The NHL just ROBBED the Canadiens...

The NHL just robbed the Habs. It has been a series of questionable penalty calls just capped off by this last one in this game. You know Marty was upset. We know you're upset. It was Carey Price's night. The Habs had a late comeback. All felt so good. Jacob Fowler and Jesper Wahlstedt, to be fair, putting on performances for the ages to honor the new Hockey Hall of Famer himself. But it didn't matter because everything was overshadowed by this. Straight up one of the worst calls I've seen this season. He doesn't chop down at all. He skates in there like someone replied on Twitter. He arrives from the ashes just like a curling broom. That's pretty much it. No chop. Like, I don't know what we're doing here. You have to be so certain to make this call with under a minute left in regulation. The game where you just came back from a 1-0 deficit. Look, there's a lot to get to in this game, but we want the fans. Tell us how you're feeling right now. Was that a penalty? Was it not? We want to hear from you. I am fuming if you can't tell. It's a solid comeback effort from the Habs here tonight, only to be done by a very questionable call here late. Again, this is really a 50-50 play where two guys are really battling for the puck. Not only are we getting the penalty, but we're having a great opportunity as well with Slap being at the front of the net. We know in Montreal, right, we're no stranger having sticks break here. This is a really tough call, tough break for us here at the end of the game where you feel like you do have an opportunity again. New Zealand alone wasn't having it, letting the refs have it at the end. Marty, again, very upset with this call. Again, this play stands out, the non-call in the Leafs game, again, where our player is, like, just taking punches, a play that's just hard to avoid, right? Like, if you're a referee, obviously, with this day and age, and obviously, just, it's really standing out, like, and again, we don't want to start the narrative that there are some questionable calls, Again, like, even going back to the last game, like, these are games, like, these aren't just calls, again, which still affect you, still take away opportunities you can get. These are affecting the game late in the game. And I think that that's the reason why we are talking about it. Comment why, if you, again, if you feel in the chat, like, that there is something questionable about the officiating, not only here tonight, but over the last series of games, or comment no, and if you feel that way as well. And feel free to explain why, really. Again, this is just such a tough one here tonight because the Montreal Canadiens wanted to prove themselves. Again, going against the leaders in the Central Division, we know the Montreal Canadiens are right near the top of that Atlantic right now. Again, you could feel that they really wanted to prove it, and that's what's just so tough for Cole Caulfield here tonight. They're not going to be content with just that single point here tonight. No, they absolutely are not, and I wanted to show that as you were talking because, yeah, we went up against... I want to get rid of this chat thing. Like, an unbelievable team in the Minnesota Wild. Kirill Kaprizov, one of the league's best goal scorers. We held them in check, like, this whole game. First period was fairly even. Minnesota outshot us. They had some chances. Second and third, Montreal just had their number. Like, Minnesota's only goal was on a pretty, just really bad timing. Like, it was just a confluence of everyone. Like, all the bad things happening at once. For the puck to bounce over Anderson's stick, it's a breakaway for Bobby Brink. Nice shot. Fine. The goaltenders were both great. Jacob Fowler, phenomenal. Jesper Wallstedt did, to his credit, phenomenal. And I did want to also bring this up. Jacob Fowler, they showed this on the broadcast. Fowler versus Price in their first 27 games. Really similar stats. Actually, Fowler more wins, better goals against average, and higher save percentage, which is made more impressive, by the way, considering the era we play in now, where goals are aplenty. Not in this one, though, because, again, they wanted to honor Carey Price in this one. But he was so, so good tonight. Again, just another... Positive goal saved above expected night from Fowler. Again, I hate to just keep coming back to this. But like, I want to talk about the positives. Nick Suzuki playing great. Went to the tunnel, came back, scored the tying goal. But like, what? I can't think about it, right? Like, now, the good news is, Jesse, that Montreal has now picked up a point in 11 straight games. We are continuing to climb the standings. It's still very good. We were down 1-0 late. We played a great game. Jesper Alstead was just phenomenal. Fowler was good. Suzuki, Caulfield, Slavkovski. By the way, I wanted to mention that as well. Over a 90% expected goal share in regulation at 5v5. So, ultimately, like... It sucks that there's so much that we would normally take away from this game. Normally, a Habs overtime wins. That's kind of what we do, right? We talk about this game. What a great comeback. Maybe get the win. And it wouldn't be marred by this. Look, we dominated most of this game, held them in check, a top tier team, holding their top players in check. Our forward lines were great. So many good things. Carey Price in the ring of honor. And yet we're stuck talking about this. All that said, though, there are a lot of positives, which maybe we should focus on a bit more. But I'm having a hard time with it, you know? And I get that, right? But really, it's eased by the fact that captain come through in the clutch is going to make sure that we're getting at least a single point. Again, to secure that point streak, it's continued 11 games now. Like, that's substantial. One way or another, like, this all really matters over the course of the season. You got to feel like there's probably a couple W's still that the Montreal Canadiens really want to get against a very good team. And if we are talking about the positive, you're right, Josh, we should talk about that