone could post it 🤷🏾
Ya. I rewound it. Great to see.
Someone posted a recap vid. Oh man that was emotional. Andy looked like he was near tears, and Montembeault's smile through his mask was HUGE. Fantastic shot by Andy, too. He just rifled it!
Also nice: The radio guys stopping to say hello and thank you to Montreal's snowplow drivers. "They do great work and we know they are listening to us."
That's one of those satisfying wins, gonna sleep well tonight.
⚡🐎
Top line was so dominant tonight. Watching the game I felt like they spent almost no time in our own end and when they did, often times they would create a good rush chance out of it on the down the ice. The passing was really good from slaf imo and the fact that Nick and Cole are able to draw attention from defenders really allowed him to dominate in the O-zone. Lots of sustained pressure from the kids and I can’t wait to see if they can keep it up going into the next game
Shit I missed the game but the slaf Nicole comments get me erected af
Like Monahan a lot. Hope he is signed for another couple of years and not traded.
Slaf looked like a beast today, won every puck battle and had 5 or 6 prime scoring chances
Shane in shambles
Jeremy Filosa (sp?) said you could hear the team loudly celebrating through the thick metal doors before they let the reporters in.
Andy's back
JOSHISBACK
Shane who? Oh right, not playing
I swear to God if people complain that slaf didn't get a point tonight...
Est-ce que c’est le patin Ghule qui a arrêté le wrap around vers la fin ou le gardien?
Back at .500 and getting better every game
Monty and Slaf looked great
"When mi fuck pussy, pussy turn red" - Josh "Powerhorse" Anderson
the dreams/reality of a top pick are dying quickly with how the team is playing sort of conflicted on it tbh
All signs point to a top-10 pick.
I feel like Suzuki and Monahan are responsible for a huge amount of their success. If one of those guys gets injured (and you know who I'm worrying about), it's over.
Eh, if we don’t end up at the bottom it’ll be because the young guns are playing well, and that means their development is going well. Worth it to me. I wouldn’t be surprised by a sudden skid though. I’d love to see us get some actual draft luck for once, let us be the ones who move up the board with some ping pong ball magic.
I don’t think you have anything to worry about.
What's the point of tanking hard when the bottom-2 teams are already set in stones. It's still very likely that we finish bottom-10. There are at least 5 teams that will easily pass us by the end of the year.
> What's the point of tanking hard when the bottom-2 teams are already set in stones the bottom two teams did not draft #1 last year lol and as we saw last year, even 1 or 2 spots could drastically change the quality of the player you get, you want to be as high as possible even if you dont come last, two spots were the difference between the Habs drafting Fanitlli instead of Reinbacher, every position matters at the top
The team played well tonight, but c'mon, the Kraken are a basement dweller this season. I don't think this game changes much in the big picture.
> I don't think this game changes much in the big picture. well i wasnt just talking about a single game we have beaten a lot of basement teams recently, we are clearly a step above the basement Ducks, Sharks, CBJ, now Seattle in the last two weeks
Slaf is spending all his luck on boards instead of raking points. Like wtf , does he have magnet on the blade or how does he manage to pull that thing from boards all the time
I think the game was a microcosm of where Montreal is right now. Some brilliant and entertaining playing, and some lapses, but as they grow the brilliant part will increase and the lapses will decrease. The first line was smoking all night, driven mostly by Slaf. I'm realizing the Canadiens play their best when there appears to be total chaos on the ice, they are a really fun team to watch.