Habs can’t climb out of first-period hole

First period

• Jakub Dobeš makes the first big play of the night with a breakaway stop on Jackson Blake.
• Carolina gets a few more chances after two weak clearance by the Canadiens. They haven’t learned that lesson through three games.
• Another nonchalant pass from Noah Dobson gets picked off for another shot. The Habs are just asking to get scored on first once again with these defensive-zone plays.
• The crowd reacts as Nick Suzuki is cross-checked in the back to the ice in his zone. The refs find a penalty moments later, on a cross-check from Kirby Dach to Alexander Nikishin’s shoulder that the defenceman sold as one to his face.
• The first TV timeout arrives with shots 6-0 for Carolina.
• Out of the break, Hutson whips a shot through traffic that gets tipped on Frederik Andersen for his first stop.
• Jalen Chatfield jumps into Cole Caufield’s path to knock him off his coverage at the point, and has the audacity to complain when he gets called for interference.
• Ivan Demidov gets the puck in a great shooting position, but loses the handle just as he goes to fire.
• A couple of shots later on the PP, but they didn’t get the great look they wanted.
• Taylor Hall cross-checks Alexandre Carrier before he plays the puck, and Montreal goes right back on the power play.
• Montreal can’t get set up on its second man advantage.
• Zachary Bolduc gets his stick in hands of Jaccob Slavin behind the net, and that will bring the second, much-less-dangerous power play of the period to an early end.
• On the power play, Sebastian Aho fires in a one-timer, and the Hurricanes have opened the scoring yet again. Martin St-Louis considered an offside challenge, but replays showed nothing conclusive enough to make that call.
• A puck gets thrown at the net and even though Jordan Staal can’t see it as it arrives, it goes just past the skate of Josh Anderson and off Staal’s stick for a 2-0 lead.
• Montreal pushes to get one of the goals back and gives up another. Logan Stankoven completes a two-on-one, and the Hurricanes have three goals versus Montreal’s four shots.
• The Habs play their worst period of series, and face a three-goal deficit for the first time in the playoffs. We’ll find out what they have for a pushback, but the Hurricanes have no reason to leave anything available now. It’s a sheer cliff the Canadiens face in their bid to get back in this game.

Second period

• The lines have been shifted around as Martin St-Louis looks for a spark. Juraj Slafkovský reunites with Demidov as Alex Newhook gets added to Suzuki’s wing.
• Dobeš is playing well to begin the period at least.
• The game is more open than I expected it to be. The Hurricanes are still pressing in the offensive zone and leaving some space in the neutral zone. The Canadiens have room to skate, and are attacking the zone with speed.
• Matheson lands a light-cross-check on Nikolaj Ehlers’s shoulder and he goes down like his jaw was almost ripped off. They review the penalty for a five-minute major. They reduce it to a two, and since they realized it was only a minor infraction, they should have given Ehlers and embellishment penalty at the same time for lying on the ice for 15 seconds.
• Phillip Danault lands a more forceful cross-check to Staal’s face off a faceoff scrum, and now it will be a five-on-three for Carolina.
• Montreal gets the kill with just one shot allowed. As the crowd is still cheering them for the effort, the Habs send the puck just wide of Andersen on a rush down the ice.
• A push from both Suzuki and Josh Anderson gets the Habs up to 18 shots, their most of the last three games, but they don’t have the goals to show for it.
• Staal throws a hit on Hutson after the whistle. The only penalty goes to Anderson from the scrum that ensues.

Third period

• Everything the Canadiens did well in the second period has disappeared in the third. Lazy passes, curl backs in the defensive zone to lose possession, and just an overall lack of pace have them nowhere close to scoring a goal.
• Carolina is just playing keepaway in Montreal’s zone. The Habs don’t have the energy to win the battles.
• Zero shots for Montreal through 7:39.
• The crowd gets something to cheer about as Dobeš makes a save on a Seth Jarvis breakaway.
• Now they’re singing “Olé!” I think that’s the realization that there is a high probability of this being the final home game of the season.
• A “Shoot the puck!” chant has begun after two potential attempts were given up in favour of passes.
• Anderson gets an elbow in the face along the boards, and with no penalty call he decides to take matters into his own hands by knocking down William Carrier. Anderson is off to the box again.
• A Bronx cheer as Montreal gets its first shot of the period with 2:53 to go.
• With Dobeš on the bench, Svechnikov adds a fourth goal.
• The Canadiens fail to score for the first time in the series, and are now down 3-1. They will bring what will likely be a different looking lineup to Carolina on Friday night for Game 5.

EOTP 3 Stars

3) No weak flips from #75

2) Far from a Stanley Cup or bust team

1) Some things to address going forward