as well. Absolutely. It's that the Montreal Canadiens, can play defense against a very good team here. And again, we know that more often than not, the goals are going to come for the Habs. So again, we know if they can just play that defense more often than not, that's going to be the recipe for success. We're looking at room for improvement. It's probably just trying to get that offense going just a little bit sooner. That being said, these are just two really good defensive teams really going at it. That being said, I believe in the depth of Montreal Canadiens. I'm looking forward to that next game because I believe as they continue to evolve, I believe that they can grind out a team here. Again, if it's not the new way where we feel like it's a goal for sure for Alex Newhook there, they had it basically on the scoreboard before they needed to take it down. Again, it's changing the dynamics. A couple other really great opportunities. And it's tough, right? Because it's Carey Price night. But it's a goalie battle all the same. And it's just great to see that synchronicity. If you're a Jacob Fowler, all the same again. There's just been so many signs, right? That he is the heir apparent. And him having a solid performance. When there's a little bit of pressure, right? And you playing in that game. His performance, ridiculous, jaw-dropping, pick saves. Like, we just have to say, right? And I love how Carey Price, speaking about the goalies here, took the time to address the teams right before the Montreal Canadiens before the game in his speech which was absolutely incredible really saying that it's your time now and he was really proverbially passing that torch um to the Habs so I loved again just that that's like call out in a certain way that again that we're expecting certain things of them and again that had to be a special moment for guys like Nick Suzuki and Cole Coffey who'll do obviously been teammates of Carey Price and to see somebody that they've Obviously, he spent so much time with being honored and see how the team and the city appreciates them. It has to mean a lot for them as well. Yeah, I think it meant a lot for everyone saying, you know, about Dobes and Fowler. Like, yeah, they're both so fantastic. Like, the praises that he's... This was one of the longest ovations I've ever seen, by the way. I mean, not quite Maurice Richard levels, as it should never be, really. But, you know, it was getting close. Like, it was getting to a point where I was like, whoa, are we really getting there? But, no, it was phenomenal. And you felt the energy in the building tonight. And to honor him, they put up a very few goals in front of their goaltender. No, I mean, I kid, but still, I think it was more both goalies wanting to step up. But you mentioned the offense, too. And I want to just touch on that. This team can score goals. We'll see what we can do versus Boston. I wanted to show one little thing, too. I thought Lane Hudson was really dynamic tonight, creating so many opportunities, especially in the third period. They showed this comparison, too. Hudson, 163 points, 21 goals through his first 183 games. Quinn Hughes at the same point in his career. Average, a little bit less time on ice, had about 20 fewer points. So Lane Hudson, I thought was really, really good tonight. Just once again, as always. But I mean, you know, the points there for him, he's like a point per game player. He still picked up an assist here, 27 and a half minutes time on ice. But I still feel like Jesse, he could have had three or four. So, you know, we talk about the offense. This to me is a very big outlier because we put up a lot of good shots against a good team. We got Stonewall. It happens sometimes. But, like, I look at Dobson, who still hasn't scored a goal. I look at Hudson creating the amount of opportunities he had. And I look at a guy like Yvon Demir, I'm about to come back. And this is a team that's poised to score three-fourths, maybe even five goals a night sometimes. Yeah, definitely do. Again, right before they scored, obviously. We had them right where we wanted them. And Hudson and Dobson have been such a big part of that. So you just want to really see that get over the hill for Dobson there. But again, yeah, Hudson just being absolutely electric, dynamic here tonight. Again, and if we look at a guy like Quinn Hughes, this is important games for Lane Hudson and his development to go up against these type of players. The big thing that really stands out for Hughes, again, is the efficiency that he plays with. Really, no wasted movements. You've got to feel like, obviously, this is somebody that Lane Hudson really models his game after in a certain respect. I think he brings his own spice in his own way. And we see in his own respect, it's obviously trending at a higher point per game pace right now, which is absolutely incredible. But again, when you really just take the heart that Lane Hudson has right now, you really combine just maybe a little bit more efficiency like we see in a Quinn Hughes game. I think that that's how we're going to continue to see Lane Hudson evolve, and that's the next chapter for him. For sure, and I think we've also seen that slightly over the first few years. Like, those crazy head fakes, like, they've calmed down a bit. And we saw that weird transition where he was going from a lot of them to almost none of them. But he's found a nice middle ground here. And when he needs to step on the gas and pivot, pivot, oh, off he goes. It's still very fun to watch. But all the same, a lot of positive stuff to come. Battle for the Atlantic coming up against Boston on Thursday. Will it actually be for first? We'll see. I mean, getting one point here, like, you wanted to get two to really make sure. We'll see what happens. A win here is going to mean a whole lot for the standings. I know it's early this year, but you can't afford to take things lightly. Listen, that will do it for this episode, though. Thank you for tuning in every single day. Don't forget to leave your thoughts on this, this down below. I'm Josh Goss and my co-host, Jesse Poirier. We'll catch you all in the next one.