10 Thoughts – Turning Saves Into Goals

Feeling confident with their 3–1 record, the Montreal Canadiens were looking to continue their high-flying start to the season on Thursday against Nashville. With divisional teams facing numerous hurdles  – both Tkachuk’s undergoing surgery, Aleksander Barkov done for the year, turmoil in Toronto and Tampa Bay – there is an opening for le CH to accumulate points now rather than needing to claw for them later in the season.

Over the course of the contest, Montreal certainly spent plenty of time with puck possession and connected on lots of passes, but they were not able to consistently take advantage of their skilled play with goals. The formula seems to be sound with the eye test, however, as the Bleu-Blanc-Rouge stole another game in overtime off the stick of Cole Caufield. Habs fans in attendance were again treated to a spectacular night of dramatic play, skill, and perseverance from both teams. In this case, it could only really end one way.

Starting Lines

Caufield – Suzuki – Slafkovsky
Newhook – Kapanen – Demidov
Bolduc – Dach – Gallagher
Laine – Evans – Anderson

Guhle – Hutson
Matheson – Dobson
Struble – Carrier

10 Thoughts

1) Montreal showed early speed and enthusiasm to start the game, leading directly to opportunities in the offensive zone and Patrik Laine’s drawn hooking penalty. After going 0/2 at the home opener and 2/10 in Chicago, the Habs were looking to establish a rhythm with the man advantage. Someone who always seems to have rhythm is the Russian phenom, Ivan Demidov. While the second unit was out on an early first period advantage, he created two opportunities by leveraging his vision and edges. In another development of the power play, the bench boss certainly decided that having bodies in front of the net would be advantageous. Dobson’s shot and Bolduc’s opportunity were both direct results of net front pressure.

2) In the back half of the first period, the balance of the ice was clearly tilted in favour of the home squad. The Canadiens have established a working formula for their attack that is beginning to yield results on the ice, even if not always on the scoresheet. Each line was able to establish a transition from the defensive zone to move the puck up the ice, often after a Nashville dump-and-change. The top line was often joined on the rush by defensemen, and even Hutson was sometimes below the circles on the forecheck tonight.

3) Jakub Dobes delivered a sensational save on a broken play at 5:45 of the first period. As Noah Dobson had the puck jump over his stick literally at the moment he looked to put it on net, his inertia seemingly carried him in a swiveling motion, causing him to lose his balance. Naturally, the Predators forwards immediately pounced and carried the puck up the ice in a 3-on-1 as Matheson hurried to cover his partner. Matheson rushed to Filip Forsberg, pressured him into sliding the puck in the crease, forcing Dobes to extend and show off his infamous size. At 6’4, he moves quite a distance in net when he intends to. To cap it off, the Habs immediately transitioned to their own 2-on-1 opportunity for Newhook and Demidov, but to no avail on the scoreboard. As the first period finished 0-0 and six shots apiece, both teams were looking to improve on core components of their play. The Canadiens knew that they were controlling most of the play, moving quickly and consistently pursuing the puck. The onus was on them to push the pace at home and exploit the opportunities a second period provides. Nashville, on the other hand, were able to bend but not break and take confidence that Juuse Saros was continuing his excellent play to start the season.

4) Montreal began the second similarly to the first. With some early speed, the Habs were able to jump on the Nashville defenders on the forecheck and exchange some rush chances. Mike Matheson, continuing his energetic start, drew a slashing penalty from Cole Smith as he tried to make an outlet pass at his own blueline. Their second chance of the night, the top unit failed to produce either meaningful chances or zone control for the first minute and a half, until Juraj Slafkovsky carried the puck into the zone and allowed Caufield a quick shot in the slot. With only 20 seconds to work with, Demidov again made his presence felt on the ice with a laser one-touch pass via Dobson to Laine, but the feed was not able to make it past Dach’s skate in the slot. For the second unit, it is clear they are not getting the results that their skilled lineup warrants. For Demidov, it was not the first instance of his passes being missed, and even in this game, it was not the last.

5) Despite the chances piling up for the Canadiens, especially for the top line, the score remained even at zero when the Predators were awarded their first power play of the night when Zach Bolduc was issued a hooking call and Montreal’s penalty killers went to work. The diamond formation held strong against Roman Josi’s brazen rushes into the slot with the puck, resulting in multiple clears, however, a centring pass from Steven Stamkos deflected perfectly off Kaiden Guhle’s skate to squeak by Dobes and give the Predators the icebreaker. Less than two minutes later, a wild bounce from a dump-in nearly doubled the lead, as Dobes was caught behind the net as the puck rolled dangerously inside the blue paint. Thankfully for Dobes, Hutson was there to clear. Undoubtedly, the Anderson – Evans – Laine line did not perform well in the second period. They were very rarely started in the defensive zone, but were just as often changing from there after a whistle. There was something rather off-putting, speaking as a surely ignorant fan, about watching a loose puck in the defensive zone roll away slowly from a winger who has scored 50 goals and makes $8.7 million per season, and that winger looks at his teammates further away to retrieve it.

