The Montreal Canadiens made stop two of a three-game road trip through California Friday. Stop one went poorly with a 7-5 loss in San Jose. The Canadiens wanted to play a lot tighter hockey against the Ducks in Anaheim, but they struggled terribly on defence, losing again in a 6-5 in a shootout.
Wilde Horses
The last time that the Canadiens had a 100-goal line was in 1993, when they won the Stanley Cup. Vincent Damphousse, Brian Bellows and Kirk Muller counted 110 goals. Thirty-three years have passed since then, and the passionate Canadiens fans still haven’t seen another 100-goal trio.
Last season, Juraj Slafkovsky, Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield played together for the entire year. They counted 85 goals. It felt like this was going to be the season it finally happened. However, head coach Martin St. Louis separated the trio this season, and for a long while that worked out.
Slafkovsky took charge and found that he could level up, carrying the puck a lot for his new line-mates, Oliver Kapanen and Ivan Demidov. They lost their momentum after the Olympics and something had to be done.
The changes made sense as Alex Newhook was brought to the second line with four points in three games since returning from a broken ankle. It was hoped that Slafkovksy could find his game again and rejuvenate the thought that he is the perfect winger for the best two Montreal forwards.
Only three and a half minutes into Friday’s game, Slafkovsky had two assists already. He was the architect of the first, winning the puck on the forecheck. Slafkovsky set up Cole Caufield who fed Nick Suzuki, who fired it home.
The second assist was on the power play as Lane Hutson counted. The offence was rolling again. Suzuki also claimed two points in that first period. The rest of the night, the line just kept on rolling. Cole Caufield scored twice in the third period for 37 on the season to key a monster comeback.
Caufield equalled his career high in goals set last season. The top line was absolutely dominant. Suzuki had two points. Slafkovsky had two points. Caufield had three points. Right away, the mind races to the idea these three can be that 100-goal line if they play a season together next year.
In 24 games together this season, the line has 31 goals. Pro-rated, that is 106 goals for a season. There’s no search for a winger to play with Suzuki. They already have their guy.
The search is actually who can finish the rebuild on the second line. On a good day, it feels like Demidov and Kapanen are two-thirds in place. On a bad day, Kapanen seems overmatched and two players are required to complete that top-six.
The positive for the second line is that Demidov had a strong night. He had two breakaways that he didn’t convert, but he did get the chances. Kirby Dach had a strong game down the roster as well away from Suzuki and Caufield.
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Quietly, Hutson also had a three-point night. He counts points so regularly that it’s easy to miss his greatness. He has 63 points in 61 games this season. Hutson is fourth in the league among defenders in points.
The offence is in high gear. Ten goals in two games should be two wins.
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Only eight teams have allowed more goals than the Canadiens this season, and it’s not getting any better. Montreal looks in disarray defensively. The Canadiens are third in the league in goals for, but defence wins titles, and this club doesn’t play it well.
They also can’t get enough saves from their two goalies. Both Jakub Dobes and Samuel Montembeault are in the bottom third of the league in save percentage and goals saved above expected. Dobes had his worst night of the season with a minus 3.55 GSAE against San Jose.
The head coach looked to Montembeault to turn that around, and he let in the first shot he faced. It was called offside eventually, but Montembeault didn’t know that when he let in a weak 40-foot wrister. Still in the first period, he let in a 55-foot slap shot by Radko Guda that was moving about 65 miles per hour.
In the second period, he let in another 50 footer. Admittedly, it was partly screened, but he wasn’t set for it, and he was in the wrong half of the net on a simple D-to-D passing sequence from the point. This is an extremely predictable moment in hockey and it seems odd that it would surprise a goalie so much that he was in the wrong half of the net.
Montembeault is strangely horrendous on the easiest shot for a goalie. He can’t stop 55-foot floaters. It is bizarre. The emergency back-up goalie in the stands in case of injury can stop the 55-foot floater. And it’s not the first time or the second time. It’s about the 15th time this season Montembeault has let in a ridiculously easy shot.
Another pattern that has played out all season long — and one that played out again on Friday in Anaheim — was the late goal against. The Canadiens allowed yet another goal with the extra attacker. Chris Kreider counted with 42 seconds left. Montembeault finished the night with an .848 save percentage.
It’s not entirely on him, though. The Canadiens are not hard enough on bodies to be successful as a defensive club. The opposition is allowed to establish themselves in dangerous zones repeatedly without seeing hard physical contact against them.
Montreal has an extremely talented team, but grinding it for a win is vital too, and the Canadiens have a lot to learn about establishing position, being physical and making the opposition pay before you’ll see growth in the goals against category.
When a club is third in goals and 24th in goals against, it doesn’t take Scotty Bowman to give you insight into what’s wrong. Seven goals allowed against the Sharks, and five goals allowed against the Ducks is all you need to know.
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The Canadiens fell minutes short of a major trade at the deadline on Friday. General manager Kent Hughes met the media an hour later than what was originally scheduled due to trying to complete a deal. Hughes is usually tight-lipped about specifics in trades, but he described the deal as significant.
Hughes said they simply ran out of time, but they would revisit the deal in the summer. Naturally, that is going to drive the passionate fan base to anxiety and leave everyone trying to make logical guesses who the player Hughes wants to acquire might be.
The first name that comes to mind when one uses the word ‘significant’ is Robert Thomas. The player must be available and the team must be in the mood to trade, and the St. Louis Blues fit the bill. There are naturally other trading teams with significant players who present opportunities. Names like Steve Stamkos, Filip Forsberg and Jordan Binnington come to mind as examples.
There simply cannot be a guarantee who Hughes was speaking of. There can only be a most logical guess, and Thomas fits the criteria. It will be a long summer for the personality type that doesn’t like mysteries.
Hughes also had some interesting thoughts on Patrik Laine, who was not moved at the deadline. Even though he has been ready to play for five weeks, he has not been given the nod by the head coach. Hughes said that Laine is available and has not been a distraction inside the locker room. He added that it is simply up to the head coach to put him in the starting lineup.
Overall, it feels like a missed opportunity to acquire a right-shot defenceman. One is needed because Martin St. Louis cannot get confident in Arber Xhekaj or Jayden Struble. This means that the Canadiens are basically a five-defender team when the going gets tough, and in the playoffs, it’s always tough.
Relying on Xhekaj for only seven minutes when games can go to overtime, and are a lot more physical, could leave the Canadiens shorthanded on the blue line in the playoffs. That’s an issue to worry about when the time comes.
For now, the rebuild continues with Montreal improving season to season from 55 points to 68, then 76 to 91, and now on pace for 104. Though it may seem like a down day due to the lack of excitement standing pat, a look at the big picture sees Hughes as a strong architect with a confidence in his long term vision.
Brian Wilde, a Montreal-based sports writer, brings you Call of the Wilde on globalnews.ca after each Canadiens game.
