The Habs have become a WAGON...

The Montreal Canadiens are doing something unbelievable. This team is an absolute wagon right now. Despite the referees making some questionable calls, Montreal clutches up late with that Bolduc goal. Chris Kreider breaking the Habs' breakaway curse. Alex Newhook scoring two more goals in this one as well. Without Josh Anderson, other players had to step up and be the killers. And Jacob Fowler is another fantastic example of that. We even had some rough stuff in this one. It was a bit all over the place. Those repping goals, I swear, I was going to lose my mind. Those two quick Leafs goals. But you know what the Habs did this time? We saw what happened in Winnipeg. They weren't about to let it happen again. This team bounced back. They fought right until the end. Everyone stepped up. That Bolduc goal was so amazing. Two guys without sticks, six on four, basically a six on two. Montreal still manages to kill it off and win this game. And if you want more Habs wins, make sure you're hitting that subscribe button because we're here every single day. Now at 28,849 subs, we're trying to hit 30,000 by the end of the year. We're now up to 28% of our goal. It's completely free. If you like it every day, make sure you hit that button. Jesse, so much to talk about in this one, but I just love the heart that this team showed. And I just also want to say, no team in the NHL. has a better record over their last 10 games than the Montreal Canadiens. There is not a single team in the league that doesn't have a regulation loss in their last 10. This team has turned into a wagon. It's a team that we thought could get there anyway, and we're still doing it without some of our top talented players. It's incredible. And a really great team. And because of that, they're going to get an opportunity to go into that third period with the lead. But the growth and the maturity right now from the Montreal Canadiens to be able to close out these games right now is just so incredible to see. Again, showing a lot of killer instinct, I still will say in this game, even though it got a little bit closer than we would like, some questionable non-calls, maybe a missed icing there as well. Again, the Montreal Canadiens, find a way again the power plays a big part of that as well we had to say again with the Montreal Canadiens they were the better team both Offensively and defensively and we I think that comes down to certain individual players and we're not going to single any players out from really either side more than we really have to with that being said but I think it really again just comes down again to playing that all around game was was truly the difference here for the Montreal Canadiens tonight. Yeah I agree it was a great all around game and a game that did kind of feel like a home game and I mean I got messages from Leafs fans and even Friedman said. A buddy of mine was at the game tonight, and he said big Montreal fan contingent. He felt like it was a home game for the Canadians tonight, and they played up to their standard. Look, also, the Leafs had a lot of high danger chances, so I am going to take this moment before we talk about the offense and our defense to talk about the last line of defense, the most important one, Jacob Fowler. Once again, just winning games. Like, you know what? This tweet is timeless. We said this, like... Eight games ago, he just wins hockey games and it just keeps happening. We ignore that game in Winnipeg because it's better if we do. But Jesse, just to show, the Leafs did have some good chances tonight and we knew that. Jacob Fowler robbed a bunch of people. That insane save on Austin Matthews is probably in the thumbnail that you clicked on. Like 2.43 more goals saved above expected. I know these models are not perfect. I know they don't show the whole picture, but this also passes the eye test. There's something about what he's doing right now that just feels surreal. The calm. Cool, collected. Even the goals that get scored on him, that Nylander snipe, Fowler manages to get over pretty much. It just goes over his shoulder. Great shot, nothing you can do. He doesn't miss on shots that he should save. It's incredible because, yes, our defense was solid. We were physical. We were winning a lot of battles, especially in the first two periods before that crazy third period that was out of whack. But Jacob Fowler did his part to make sure that this game never got out of hand. That's why Jacob Fowler is my favorite player. He's your favorite player too. Again, just for the difference maker that he's being right now. Again, we saw even early in this game. Again, we see just, and it's not a one-off. His ability just to move laterally so quick and just rob what seems like sure goals, again, is just really getting