FINAL | Round 1, Game 6 | Friday August 21, 2020

Flyers win series 4-2

Canadiens Lineup

Tomas Tatar – Phillip Danault – Artturi Lehkonen

Jonathan Drouin – Nick Suzuki – Joel Armia

Max Domi – Jesperi Kotkaniemi – Paul Byron 

Charles Hudon – Jake Evans – Alex Belzile

Ben Chiarot – Shea Weber

Brett Kulak – Jeff Petry

Xavier Ouellet – Victor Mete

Carey Price – Charlie Lindgren

Ryan Poehling, Christian Folin, Noah Juulsen, Victor Olofsson, Cayden Primeau, Michael McNiven, Jordan Weal, Dale Weise 

Alexander Romanov

Brendan Gallagher

Game Report

The Canadiens 2019-’20 season series is over. After a closely contested match against the top seed in the Eastern Conference, Montreal bowed out in six games. Despite the disappointment of the end of a playoff run, Habs fans can be hopeful as ‘the future seems bright’, as they say.

Strangely, the Canadiens participating in this NHL return-to-play, 24-team tournament that morphed into a bubble-locked playoff helped lessen the pain (and stench) of a miserable, 24th place, 80-ish point season. For many fans, that seems so long ago! 

Based on regular season results, Marc Bergevin’s team failed to qualify for the playoffs for the third straight year, fourth in the last five. But in a crazy twist, and with the league needing the participation of big market teams, Montreal was given a lifeline. Beat the seventh best team in the NHL in a best of five series and a playoff slot would be theirs.

So the Canadiens Carey Price promptly went out and beat the Pittsburgh Penguins to win the qualifying round in four games. It was a remarkable accomplishment!

But the Philadelphia Flyers were a whole different kettle of fish. And despite Price’s heroics against Philly, the series was evidence that the team was desperately missing some key pieces. Given the way they dominated possession tonight, with an extra finisher or two, the Habs may have been able to force a game 7 to make things interesting with the Flyers.

Nick Suzuki did all he could to make that happen, scoring twice, on six shots. This followed a one-goal game (and one called back) on Wednesday. With a breakout performance by Jesperi Kotkaniemi and a strong playoff by Jake Evans, the Canadiens suddenly have three young, talented centres providing strength down the middle.

It is on the wing where the Habs greatest weakness was felt. Montreal missed the passion of Brendan Gallagher in game 6, but speaking frankly, it was absent for the entire post-season with the exception of Wednesday night’s game. Joel Armia contributed three important goals during the playoffs but also spent time on the fourth line. And while one good game by Jonathan Drouin in nine played excites the zealots, it is clear that he is not capable of raising his performance in the playoffs, as promised.

Tomas Tatar followed his career pattern continuing to underwhelm in the playoffs. Max Domi was a huge disappointment. With a lack of roster depth, fourth line wingers were simply lineup fillers often playing less than five minutes per game.

In fact, Artturi Lehkonen was the only winger who, game in and game out, outperformed his regular season standard.

On defence, Shea Weber was a beast and continues to be one of the toughest defencemen to play against in the NHL. The captain was joined by Ben Chiarot and Jeff Petry who, during the post-season, were appropriately dubbed ‘The New Big Three.’ The three were ably aided by Brett Kulak, who will be effective as a bottom pairing defenceman once upgrades arrive.

The third-pairing defence was a ‘call-their-numbers-and close-your-eyes’ experience for Luke Richardson throughout the post-season. Xavier Ouellet spent the majority of the season in the AHL and the once-promising Victor Mete looked ill-suited for the tough grind of the playoffs.

Lastly, we have to take our hats off to Kirk Muller. He was forced into a difficult situation with a hostile media and an inappropriately apologetic front office. Captain Kirk proved that he is an excellent coach, a good teacher, a strong leader and a motivator. He injected passion and intensity while ensuring that his team remained focused on their game in the midst of all sorts of major distractions.

So, following a reprieve, the Canadiens have a reason to be proud of what they achieved in the post-season. But the promising result should not obscure that large gaps remain in the roster. Marc Bergevin needs a hugely successful off-season to take advantage of the window of opportunity that he has been presented.

Plus / Minus

▲  Carey Price, Nick Suzuki, Joel Armia, Shea Weber, Artturi Lehkonen, Jeff Petry, Jonathan Drouin, Jake Evans

▼  Alex Bezile, Charles Hudon, Max Domi, Paul Byron, Xavier Ouellet, Victor Mete