6) Demidov remains a gamer. His penalty for holding the stick was completely valid, but it is precisely the type of penalty a player takes when they are completely engaged in the game, much like sacrificial hooking calls on breakaways or physical retribution “disagreements”. The rookie was in a scrum with Spencer Stastney in the corner of the offensive zone, and clearly thought there would not be any visual of his infraction by the referees. Unfortunately for the Canadiens, the striped security guard on skates was in the perfect position to spot exactly what Demidov was doing and issued his temporal fines. The Habs penalty killers were able to safeguard the one-goal deficit for the remainder of the second period, leaving the Canadiens with ground to make up for in the third.

7) Nashville understood the assignment for the third period: skate the Canadiens into their own corners, doggedly forecheck each puck, and close off the lanes in their own zone. This strategy yielded favorable results, as the Habs were on their heels during much of the final frame. Laine enacted an excellent read to pick off a blind pass behind the net and fed Anderson in the slot, but once more, le CH was not able to bury their chance. Saros would not be beat.

8) Six minutes into the third period, Montreal finally broke through. Demidov performed his now signature curl-back below the circle, threw the puck to Guhle at the point, who moved the puck to Hutson, who, of course, shot. Oliver Kapanen followed a bouncing puck with two shots right in Saros’ crease and was left completely untouched by the Nashville defenders to finish off his rebound and put the Canadiens on the board. The Bell Centre came alive, only to be brought back down to earth minutes later.

9) Just as Matheson made a daring individual run from his own blue line through Saros’ paint – who made an incredible pad stop – the Predators were able to control the loose puck and quickly launch a transition attack. Nick Perbix took a short pass from his teammate and essentially walked through four Montreal defenders in the middle of the ice and released a shot from the top of the right circle. It beat Dobes low-blocker and re-established the one-goal lead for Nashville. Notably on the play, Laine seemed to leave pressuring Perbix as he entered the zone to cover a crossing pass, and Dobson did not at all adjust to enter the shooting lane. It will certainly be a goal that the coaching and video teams break down after the fact.

10) Michael McCarron was called for tripping with less than six minutes remaining, and the power play threw almost all they could at the Nashville defenders. Both units had choice opportunities; Demidov was dancing and passing the puck to each of his counterparts, and Dach was unable to finish in front of the net. Unable to solve the goaltender, the penalty killers eventually – and literally – threw the puck out of the zone in order to clear the pressure. Inexplicably, with 19.3 seconds remaining, this Montreal Canadiens team came through for their fans just one more time. Nashville, proudly defending their lead, cleared the zone, got the puck to a 40-goal scorer in Jonathan Marchessault, and surely expected to close out the game since the smallest player on the ice is all that’s in the way of the empty net. Unfortunately for Nashville, both of the smallest players on either roster are on the ice. Of course, Lane Hutson blocked the shot to save the empty net, and he sent a perfect zone-long pass to Cole Caufield streaking down the wing, and Caufield evened the game up at two. Off to overtime.

BONUS OVERTIME THOUGHTS!

Both teams had their best and most skilled players on the ice for overtime. Over the course of the extra frame, Suzuki played seemingly the entire five minutes and provided a highlight reel of setups and shots of his own. He labelled iron twice, Demidov showed off his speed and hands with more space, and of course, again, Cole Caufield was sitting in the slot when a, you guessed it, Nick Suzuki saucer pass landed on his stick. He did not miss the top shelf, again, scoring the winner with just two seconds left.

HW Habs 3 Stars

1st Star: Cole Caufield – He is Him. What else is there to say about the best Habs goal scorer that this generation of fans have had the opportunity to watch? We were told that he would be too small, we were told he would not be able to maintain his torrid pace from last season, and we were told he would have to adjust his game. Think again.

Stats: 2 goals, +2 rating, 4 shots, 1 hit(s), 20:54 TOI

2nd Star: Jakub Dobes – Dobes played a consistent and controlled game, only beaten once on his angles by the Predators on a breakaway. His play enabled the Canadiens to stay in the game and push the pace of attack, as he provided the security and mindfulness of quality goaltending. His overtime stop matched all of

Stats: 19 SV, .895 SV%, 2 GA, 1.89 GAA

3rd Star: Lane Hutson – This game would not have been the game it was if he did not assert himself as himself. What do I mean by that? If Lane Hutson played like any other player, the spirit of the team and the confidence of the entire defensive squad would suffer. It would be a different culture. As Cole said after the game, “That’s just who Lane is.” and after nearly 25 minutes of ice time, we can confirm – that is indeed just who Lane is.

Stats: 2 assists, +2 rating, 1 shot, 2 blocks, 24:42 TOI