The Canadian did not deliver his best performance. Especially during the second period when it was constantly bottled in its territory. However, the match was within his reach until the very end.
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Dominique Ducharme’s men fired 14 shots in the third period. Obviously, the fact that the Maple Leafs were trying to protect their thin lead explains in part why the Habs had a little more leverage to leave their territory.
But that was not the only reason. The Habs were much more incisive entering the territory and much more aggressive in recovering the puck. The struggles around the net of Jack Campbell were also fought with much more vigor. “It is with this rhythm and this way that we want to play, but we have to do it for 60 minutes,” said the head coach of the Canadiens at the end of this meeting.
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This is also how the Habs will manage to give their goalkeeper a hand. Four goals in three games is far from enough to hope to advance to the next round.
“We want to score more goals. Tonight [Lundi], we had opportunities, but we missed them. We generated a little more than during the other games. Especially in the third period, ”analyzed Ducharme.
Burnt second
The Habs lost in their last two games. To turn the tide, he will have to find a way to tame the second period.
Since the start of the series, the Leafs have been delighted to bottle the Habs in their territory. Due to the remote position of the bench, the presences lasted forever. This has greatly compromised the energy of Montrealers.
“In those days, you try to limit the damage by controlling the environment. It is also a question of execution when exiting a zone, said Ducharme. I understand that we are tired, but there are times when we reached the red line and we lost the puck. It’s details like that that meant we spent too much time in our zone in the second half. “
Face-offs are also an important element in this goal of spending less time near your goalie. The Habs have won only 10 of their 22 duels in the defensive zone (45%).
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