The Montreal Canadiens got another two points tonight and they played an excellent game, dominating the Nashville Predators from start to finish.
In the last two games, the Montreal Canadiens had weak starts and needed goaltender Jakub Dobes to be phenomenal in the first frame to keep them in it before they found their footing. On Saturday night against the Nashville Predators, rookie Jacob Fowler wasn’t put in the same predicament. Quite to the contrary, Martin St-Louis’ team was very strong out of the gate. So strong in fact that the Tennessee outfit only managed to test Fowler three times in the first 20 minutes, while Montreal put nine shots on Juuse Saros’ net.
With two games on tap this weekend, it wasn’t surprising that St-Louis elected to give Fowler a game and rest Jakub Dobes for a second game against the Carolina Hurricanes in the span of six days. There was, however, one surprising thing about Fowler on the night: the Florida native had replaced the back plate of his mask, which normally depicts a Sunshine State licence plate, with one that featured a Quebec licence plate. He had used that on the mask he had made for the AHL All-Star Classic earlier this year and had said then that he decided to do it because Quebec was now his new home. A touch that will no doubt be appreciated by Canadiens’ fans.
Taking Liberties With The Canadiens’ Goalies
For the second game in a row, the opponents ran into the Habs’ goaltender, and the Sainte-Flanelle was having none of it. On each occasion, the Canadiens stood up for their masked man. That’s great because you don’t go far in this league if you do not have a pack mentality, but the problem was that on both occurrences, it was diminutive defenseman Lane Hutson who came to the rescue.
On Thursday, against a 6-foot-2, 204-pound forward, Boone Jenner, and on Saturday, against a 6-foot, 183-pound forward, Luke Evangelista. While it’s good that someone was willing to stand up for the goalies, it never should be Hutson. Firstly, because that’s not his job, and secondly, because the Canadiens absolutely cannot afford an injury to their star blueliner.
Of course, the first name that comes to mind in that situation is Arber Xhekaj, but the gritty blueliner has been a healthy scratch for the last five games, and so he wasn’t on the ice or on the bench. It’s hard to imagine St-Louis putting him back in the lineup at this stage, since Jayden Struble has been playing great hockey of late. My one criticism is that he should have been the one to defend the goalies, not Hutson.
What’s the solution then? Playing seven defensemen? St-Louis has repeatedly said he doesn’t like doing that, as it’s hard to manage everyone’s ice time in that situation. Would it be worth inserting Xhekaj as a fourth-line forward? The idea could be interesting to explore, especially when St-Louis only played his fourth liners for an average of roughly eight minutes on Thursday. Still, the time for experiments has long gone. The Canadiens are involved in one of the tightest playoff races in recent memory. The stakes are just too high; you can’t play a player out of position now. Furthermore, it’s unlikely that the coach would be willing to scratch an offensive player to make way for protection; it’s just not the way he thinks.
Still, however things play out, this issue has to be addressed, and it needs to be addressed in a hurry.
No Jealousy On The Second Line
In the Canadiens 4-1 win, Montreal’s second line scored three of the Sainte-Flanelle’s four goals, and the three linemates each got a goal. Ivan Demidov opened the score with a spectacular shot off the post and in.
Rookie Oliver Kapanen scored the Canadiens’ second goal, on which Hutson got his 60th assist on the season, tying his total from last season. With 10 games to go, he needs six assists to tie Larry Robinson’s record of 66 assists.
Later in the second frame, Alex Newhook joined the party when Demidov fed him for a one-timer in the high slot, a fantastic pass. With two points tonight, the Russian rookie now has 16 goals and 40 assists on the season for 56 points in 62 games.
Suzuki Keeps On Impressing
With an assist on Demidov’s goal, Nick Suzuki picked up the 300th assist of his career and added another one on Cole Caufield’s 45th goal of the season, meaning the captain now has 88 points this season—just one short of the career-high he set last season with 10 games left to play.
Needless to say, he will set a new mark before the end of the regular season, and it’s looking increasingly likely that he will hit the 100-point mark. As things stand, he’s on pace for exactly 100 points. The last Hab to hit the century mark in a season was Mats Naslund back in 1985-86, remember that year? It was a fantastic year in Montreal, and it ended with a parade.
The Canadiens headed to Carolina after the game, where they’ll take on the Hurricanes on Sunday at 5:00 PM. It will be interesting to see if Josh Anderson will be well enough to play. He left the game in the first frame, and the Habs later announced he was ill. If he’s not good to gp, what will Montreal do? Alexandre Texier is not on the trip according to La Presse and the Habs didn’t call up anyone. Can Patrik Laine become an option? That appears unlikely, Perhaps St-Louis could be forced to use seven blueliners…
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