Habs Weekly: Some Improvement, But Lots of Questions Remain

While there are still a lot of questions surrounding the Canadiens right now, they managed a respectable week in the standings with three points in three games to stay in the mix in a very tight Atlantic Division.

The Week That Was

Nov. 17: Blue Jackets 4, Canadiens 3 (SO) – Considering their recent struggles, it was a little disheartening to see them come out flat to start this one before rebounding in the back half of the first period.  They struggled again in the second, putting them down by two heading into the third.  However, they’ve come back a lot this season and did so once more with Josh Anderson and Lane Hutson (with the goalie pulled) scoring to send the game to overtime.  The Habs controlled the puck in overtime but didn’t feel obligated to risk giving it up by shooting, sending the game to a shootout where Columbus scored on both their shots to pick up the extra point.

Nov. 20: Capitals 8, Canadiens 4 – To get it out there quickly, the Habs had some reasonable moments in this game.  They had some good offensive pressure and, for the most part, didn’t fold until the very end.  But it’s hard to factor that in when both Samuel Montembeault and Jakub Dobes got lit up by the Capitals and struggled with rebound control and positioning.  Alex Ovechkin had three goals and an assist while Ethen Frank also had a four-point game from Washington’s fourth line.

Nov. 22: Canadiens 5, Maple Leafs 2 – There aren’t many teams who have as many key injuries as Montreal does.  Toronto is one of the exceptions with even more key pieces out.  And boy, did it show.  The Maple Leafs didn’t look particularly sharp for most of the game, allowing the Habs to get out to a 4-0 lead and coast from there.  The back end led the way with Hutson and Noah Dobson (two) opening up the scoring while Anderson capped a solid week with the other two tallies.

StatPack

Skaters:

#	Player	GP	G	A	+/-	PIMS	SOG	ATOI
8	Mike Matheson	3	1	4	+3	4	6	25:08
11	Brendan Gallagher	3	1	1	E	2	6	13:39
13	Cole Caufield	3	0	3	+1	0	15	18:54
14	Nick Suzuki	3	1	1	+1	2	5	20:53
17	Josh Anderson	3	3	0	+2	4	5	16:10
20	Juraj Slafkovsky	3	0	1	E	2	6	16:32
45	Alexandre Carrier	3	0	1	+2	0	1	18:25
47	Jayden Struble	3	0	0	-1	14	2	14:33
48	Lane Hutson	3	2	2	+3	0	9	22:37
49	Jared Davidson	3	0	0	-1	2	2	9:37
53	Noah Dobson	3	2	2	-2	0	6	24:35
63	Florian Xhekaj	1	0	1	+1	7	2	9:48
71	Jake Evans	3	0	2	E	0	2	16:02
72	Arber Xhekaj	3	0	0	-1	10	3	12:49
76	Zachary Bolduc	3	0	1	E	0	4	16:24
89	Joshua Roy	2	0	0	E	2	2	10:42
90	Joe Veleno	3	1	0	E	0	5	12:38
91	Oliver Kapanen	3	1	0	+2	0	5	14:44
93	Ivan Demidov	3	0	4	E	0	3	16:00

Goalies:

#	Player	Record	GAA	SV%	SO
35	Samuel Montembeault	0-1-0	7.88	.700	0
75	Jakub Dobes	1-1-0	3.41	.878	0

Shootout – Skaters:

#	Player	G/ATT
13	Cole Caufield	1/1
14	Nick Suzuki	0/1
93	Ivan Demidov	0/1

Shootout – Goalies:

#	Player	SVS/SF
35	Samuel Montembeault	1/2

Team Leaders:

Goals: Cole Caufield (13)
Assists: Nick Suzuki (18)
Points: Nick Suzuki (23)
+/-: Mike Matheson (+12)
PIMS: Arber Xhekaj (40)
Shots: Cole Caufield (59)

News And Notes

– Forwards Joshua Roy and Florian Xhekaj were recalled from Laval, providing some extra forward depth.  They also turned to free agency, signing Alexandre Texier to a one-year deal.

– Montreal has three players in the top 20 league-wide for points by a defenceman.  Lane Hutson leads the way with 18 (10th), Noah Dobson has 15 (T-14th), and Mike Matheson has 14 (T-18th).

– Brendan Gallagher’s goal against Washington was his first of the year and snapped a 23-game goal drought.  Joe Veleno also potted his first in that game, snapping a 14-game drought to start the season.

Last Game’s Lines:

Caufield – Suzuki – Bolduc
Slafkovsky – Kapanen – Demidov
F. Xhekaj – Evans – Anderson
Davidson – Veleno – Gallagher

Matheson – Dobson
Struble – Hutson
Xhekaj – Carrier

The Week Ahead

Wednesday at Utah – The Habs will wrap up their season series with the Mammoth after winning the first leg a few weeks ago.  Not a lot has changed for Utah since then as they remain a mid-pack team in goals scored, goals allowed, and points in the standings.  Since signing an eight-year extension last month, Logan Cooley has just one goal and three assists in a span of 11 games while Nick Schmaltz remains a point-per-game player, setting himself up nicely for free agency next summer.

Friday at Vegas – The Golden Knights are another team dealing with some injury woes with Mark Stone, William Karlsson, and Adin Hill among those out of the lineup.  Still, they sit second in the Pacific Division and have been one of the stingier defensive teams in the league, thanks in large part to Akira Schmid who has taken the starting job and done pretty well with it.  Jack Eichel and Mitch Marner form a high-end one-two punch on the top line with both players over a point per game while a healthy Tomas Hertl is anchoring the second line. 

Saturday at Colorado – In the back half of a set of afternoon games, the Habs face the league-leading Avalanche who have scored the most goals in the NHL and allowed the fewest.  The latter is particularly noteworthy with Scott Wedgewood being thrust into the starting role when Mackenzie Blackwood was injured to start the season and he has simply played too well to give it up, leading to some Olympic speculation.  Meanwhile, Nathan MacKinnon leads the league in goals (17) and points (37) while Cale Makar and Martin Necas are also in the top ten.  This could be a rough game for whoever gets the start for the Habs in goal.

Final Thought

It’s amazing the difference that an opponent can make.  One thing that didn’t make it into the postgame column against Washington was just how much Josh Anderson has struggled against them over his career.  In 28 regular season games, he has just one goal and two assists against the Capitals, a team he’s faced more than most given his time in Columbus.  Even in the playoffs, he hasn’t done a whole lot with four points in 11 games.  With a team that plays a physical style, that’s a bit surprising.

Then there’s Toronto.  With two goals on Saturday, he’s up to 16 goals against them in 39 games.  For context, there are only two other teams he has double-digit goals against, Ottawa (10) and oddly enough, Winnipeg (11).  Anderson is the same player style-wise versus both teams but against one opponent, he produces like a top-line winger and the other, his stat line would have people calling for him to be benched altogether. 

What is there to glean from this?  Nothing much, really.  It’s just quite the contrast between opponents over a three-day stretch.  Every player has teams they’re much better against than others and ones they struggle against more than others.  It’s not often those two extremes come up back-to-back.