to the psyche of the other team. You gotta feel like it's building up a certain frustration. Like, we don't want to underestimate how good Jacob, we're talking about the Montreal Canadiens getting points, winning games. We need to talk about Jacob Fowler in that same conversation at the same time of this winning literally every single, like he is phenomenally hot right now. Again, a reason why he's my favorite player is his goalies, like Carey Price, who's getting celebrated right now for going to the Hockey Hall of Fame. It's only right Jacob Fowler would have the type of performance that he did here tonight. We're going to need to get a Jacob Fowler jersey in there behind very short and just put it really all together. Right in the middle. Again, really that missing link. Right now, for the Montreal Canadiens. But again, just the goalies, again, just have that ability to be such the difference maker, to really control the game in a way that no other player does. Just like how we saw Carey Price was able to do before him. So again, we just want to highlight his phenomenal play once again here tonight. So, so good. You know what? Hey, it'd be kind of cool to get 31 to 32 to 33. Anyway, I'm just saying, maybe we'll look at it in the future. But also, in this game, like, We do got to talk about the offense because, and let's just take a look at the game scores for all the players. Feel free to pause, take a look. Of course, hockey stat cards providing this. I want to say another great game from the Habs fourth line. Newhook out there. Doc played a great game tonight. Like, I can't lie. He should have drawn a penalty on this play. I know this was, this was, this was. There's no point in talking about it, because you know what? It didn't affect the outcome of the game. But in the moment, I was rather upset. But still, Kirby Doc, another great game for him. And despite the Owen Evans being there near the bottom, they were fantastic penalty killers, so it doesn't really matter. Hudson, a great advanced metric game. Dobson, everyone was really good. And Jacob Fowler, again, as well. The top line didn't quite get it going. You know, it was okay. Caulfield, Suzuki, Slafkovski, they generated some great chances. Caulfield had some chances in tight. But ultimately, once again, Jesse, it's been a story when Suzuki was out, and now even that he's back, the depth guys are stepping up. In a game where Josh Anderson, the leaf killer, is not there, like I said earlier, guys like Newhook, guys like Bolduc, have to step up and get these goals. Kreider, only his third of the season, but he scored on a breakaway. It's like everything Josh Anderson disappeared, right? No Josh Anderson goal. Oh, we got a breakaway? Oh, it's not Josh Anderson, and it goes in the net. And that's, well, that's, you know. Just joking, sort of. Not really, but at the same time, I love to see Newhook getting out there, scoring his fourth and fifth this season. Weird, like he's been bouncing around the lineup maybe more than almost any player this year, and he's still finding a way to contribute two more goals tonight. He's been on fire. He had two against Dallas. I mean, I'm excited to see where this goes, because him capping in the dock, there's something clicking there right now. And they're heating up, and I think Alex Newhook is going to continue this work as well, because going back to last year, he was really producing a solid clip. In the game that he was playing, you got to feel healthy. Alex Newhook, he's an earner out there. He's just a point producer. But again, I love that we're talking about this line, about Kirby Doc. And Josh, what's the key really to Kirby Dach's success? I'd love to hear it from you in a second. Also from the comment section as well. For me, it really comes down to him going to the front. Again, there's a direct correlation. We're just seeing he's being involved in so many goals. Again, when Newhook's scoring, he's right there at the front of the net, Kapanen not too far behind him, making things happen. So many goals. Again, even if he's not getting credited with the assists or anything, he's in front of the net, he's screening, he's making things happen. I think this is the unlock. If Kirby Dach can really remember this going forward, he's a talented player. And I just love when... Maybe a player like this could find a formula where it's just, okay, this is a repeatable process. This is just what I need to do to be successful. So again, I just look for Kirby to build upon this and I believe he can. Yeah, and I think like going to the front of the net, everything you said is right. And I think just, I want to say he's using his body. Like there were moments in this game where he's going into the corner and he just, he feels big. And that's not something we've