SUNRISE, Fla. — There was Joel Armia, sitting in the penalty box with his Montreal Canadiens scrambling to make his misdeed insignificant, helplessly hoping a tie wouldn’t turn into a deficit they would have little time to erase in the third period.
And then he took that all-too-familiar skate of shame back to the bench 52 seconds later.
Armia took a penalty late in the third period of Thursday’s loss to the Carolina Hurricanes, while the Canadiens were trailing by a goal and trying desperately to tie things up. But this one on Saturday against the Florida Panthers had to feel even worse.
It was two minutes for roughing Oliver Ekman-Larsson; a brainless foul written up in the game’s official log as “removing opp helmet,” taken nearly 200 feet from Montreal’s net, and Eetu Luostarinen made sure Armia would be in the box for less time than that.
Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis said it was fair to call his penalty the turning point of the game. The score was 1-1 before it happened, and Luostarinen made it 2-1 before the Panthers added two more goals in the final five minutes to secure a 4-1 win.
“You can’t take an offensive-zone penalty in a 1-1 game late in the third against a team like that,” St. Louis added, and there’s no denying that.
But the Canadiens look like a team that can’t afford to take a penalty at any point of any game, against any opponent. They took three against the Panthers, who came into this one with the 20th-ranked power play in the NHL, and they allowed two goals.
We’re not exactly talking about the Globetrotters here, but the Canadiens made the Panthers look like them on their way from 29th down to 31st on the penalty kill.
It’s a mess, and it has been for the majority of the season — putting down a welcome mat at the defensive blue line, passively allowing teams to set themselves up in their zone thereafter, failing to make the right reads, to fill lanes, to cover players, to block shots, to clear pucks and to find any type of cohesion.
As captain Nick Suzuki put it, “It’s been killing us lately, and we’ve got to really clean that up.”
Get the Canadiens the world’s biggest broom for that job.
Hey, this game made it clear the penalty kill isn’t the only thing they need to work on. It took them nearly 36 minutes to get to 10 shots and, up until that point, they struggled just as much to connect consecutive passes — and this was against a Florida team that played a hard-fought game against the New York Rangers Friday while the Canadiens were free to stroll the beaches of Fort Lauderdale.
“I liked our first. We didn’t give up much,” St. Louis said. “But in the second we had trouble executing defensively and recovering pucks. It made us spend a lot more time in our zone. It’s a team that doesn’t give you a lot of space, they reload a lot. We dumped the puck to go forecheck, but we had to change. It’s hard to be on top of your opponent with a one-man forecheck.”
All that is true, but it’s also impossible to beat your opponent with a penalty kill that can’t kill.
The Panthers would’ve gone three-for-three had it not been for an offside challenge that successfully overturned a Carter Verhaeghe goal.
When you watched them attack the Canadiens on that specific play, it looked so unbelievably easy for them to expose all their weaknesses.
“I don’t think it’s one thing,” said St. Louis.
It looks like everything.
“It’s the four guys,” St. Louis added. “If you have one guy that has a missed assignment, it’s usually an opportunity. So, we’re going to keep teaching.”
The learning has to sink in quickly.
“It’s knowing your opponent, first off,” said goaltender Jake Allen. “Obviously, we change opponents every night, but it’s pre-scouted. [The key is] predictability, for me, from our P.K. units. Predictable to each other, predictable knowing which way one guy’s going to go…Once you get that in sync with your team, that’s when you get guys playing the same P.K. together all the time, playing on the same units. They read off each other, they know each other’s games. I’ve played behind a couple of really good penalty kills in St. Louis and the biggest thing, for me, going back to those days as the guy behind it all watching it unfold, is predictability. Obviously, we’ve got to go back to the drawing board and get a little more predictable.”
And the Canadiens have to avoid the needless penalties.
Nick Suzuki’s hold in the second period wasn’t necessary at the end of a long shift, and it led to Luostarinen’s first goal.
Later on, Jordan Harris played a puck seconds after Kaiden Guhle had already replaced him on the ice, leaving the Canadiens with too many men.
And then there was what Armia did.
He’s 30 years old, this is his ninth season in the NHL, and two ill-timed penalties over the last two games are two of many unforgivable ones he’s taken over the last few years with the Canadiens.
How will St. Louis deal with it, as the Canadiens are only carrying 12 forwards for their remaining game of this road trip in Tampa Bay Sunday?
“Conversation,” he said. “It’s gotta be corrected. It can’t happen. Ice time? There’s many ways to address that, but it’s gotta be addressed.”
The French league’s legal commission has ordered Paris Saint-Germain to pay Kylian Mbappé the 55 million euros ($61 million) in unpaid wages that he claims he’s entitled to, the league said Thursday.
