10 Thoughts: Montembeault Shines and Beats Toronto

The Habs kicked off the 2024-25 regular season on Wednesday, hosting Toronto.  They got an early power play goal and Samuel Montembeault stole the show from there as Montreal picked up the 1-0 victory.

With Montreal not exactly running out a full lineup late in the preseason, this was the first time we’d see who got first crack in Patrik Laine’s spot on the second line.  That was fellow Finn Joel Armia, a nice outcome compared to a year ago when he had just cleared waivers before the opener.  The rest of the team lined up as follows:

Caufield – Suzuki – Slafkovsky
Newhook – Dach – Armia
Barre-Boulet – Dvorak – Anderson
Heineman – Evans – Gallagher

Matheson – Guhle
Hutson – Savard
Xhekaj – Barron

Montembeault

10 Thoughts

1) After last season’s less-than-inspiring player introduction, the Habs found a good blend between theatrics and simplicity this time around.  Nice to see.

2) Martin St. Louis joked that the Habs didn’t show any opponents anything on the power play.  Maybe he wasn’t joking after all.  Montreal didn’t score on their first one of the game but had some chances.  The second one saw them break through.  After the second wave had a good chance off a set play, the top unit then scored on one with Juraj Slafkovsky threading a cross-ice feed to Cole Caufield who buried it past Anthony Stolarz.  It’s the third straight season-opener in which he scored a goal.

3) On the other side of special teams, Josh Anderson rarely saw time shorthanded last season, playing 4:36 for the entire year.  But he took a regular turn on Montreal’s frequent early penalty kills which was intriguing.  He’s done it before with varying degrees of success, even going back to his days in Columbus.  We saw last year with Armia when he went into one of his (frequent) droughts, he at least could hang his hat on killing penalties, contributing that way.  With Anderson’s confidence wavering last year when he wasn’t scoring, I’m curious to see if some good penalty killing shifts help stop him from reaching those lows again.  If so, it could even help on the offensive end.

4) The opening period of a season can often be a snoozer with the play typically being choppy.  The first period in this one was anything but.  The defence was a bit sloppy as expected, leading to 30 shots overall.  But there’s a good chance that winds up being one of the more entertaining opening frames of the season.

5) Montreal had some good fortune in the second period.  Toronto hit a pair of goal posts and a crossbar while Montembeault faced more of a barrage of shot attempts.  Somehow, this defence corps is even iffier in their own zone this season with the departures of Jordan Harris and Johnathan Kovacevic so this could be happening with some regularity.

6) The power play in the second period looked a lot like the power play of the preseason (or last season).  Montreal had a long five-on-three and it felt stilted at best.  You need movement to make them work while the Canadiens came out with a very methodical approach.  Over time, that could be Lane Hutson’s role and he’s enough of a jitterbug to take away some of the stationary issues they run into sometimes.  But Mike Matheson has earned a chance to hold that role so I’m not calling for a quick change by any stretch.

7) Alex Barre-Boulet was one of the pleasant surprises of training camp, earning a spot after many (myself included) had him ticketed for the minors.  The role they have him in is one where he struggled previously with Tampa Bay but his playmaking is an NHL-calibre skill and we saw a couple of examples of that in this period.  What hurts him is he has a pair of linemates who have been a bit snake bitten in recent years when it comes to scoring but skill-wise, he more than held his own in his Canadiens debut.

8) I was curious to see how the Habs would come out in the third.  Last year, they sat on a lot of leads and held on for dear life.  Would they do the same?  Yes, yes, they would.  The first five minutes saw them scrambling around in the defensive zone and it set the tone for most of the period.

9) Montreal’s best chance came on a nifty move from Alex Newhook (who had a pretty quiet game otherwise).  He took the puck at centre ice, flipped a pass ahead into open space and did a quick spin around Jake McCabe to get a half-step on him.  He got off a decent shot considering the pressure that forced Stolarz to make a big save but it’s that type of creativity that makes him an intriguing wild card as this team tries to improve offensively.

10) I have to admit, I was a bit surprised to see Brendan Gallagher out there trying to protect the lead with a few minutes left.  Montreal ran four lines pretty consistently throughout the game but that was an interesting call.  Like the first few minutes, the Canadiens were holding on for dear life and while Toronto got several chances – including one in the dying seconds – they were able to hold on for the win, snapping the Maple Leafs’ streak of 227 straight regular season games with a goal.

HW Habs 3 Stars

1st Star: Samuel Montembeault – In his first season opener, it’s fair to say he more than rose to the occasion.  He got a bit of good fortune from the post but he made a lot of key stops and didn’t wilt under Toronto’s pretty consistent pressure as the game went on.  He picks up Montreal’s first season-opening home shutout since 1975; not a bad first impression for the season.

Stats: 45 saves on 45 shots, 0.00 GAA, 1.000 SV%

2nd Star: Cole Caufield – Another one that’s pretty obvious, especially in a one-goal game.  He didn’t tee it up much on the power play but he led the Canadiens in shots and shot attempts.  He has four goals in his last three season-openers against Toronto.

Stats: 1 goal, 4 shots, 17:43 TOI

3rd Star: Brendan Gallagher – While his late-game presence was a bit surprising, it was earned if nothing else.  The fourth line was arguably Montreal’s best in this one when it came to puck possession and Gallagher brought some energy in the offensive zone.  More nights like this will take a bit of heat off if he’s not scoring enough to live up to his contract.

Stats: 0 points, 4 shots, 2 hits, 14:43 TOI