For the third day in a row, the Montreal Canadiens were hitting the ice this morning in Brossard. Group C, which featured Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Juraj Slafkovsky, Mike Matheson, and Noah Dobson, had already played two scrimmages and came out of the dressing room a little before 9:15 to undergo the same practice the other groups had done the days before.
Just like the other groups, they showed plenty of intensity, and there was some intensity in the defense-oriented drill, which involved a few heated one-on-one battles, including one between defenseman Darick Louis-Jean and Slafkovsky; a stick was even broken. When practice wrapped up, Groups A and B took to the ice.
Kirby Dach, who hadn’t featured in a single scrimmage, was on the ice centering Group A’s top line in between Patrik Laine and Ivan Demidov. The big center hit the ground running. He was moving his feet out there, wasn’t tentative at all, and didn’t fear contact either. There were a lot more strides and no gliding out there. The combination shone brightly throughout the 50-minute game.
Watching Demidov stickhandle the puck is almost mesmerizing. The ease with which he can get past opponents is amazing at times, and when both he and Lane Hutson were on the ice at the same time, it wasn’t easy for Group B to regain possession. It was their hard work that led to the first goal, scored by the rookie.
The second goal was scored on a penalty shot by Laine after Group B was stuck in its zone and the big Finn was tripped. Brendan Gallagher was in good spirits, and he cheated when Laine first tried to take his penalty shot, skating to him right away and neutralizing his stick. Of course, Laine got another go and reminded everyone just how much talent was in those hands, easily beating Jakub Dobes.
As for the Zack Bolduc, Alex Newhook, and Owen Beck line, it remained intact, and while it was less impressive than the Dach one, it still created a lot of chances. Beck had a good scoring opportunity, but before he could unleash his shot, he was run over by a train named Hutson. Speaking after the game, the unsuspecting victim said:
I mean, he caught me at a good time; it was a good hit. I was just trying to get that shot off, but I was kind of surprised when I looked up and saw it was him coming across after that hit. It’s cool to see that side of his game; I guess, as long as it’s clean, I don’t care. It’s good on him.- Beck on being hit by an unlikely foe
At the end of the scrimmage, Beck skated over to Hutson to have a little chat, asked what he told the blueliner, and he replied:
Yeah, I was saying I didn’t know he had that in his game, and he just told me he saw me coming in and saw an opportunity to hit me.- Beck on what he said to Hutson
It was another good game for Arber Xhekaj, who looked like he was quicker than last year out there and much more decisive. In two scrimmages, he has made a strong impression on Martin St-Louis:
He’s a young defenseman, and I expected him to take another step, and I feel he has taken it. You can see him really involved, he works hard, there’s something fun to see right now with Arber, how he has handled himself in the first three days, and even in the skating exercise at the end, it’s a physical exercise. Still, it’s also a mental one and I felt Arber was there, you can see he wants to take another step, and as I always say, it always starts with the player. […] The thing I like about Arber is that he constantly wants to get better, and that’s the most important skill you need to have if you do want to play for a long time, and I see it with my own eyes right now, he’s worked on stuff and it’s paying off.- St-Louis on Xhekaj
The coach then added that he feels Xhekaj has done all he needed to do this summer to really build up his confidence, and it shows on the ice. When he met the media, the older Xhekaj explained:
It was the first summer really that I didn’t have to rehab an injury, so I had time to work on things and not just focus on my shoulder and getting it better. I've worked on my skating a lot, focusing on specific things that will help my game, which I think is the biggest difference. Obviously, I worked pretty hard in the gym too. I feel in really good shape, and I've also lost a lot of body fat. I think it’s helping me.- Xhekaj on his offseason
The blueliner did look leaner, but he confirmed that he hasn’t shed off weight, just fat. He joked about being all muscle right now, a scary thought for his opponents. Xhekaj now looks like he has the maturity necessary to be able to pick his spots for the big hits and not take himself out of the play. It seems like we’ll get a leaner and wiser Xhekaj this season.
During the scrimmage, at one stage, he collided with Dach, who fell on the ice and took a moment to get back up. I asked him about that and he replied:
Yeah, I think our skates just clipped each other. I don’t think I hit him there, but obviously, I’m just checking in on him. I know he wants me to go hard on him; we battled every one-on-one in practice against each other. He really wants to be ready for the season, so he wants to go against me, which is pretty funny. He likes it when I give it to him, and we shake it off after.- Xhekaj on Dach
Alex Carrier scored the only goal for Group B, meaning Group A took a 2-1 win, not that it matters at this stage, but the crowd that had assembled in Brossard was thrilled with the show they got to see.
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