The league confirmed the decision to The Associated Press without more details, a day after the France superstar rejected a mediation offer by the commission in his dispute with his former club.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Former football star Reggie Bush was at his Encino home Tuesday night when three male suspects attempted to break in, the Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday.
“Everyone is safe,” Bush said in a text message to the newspaper.
The Los Angeles Police Dept. told the Times that a resident of the house reported hearing a window break and broken glass was found outside. Police said nothing was stolen and that three male suspects dressed in black were seen leaving the scene.
Bush starred at Southern California and in the NFL. The former running back was reinstated as the 2005 Heisman Trophy winner this year. He forfeited it in 2010 after USC was hit with sanctions partly related to Bush’s dealings with two aspiring sports marketers.
VANCOUVER – A fresh face has been gracing the B.C. Lions‘ highlight reels in recent weeks.
Midway through his second CFL campaign, wide receiver Ayden Eberhardt has contributed touchdowns in two consecutive games.
The 26-year-old wide receiver from Loveland, Colo., was the lone B.C. player to reel in a passing major in his team’s 37-23 victory over the league-leading Montreal Alouettes last Friday. The week before, he notched his first CFL touchdown in the Lions’ win over the Ottawa Redblacks.
“It’s been awesome. It’s been really good,” Eberhardt said of his recent play. “At the end of the day, the biggest stat to me is if we win. But who doesn’t love scoring?”
He’ll look to add to the tally Friday when the Leos (7-6) host the Toronto Argonauts.
Eberhardt signed with B.C. as a free agent in January 2023 and spent much of last season on the practice squad before cementing a role on the roster this year.
The six-foot-two, 195-pound University of Wyoming product has earned more opportunities in his second season, said Lions’ head coach and co-general manager Rick Campbell.
“He’s a super hard worker and very smart. He understands, has high football IQ, as we call it,” Campbell said.
The fact that Eberhardt can play virtually every receiving position helps.
“He could literally go into a game and we could throw him into a spot and he’d know exactly what he’s doing,” the coach said. “That allows him to play fast and earn the quarterback’s trust. And you see him making plays.”
Eberhardt credited his teammates, coaches and the rest of the Lions’ staff with helping him prepare for any situation he might face. They’ve all spent time teaching him the ins and outs of the Canadian game, or go over the playbook and run routes after practice, he said.
“I’ve played every single position on our offence in a game in the last two years, which is kind of crazy. But I love playing football,” he said. “I want to play any position that the team needs me to play.”
While B.C.’s lineup is studded with stars like running back William Stanback — who has a CFL-high 938 rushing yards — and wide receiver Justin McInnis — who leads the league in both receiving yards (1,074) and receiving TDs (seven) — versatility has been a critical part of the team’s back-to-back wins.
“I think we’ve got a lot of talented guys who deserve to get the ball and make big plays when they have the ball in their hands. So it’s really my job to get them the ball as much as possible,” said quarterback Nathan Rourke.
“I think that makes it easy when you can lean on those guys and, really, we’re in a situation where anyone can have a big game. And I think that’s a good place to be.”
Even with a talented lineup, the Lions face a tough test against an eager Argos side.
Toronto lost its second straight game Saturday when it dropped a 41-27 decision to Ottawa.
“We’ll have our hands full,” Rourke said. “We’ll have to adjust on the fly to whatever their game plan is. And no doubt, they’ll be ready to go so we’ll have to be as well.”
The two sides have already met once this season when the Argos handed the Lions a 35-27 loss in Toronto back on June 9.
A win on Friday would vault B.C. to the top of the West Division standings, over the 7-6 Winnipeg Blue Bombers who are on a bye week.
Collecting that victory isn’t assured, though, even with Toronto coming in on a two-game skid, Campbell said.
“They’ve hit a little bit of a rut, but they’re a really good team,” he said. “They’re very athletic. And you can really see (quarterback Chad Kelly’s) got zip on the ball. When you see him in there, he can make all the throws. So we’re expecting their best shot.”
TORONTO ARGONAUTS (6-6) AT B.C. LIONS (7-6)
Friday, B.C. Place
HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE: The Lions boast a 4-1 home record this season, including a 38-12 victory over the Redblacks at Royal Athletic Park in Victoria, B.C., on Aug. 31. The Argos have struggled outside of BMO Field and hold a 1-5 away record. Trips to the West Coast haven’t been easy for Toronto in recent years — since 2003, the club is 4-14 in road games against B.C.
CENTURION: B.C. defensive back Garry Peters is set to appear in his 100th consecutive game. The 32-year-old from Conyers, Ga., is a two-time CFL all-star who has amassed 381 defensive tackles, 19 special teams tackles and 16 interceptions over seven seasons. “Just being on the field with the guys every day, running around, talking trash back and forth, it keeps me young,” Peters said. “It makes me feel good, and my body doesn’t really feel it. I’ve been blessed to be able to play 100 straight.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
