Rating The Tank: The Beantown Nonsense Edition

Mar 24, 2023 - 10:00 AM

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The Montreal Canadiens rolled into Boston coming off a feelgood win over the Tampa Bay Lightning earlier in the week. Against the Bruins, they came out and gave their forever rivals all they could handle before falling 4-2 in regulation.

The Good

Nick Suzuki topped 200 career points with the Canadiens by putting up a third straight multi-point game, including a wicked one-timer to open the scoring for his team and then kickstarting a great passing play for Kirby Dach’s 14th goal of the season.

Speaking of Dach, for a guy who missed as much time as he did this season, he looks so incredibly in-form right now. He was making spinning passes, getting amazing deflections, and everything else you could possibly ask for.

Also, while not part of this game, Lane Hutson rules so hard that it’s going to be illegal to talk about how hard he rules soon.

The Bad

Well, to be charitable, the officiating in this game was terrible.

Between the calls the refs missed initially, or the ones they straight up let go, it was a game that had a chance to turn into an on-ice disaster. Mike Hoffman was a casualty however, taking an A.J. Greer cross-check right to the mouth, leaving him bloodied, but able to finish the game with a full face shield after some patchwork.

It was also a night to forget for many of the vets, namely David Savard, Joel Edmundson, and Jake Allen.

Oh and Josh Anderson is done for the year. Again, that didn’t happen in this game, but it really sucks.

Lottery Movement

Another improbable Flyers win and a Canadiens loss in regulation leaves them locked into fifth place with plenty of breathing room now.

Tankathon

Florida also lost, a nice boost for the Habs on the night as well as many are hoping to possibly see another pick fall into lottery range. At the time of writing, the Ducks are losing to the Jets, but any earned points by Anaheim would be huge for the Habs to inch them closer to the bottom four.

Tank Score

10/10

Honestly, this was exactly the kind of game you have in mind when you talk about losing competitively this year. Montreal pushed the Bruins to their brink, and if not for a less-than-stellar start from Jake Allen, they likely would have earned at least one point.

Suzuki and Dach having a standout showing is always going to bolster the Tank Score, and without earning any standings points it’s even better.

Next up for the Habs is a Toilet Bowl showdown with the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday night.