really felt with him for a little while. He's being a bit more physical. He's getting back into that. Slightly bigger, harder-to-play-against type of player, and I've loved that. So, yeah, I'm excited to see what he can do. Hoping Kapanen can play well tonight. I saw a game from Beck as well tonight, who is playing up the lineup a little bit. There is some weird stuff going on with Josh Anderson now, but this game was just great all around. And again, shout-out to Chris Kreider for doing what he does best. And just to quickly mention the deep pairings. Pretty solid all around. I mean, there were no pairing that I was like, wow, this was way better than the other. But just, I mean, sometimes it's not, you don't have to be flashy to get the credit you deserve. The D corps tonight, I thought was very solid. Very few mistakes, a couple turnovers here and there, like Engstrom had one and whatever, whatever. But overall, very solid, creating some offensive chances, especially guys like Dobson to Hudson, but just shutting it down defensively. Jesse, this Goulet-Carey pairing especially, like we're getting later in the video now, but it's because it's, you know, this is not the flashy thing that you want to talk about. But it's just almost similar to Fowler. I get that sense of calmness when a guy like Goulet is on the ice. I just feel like he's not going to make a mistake. I feel like he always is up near the top of the team in hits and blocked shots every single night. Tonight, he actually wasn't. Dobson led the team in blocked shots, and Bolduc led the team with three hits. But Goulet is always making his presence felt. He's always playing very important minutes on this team. In fact, Jesse, tonight, led the team in ice time by quite a bit at 26 minutes and 13 seconds. Picking up an assist, three hits actually tied for the team lead, one blocked shot. You know, these kind of guys deserve the credit. I love that we're talking about Kaiden Guhle, friend of the channel here tonight. Again, getting, and again, like he is playing so well. Love that he's looking, using his shot a little bit more. And look at all the offense that it's creating for the Montreal Canadiens right now. directly contributing to that Alex Newhook goal here tonight. And again, this is a night where the decor isn't standing out. But I submit to us all that very much. That's actually a very good thing and speaks to how well the Montreal Canadiens were playing that really there wasn't such a spotlight. On the D, that's often when they're playing very well, they're just, we're transitioning, we're getting the puck out, and we're getting on offense, and I think that that was just really getting the big difference here tonight, where the Montreal Canadiens, again, were just winning puck battles all over the ice, and I don't want to say they just wanted it more, I think it was more than that, it was also just the talent and the speed really combined with that. On a night where, again, the top line... isn't firing on all cylinders. And I think that there's such a positive on the off night where that is going to happen in a very long season. When you know where you have the depth, you're going to look at guys like Alex Dulong where that's next in line, right? Where he was on that first line. When Nick Suzuki, those guys that can actually come through and get multi-point games in those types of situations, this gives me so much faith in what this team can accomplish. Exactly. We're becoming a monster. Like, we've had so many off nights. Our power play, hey, we got one tonight. For sure. That's great. But our power play over the last 10 games has been brutal, right? It's been rough power play. We missed Suzuki for half the season almost. I mean, not quite, but still missed Suzuki a ton. Missed Demi for almost a whole year. Matheson's been gone half the time. And, like, even on nights where you are fairly healthy, Anderson's gone, sure, but then the top line's not really firing. You still pretty handily beat the Leafs. Like, Fowler puts up a great performance. You score four goals. Like, when you score four goals of Fowler in that, you're probably going to win. Like, it's just, I don't know. Like, what else is there to do? This team just wins hockey games. And I'm excited to see where it goes from now. But, yeah, I mean, leave your thoughts on all this stuff down below. Final thing I will mention, I don't know if the curse is broken, but there's a reason I wore this jersey tonight Because the reverse or the. Hometown Remixes got a bad rep last game. And, you know, we saw those two quick goals from the Leafs, but the Habs quickly shut that down. 1-1 this year. Hope we can do better. Thank you so much for tuning in every single day. I'm Josh Goss, my co-host, Jesse Poirier. Catch you all in the next one.