Comment 1 - How do you stop this Vancouver top line?
In this 4-2 Vancouver victory over Montreal, coaches and analysts alike are starting to really take a deep dive into how they can stop this top line from Vancouver from absolutely decimating them. Clearly, Montreal didn't do their homework well enough with the top line of Borromini Cannellini--Petr Mikulak--Cullen Gray racking up 6 points total across the three. Mikulak having one of his best games of the season showed up to play with 2G and 1A while Cannellini tallied up 1G 1A and Gray riding along with 1A. While some may say that Vancouver relies too heavily on their top line snipers so their production can be unsustainable, I for one beg to differ. Borromini has shown that he can continue to maintain his over point per game pace across 42 games and the time share across the lines seems to be very well balanced, keeping everyone's legs fresh and reduces the risk of fatigue or injury. For example, Vancouver divvied their time across their lines much more balanced than their opponents with Vancouver running 32/28/25/15 % split whereas Montreal pushed heavily on their top lines in a 36/30/24/10% split. Perhaps Montreal can look to shake their lines up a bit more to spark their offense or work on their time share a bit more, because if not, we can see fatigue taking a bigger role in their play which will inevitably lead to more losses down the road.

Comment 2 - Faceoffs make a difference:
If you look into any hockey play book or coaching pamphlet, one of the biggest ways you can maintain offensive pressure is by simply winning the faceoffs. Faceoffs allow you to control the puck and set up dangerous plays in the attacking zone with fresh legs on the ice. This proved to be the case here in this game where Vancouver dominated Montreal in the faceoff department by winning 41 FO vs 35. While some may say that a 6 faceoff difference is not that big of a deal, I for one would counter that argument. Any faceoff win in the offensive zone immediately sets your opponent on their heels and forces a defensive hand. If you have MVP caliber players like Borromini to defend against, fatigue quickly can set in against your defenders while they try to cover a man of that stature. While MTL's Kristoffer Svensson showed his FO talents by winning 13/24 puck drops, Pavel Pivonka and Keegan Angello shit the bed in that department by only winning 5/13 and 7/22 face offs, a mere 34.28% FO win rate among the two. For reference, Vancouver's worst faceoff player this game was Andy Kerr, with 10/24 faceoffs won (41.6%). Needless to say, MTL needs to improve on this part of their game in order to drive more offense.

Comment 3 - Penalties cost games:
Montreal went into the 3rd period holding a 2-1 lead over Vancouver up until Oliver Klozoff (MTL) was called for Holding (Minor) at 5:27 into the period. As we all know, hockey is all about momentum. With Vancouver being held off the score sheet in the 1st and getting a taste of scoring in the 2nd, it was only a matter of time that the Whalers top line would capitalize on an opportunity if it were to rear its head, and rear its head it did. 20 seconds into the power play, Mikulak fired a puck home and tied the game up. Fans can feel the momentum shift immediately towards Vancouver and that top line was out for blood. Montreal tried to weather the storm the best they could but it wasn't even a full 7 minutes later that Borromini blasted a puck into the back of the net to put the Whalers up for the first time in this game. Montreal was all in at this moment to try and level the game, but doing so made them out of position which Mikulak once again exploited by slipping behind the defense and sealing the game away with another goal, the second of the night, barely 1 minute after the last goal. Fans and analysts alike all wonder if Klozoff hadn't been called for holding, would Montreal be able to ride this game out to victory but that is something we will never know.