Monahan had himself a night, the Canadiens’ implosion continues, Bishop reached a milestone, and Tortorella took the high road. Here are four things we learned in the NHL Wednesday.
Boring? More like Scoring Sean Monahan
Sean Monahan had two three-point games under his belt going into Wednesday’s meeting with the Carolina Hurricanes. The 21-year-old centre did himself one better in the Calgary Flames‘ 4-1 win.
Monahan recorded the first four-point game of his career, notching a goal and three assists in what was a good showing by Calgary versus an underrated Hurricanes team. Monahan, who was held pointless in his previous four contests, raised his season output to 15 goals and 33 points.
Monahan’s career night was in question, briefly. The Hurricanes challenged his goal, believing they had scored on a previous sequence. Video evidence proved otherwise, sealing Monahan’s first four-point game.
You couldn’t script Canadiens’ collapse
The Montreal Canadiens appeared to be on their way to their fourth win of 2016 with a 2-1 lead on the Buffalo Sabres heading into the third period Wednesday night.
Alas, the unfathomable collapse continued when the Sabres scored three unanswered goals to take the game by a final score of 4-2.
Further compounding the Canadiens’ woes was video footage that surfaced Wednesday of Carey Price dealing with an apparent setback in his recovery from a lower-body injury.
As easy as it can be to point to Price’s absence as a catalyst for their steep fall from first place, it takes a team effort to give way to the Sabres in shot attempts and scoring chances.
The Canadiens have lost 21 of their last 26 games. Something’s gotta give.
Say, what’s the standard shelf life on a vote of confidence from Marc Bergevin?
Bishop bests 100-win mark with Lightning
Ben Bishop earned his 100th win in a Tampa Bay Lightning uniform Wednesday night in a 3-1 victory over the Detroit Red Wings. The 6-foot-7 goaltender has 115 wins overall, with four coming during his tenure with the St. Louis Blues and 11 with the Ottawa Senators.
The Lightning picked up their ninth win in their last 10 games and seventh straight win at home.
Tortorella is not saying ‘I told you so’
John Tortorella, perhaps knowing his time in Vancouver was over, was very critical of the Canucks at the end of the of 2013-14 season.
In hindsight, Tortorella’s assessment of the Canucks’ “stale” core appears to have been on the mark. Still, the Columbus Blue Jackets head coach is not about to point to his past remarks on the eve of his return to Vancouver.
Tortorella met with the media ahead of Thursday’s meeting between the Blue Jackets and Canucks, speaking honestly and laughing it up with those in attendance.
The Blue Jackets currently sit in dead last in the NHL standings, while the Canucks are clinging desperately to post-season hopes in the lusterless Pacific Division.