Early in the first period against the Chicago Blackhawks, Jesperi Kotkaniemi was in position to open the scoring and get a lead for a Montreal Canadiens team in need of a bounce-back performance. Getting the first goal of the game would have been instrumental in boosting the confidence of a struggling group. The team would have come out of the gate, taken control, and responded to the words of some of the team leaders after a difficult loss to the New York Islanders.
But instead of feeding a pass to Kotkaniemi, left wide open on the flank of Corey Crawford, Joel Armia turned in his position in the slot and fired the puck wide of the cage, erasing what would have been one of the Habs’ best scoring chances in the game.