Canadiens Hold 2-2 Tie Before Game 5 in Canadien De Montreal Match
The canadien de montreal match was tied 2-2 on Wednesday morning, and the series with Tampa Bay was headed toward a fifth game that could swing everything. For Montreal, the scoreline put the focus back on a deadline decision that left Kent Hughes and Jeff Gorton without a deal.
Nick Suzuki and the deadline call
Nick Suzuki had already set the tone in late February when he said, "Je ne m’attends pas à un échange. Je crois fermement en notre groupe de joueurs." He was speaking about a roster that had been living with the same question since last season: whether it had enough depth at second center.
That issue has sat at the center of this series. Since the start against Tampa, the biggest weakness in the Canadiens lineup has been the lack of a second center, and at home Jon Cooper only had one trio to neutralize at even strength, the line centered by Suzuki.
Kadri, Roy and Schenn
The market moved before March 6 at 15h. Nazem Kadri, Nicolas Roy and Brayden Schenn were the three main centers to change teams, and Montreal had interest in Kadri under its own terms, including 50 percent salary retention. Calgary found that price unacceptable, while only 20 percent of Kadri’s salary was retained in the deal that sent him to the Avalanche of Colorado.
Roy went to the Avalanche for a first-round pick, and he has two goals and one assist in four playoff games. Montreal would have viewed him as a slightly improved version of Jake Evans as a defensive right-handed center, which made the choice harder to ignore when the Canadiens finished the deadline without a move.
Canadiens defense and Game 5
Brayden Schenn also came off the board, landing with the New York Islanders for a first-round pick, and the Islanders missed the playoffs after making that move. He is under contract for two more years, a reminder that deadline prices were not limited to short-term rentals.
Montreal also asked about Connor Murphy, who later went to the Edmonton Oilers for a second-round pick. Even without Noah Dobson, the Canadiens’ defense has held up in a very close series, although the fourth game brought early signs of weakness.
With the series level at 2-2 and no deadline addition coming from Hughes and Gorton, the next game carries the weight of the decision. If Montreal’s depth up the middle and on the right side fails again, the conversation around the quiet deadline will only get louder.
