For the first time this season, the Montreal Canadiens came out flat on Saturday night against the Vancouver Canucks. They couldn’t seem to get into gear and struggled mightily in the first frame, but they found their game in the second period, and they reached a new level in the final frame.

With a three-goal third frame, the Habs demonstrated that they’ve got the talent necessary to flip a game on its head when they put their mind to it, making slow starts less dangerous, but still, it’s better not to play with fire.

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The Captain’s Streak

With the Canadiens down 2-0, captain Nick Suzuki took matters into his own hands and scored his second goal of the season on the power play. Just like his first goal, it was a picture-perfect Ivan Demidov set-up that made it possible.

With that goal, Suzuki kept his point streak alive. He now has a point in the last nine games and shows no signs of slowing down, especially not with Demidov now playing on the first wave of the power play.

Xhekaj Must Be Better

In the first 40 minutes, Arber Xhekaj got two minors, neither of which was particularly good. The first was a hooking call, and the second was an interference that should never have happened. Not because the refs made a bad call, but because Xhekaj should never have made that play.

Thankfully for him, the Canucks were unable to score on the man-advantage they got, so there was no harm done, but this is not the kind of play a coach likes to see, and Xhekaj was stuck to the bench afterwards. He only got 20 seconds of action afterwards, including four seconds exiting the penalty bench. He spent a total of 6:37 on the ice tonight, for good reason.

It’s a shame, since he had a very good training camp. With Kaiden Guhle’s injury, he should have been playing without worrying too much. The Habs won’t scratch a young defenseman who’s part of their regulars…unless he crosses the line. Will St-Louis consider that Xhekaj has crossed the line tonight? It will be interesting to find out, but his reaction after the play seems to indicate that he might...

The Rookies Won The Game

For the first time in his young career, Ivan Demidov registered three points in the same game with two assists on the power play and an even-strength goal. His first assist was his usual cross-zone pass on the man advantage, which Suzuki instantly buried. That was the captain’s second goal of the year, and it was scored exactly like the first, with a Demidov feed on the power-play (when Suzuki was playing on both units after the injuries to Kirby Dach and Patrik Laine).

The youngster’s second assist also came on the power play. A shot hit him, and seeing that there were a lot of bodies in front of the net, he didn’t try to shoot; he simply passed it to Juraj Slafkovsky, who was wide open. It’s not the first time he's shown poise beyond his years, and I’m guessing it won’t be the last.

He missed a golden opportunity to score on the man-advantage on a nice Suzuki pass, but he made up for it at five-on-five when he scored the fourth goal, which turned out to be the game-winning goal. Speaking after the game, Martin St-Louis said there were two reasons Demidov was on the first power play. Firstly, to raise his time on ice, and secondly, it was something he had to earn; he wasn’t going to give it to him right away. After the game, Demidov led all rookies in scoring with nine points in 10 games.

Demidov wasn’t the only rookie who showed bright tonight, though; so did Jakub Dobes. The 24-year-old netminder was solid throughout the game, and the three goals he gave up were not bad. The first one came from an Elias Pettersson shot from in close when he was all alone on one side. The second one was a perfect deflection from Jake DeBrusk, and the final one came when Conor Garland was alone in the slot to redirect a shot ideally.

Even more importantly, though, Dobes made the saves his team needed after scoring. Those saves allow a team to separate itself from the opponent and build confidence. The fact that he’s also full of confidence helps. When a shooter comes from the wing, he challenges them; he comes out to cut the angles —something a goaltender who’s struggling with confidence doesn’t do. Just like Demidov, Dobes leads the rookie class; he’s the only rookie with a 5-0-0 record, he has the lowest goals-against average (1.77) and save percentage (.940).

Finally, it’s worth noting that it was Mike Matheson who scored the all-important third goal, as if to say: “I don’t need power play time”. It was a great play as well. From the blueline, he faked a shot, got rid of a defender, walked in, and then took the real shot, which beat Kevin Lankinen.

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