Alexandre Carrier plays on the Montreal Canadiens' third pairing, and he's not in the spotlight, but he's an essential cog in the Habs' well-oiled machine.
At times, it can be hard to cover everything about a game in a single article; 60 minutes (or 65 minutes sometimes) is a lot of hockey. That’s how some players fly under the radar and keep on doing fantastic work without getting much praise. In the Montreal Canadiens’ win over the Seattle Kraken, that was Alex Carrier. He didn’t have two goals and an assist like Cole Caufield or a pair of assists like Noah Dobson, but he made a key play.
Early in the game, Arber Xhekaj made a bad read and attempted to pinch at the offensive blueline when he shouldn’t have, which resulted in an odd-man rush, a three-on-one, going the other way. His defense partner, Carrier, was left holding the bag and had to fend for himself.
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The veteran didn’t panic; he saw Joe Veleno rushing back to his aid and shifted his focus to the puck carrier, slowly but surely closing him down and eventually blocking the shot, crisis averted.
That play is a perfect demonstration of what Carrier brings to the table and why he’s an ideal partner for a young defenseman who will make mistakes at times. The former Nashville Predators has so much poise on the ice; he never gives in to panic and communicates incredibly well, making life easier for his teammates.
That’s not to say he cannot do well on the other side of the puck, though. He has five points in just 11 games this season; projected over 82 games, that would give him 37 points, which would be a career high. In 2021-22, with Nashville, he put up 30 points while averaging nearly 21 minutes per game. This season, because of the Canadiens’ depth on the back end, he averages just 18:26, which is almost 2:30 less than last season.
There’s no guarantee that he can keep that pace up, but with the influx of talent the Habs received over the last couple of years, anything is possible. The Canadiens are scoring more goals than ever since the new management team took over and ended the Marc Bergevin era. They are sixth in the league with an average of 3.64 goals per game.
Before Tuesday night’s game, the Habs' defense corps had produced 30 points, the highest total in the league. Carrier is taking what the game is giving him. He plays a safe game, but he sees and takes the opportunities when they come, and remains aware of what’s going on at both ends of the ice at all times.
The 29-year-old is the kind of player a team needs to win, even if he’s not the most visible one, but rest assured, Martin St-Louis sees him and knows exactly what he can bring, just like Kent Hughes did when he acquired him in return for Justin Barron.
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