After playing their home opener on Tuesday, the Montreal Canadiens were playing their first Saturday night game at the Bell Centre by hosting the New York Rangers. Unfortunately for Martin St-Louis, his team was hit by the injury bug, and he had to make do without Kaiden Guhle (out for four to six weeks with a lower-body injury), Kirby Dach, and Patrik Laine, who are both day-to-day with lower-body ailments as well.
Unlike the Habs, the Blueshirts have not had a great start to the season; they’ve been struggling to find the back of the net with only 11 goals in six games, which meant that despite their goalies being red-hot, they could still only manage two wins.
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The last time the Rangers came to visit in October, they destroyed the Canadiens 7-2, and the Habs decided that was not happening tonight. Too often last season, they were slow out of the gate, and even this year, they’ve played a lot of catch-up hockey. Within less than two minutes, Cole Caufield and Juraj Slafkovsky had taken flight on an odd-man rush, and for once, the sniper was the passer as the power forward took a perfect shot that beat Jonathan Quick.
Just about two minutes later, the Canadiens doubled their lead on the power play, and with Dach and Laine out, we saw a new look second man-advantage unit, which featured Alex Newhook, Ivan Demidov, Brendan Gallagher, Noah Dobson, and Nick Suzuki, who was double-shifted. The young Russian launched one of his cross-zone passes, the very one he keeps feeding Laine with, and the captain buried it instantly to give Montreal a 2-0 lead. Perhaps something we would see a lot more often if the rookie were moved to the first unit.
Unfortunately, the Rangers went on to score four unanswered goals, and by the time the Canadiens answered, it was just too late.
Since St-Louis reunited Newhook, Oliver Kapanen, and Demidov on one line, the results have been impressive. Not only does the line pack a lot of footspeed, but they are all quick thinkers as well. In training camp, the coach insisted that he wanted his team to play defense as a unit of five and not just in the defensive zone, and that trio has really understood the assignment.
The very moment they lose the puck, they immediately switch to forecheck mode and become puck hunters. There’s not a couple of seconds to lament the fact that a chance was missed or that the play was intercepted; they transition automatically, and quite often, they do manage to recover the puck. It’s rather impressive for a line that includes a couple of rookies.
The Canadiens had four takeaways in the game, and three of those belonged to that line, with each player getting one. When asked about their ability to get into defense mode quickly, St-Louis said:
They all have the tools to do that. Playing defensively is an attitude, and they have the skills for it. Kapy has a high mental switch; he knows when there’s a danger, it may head the other way. He anticipates it. Newie has the footspeed to catch up, and Demi as well, and he’s got an annoying stick. It’s a good line. – St-Louis on the Newhook, Kapanen and Demidov line
When Matt Rempe and Arber Xhekaj were both in the box and the teams were playing four-on-four, Demidov’s “annoying stick” allowed the Canadiens to keep up the pressure rather than go back in the defensive zone.
Some players have been in the league for quite a long time, and they still cannot achieve that transition as quickly. There’s no denying that this makes the line a very useful one. Those who thought Demidov was being demoted when the coach broke up the Laine-Dach-Demidov line need to think again.
Xhekaj has always been good at defending his teammates, but tonight, he proved he had gotten even better at it. In the second frame, Sam Carrick landed a big hit on Lane Hutson, and the sophomore didn’t like it; he hit Carrick right back himself. As the puck moved towards the other end, Xhekaj got close to the Rangers player, and a fight broke out. The result was a spirited tilt and no instigator penalty.
Last year, Xhekaj might have jumped on Carrick as Hutson was hitting him back and got himself an instigator penalty, but not this season, the rugged blueliner now knows better. In the first frame, with the Canadiens leading 2-0, Rempe and one of his teammates hit him both at once, and he didn’t bite. There was no reason to give the Rangers some oxygen as they were struggling to find their air. Asked about how important it is for a player of Hutson’s size to know that he’s got someone like the big blueliner in his corner, the bench boss said:
I think it’s good to have. I think he did his job, and didn’t take an extra penalty, so you know, you need those guys. – St-Louis on the importance of having someone looking out for smaller players
After Xhekaj came out of the box, Rempe tried to get him to drop the gloves with him, which was understandable since the hit Carrick landed on Hutson was clean, but he declined the invitation; he had nothing to gain by accepting. That was another good decision on his part. With Guhle injured, the gritty defenseman should remain in the lineup barring a catastrophe, and tonight’s game was a good one from that standpoint.
Carrick wasn’t the only one trying to hit Hutson; clearly, the youngster is now a big talking point in the league, and he has forced the opponents to take notice and adjust.
In the end, that 4-3 defeat will hurt, especially since at least one of the goals should have been a save. I don’t know what it is about Samuel Montembeault and shots from far out, but this was an issue last year as well, in the final stretch, when the Habs were desperately trying to make the playoffs. Back then, I put it down to jitters because of the importance of the moment, but to see this trend continue this season is worrying. Has his confidence been shaken? Is he thinking too much about making the Team Canada roster for the Olympics? It’s hard to know.
In all fairness to Montembeault, though, he faced the music after the game, saying:
I’m going to take most of the blame here. I have to be better; it’s two games in a row now that I have good first periods, and then it’s going a lot less well in the third. The guys are working hard, they play well on both sides of the puck, and it’s my job to make the saves.
The Canadiens will have a day off tomorrow before getting back on the Bell Centre ice on Monday for a morning skate and one last home game against the Buffalo Sabres before heading out west.
Slafkovsky had a good time in the first frame, but the Rangers got the last laugh.
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