I Watched This Game: Wrong for Wright

 It's been a trying season for both the Montreal Canadiens and the Arizona Coyotes, as one team was expected to be awful and rebuild a rebuild while the other is experiencing a riches to rags story. Yes, both teams are ahead in the Shane Wright sweepstakes and they squared off this week. I watched this game.

First period

• The Canadiens are starting Cayden Primeau while the Coyotes are starting Karel Vejmelka. This is also where the Canadiens are without Jake Allen and Brendan Gallagher, and are suiting up recent waiver wire pickup Rem Pitlick, who still has his Minnesota Wild bag amongst the Canadiens bags.
• Really good seats were available for this game, you could even see empty seats on the hard camera side.
• At 5:19, the Coyotes see their hard work pay off, as their persistence leads to a Travis Boyd goal from the dots. Nick Schmaltz and Clayton Keller get the assists. 
• Liam O'Brien gets called for holding at 5:38, putting the Canadiens on the power play. Nothing came of it, as has been the case all season long.
• At 8:18, Phil Kessel makes a beautiful pass across the ice to Johan Larsson, who fires from almost the same spot as the Boyd goal past Primeau to make it 2-0. Dysin Mayo gets the other assist.
• Victor Soderstrom makes a terrible pass in his own end to Jonathan Drouin, who finds Pitlick in the slot. He beats a sprawling Vejmelka to cut the lead to 1 at 15:11. That is where the score stands, as the period would end.

This was relatively even, with Arizona doing more with their chances, but also making a major mistake that led to the Canadiens goal.

Second period

• At the 4:27 mark, the Canadiens season in a nutshell occurs, as a rebound finds Janis Moser at the point. He proceeds to skate in, weaving through traffic with little resistance to sneak one past Primeau to make it 3-1. Moser was drafted in 2021 as a 21-year old. I get late bloomer, but the Canadiens made him look like Connor McDavid out there. No wonder there's talk about the Canadiens possibly looking for a new coach.
• O'Brien was interfering with Joel Armia, and now sits for two at the 6:18 mark. The Canadiens still can't score, as their only shots were from the point with no one in front to deflect. 
• As Christian Dvorak chases Moser behind the Coyotes net, Ilya Lyubushkin gets in his way, and setting a pick is seen as interference. He sits at 9:34.
• Oh, look, the Canadiens actually score on the power play, and it took Ryan Poehling being in front of the net to tip in a Drouin shot from the point. Jeff Petry also gets the assist at 11:13.
• A Mike Hoffman slash at 15:41 puts Arizona on the power play. They don't convert, but...
• ...they do score at 18:02, thanks to Nick Schmaltz finding a loose puck in front of the net. Antoine Roussel and Larsson get the assists. Montreal thinks the goalie was being interfered with, but lose the challenge. As a result, they are given two minutes for delay of game and lose their time out. Cole Caufield serves the penalty. 

At the end of two, it is 4-2 Arizona. Montreal had more shots, but fewer quality chances. Arizona plays hard, no one can deny that. The talent level isn't there, and it was evident on a couple of missed chances. 

Third period 

• The Canadiens begin the period by switching out Primeau for Sam Montembeault, and also killing off the remaining two seconds of the Coyotes power play that carried over.
• 4:52 sees Brett Kulak clear the puck over the glass, and he sits for delay of game. No score occurs.
• Hoffman is off at 12:40 for a slash against Keller, and once again, Arizona does not score.
• The Coyotes do score at 18:18, on an empty net by Keller. Schmaltz and Moser get the assists, and that is pretty much game.
• Alex Romanov gets delay of game at 19:41, wrapping up a 5-2 final for the Coyotes.

The Coyotes were the team for much of this game, and the result reflects that. The Canadiens didn't have answers for much of the game, though they do put some distance between themselves and Arizona for best odds to draft first overall.