It was an absolute thriller in Las Vegas as the Montreal Canadiens opened a three-game road trip on Monday night.
The Canadiens outplayed the Stanley Cup champions, but lost 3-2 in a shootout.
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The way Vegas takes time and space away from their opposition made this a perfect game to evaluate where each Canadiens player can be when the game is played at its highest level. If someone can excel while playing this quickly, when decisions must be made even quicker than usual in the NHL, then they can excel in the playoffs as they progress.
There were a couple of rearguards that found it a bit too much out there, and that’s not a criticism to them; the entire corps is basically sophomores.
For now though, time for a Kaiden Guhle chat. He had no issues with either the pace or the demands on him to slow down the game and keep making smart decisions. Guhle didn’t compromise his game in any way. He continued to pinch in when he had the chance, rush when it was there, and respond defensively when it was required.
It’s certainly looking like the Canadiens have a first-pair defender on their team to join Mike Matheson.
One shouldn’t ignore Guhle’s partner Justin Barron who played another solid game. He is stringing together many good outings together this season. He just might be arriving successfully after all. The Canadiens still need to find goals, but on the blue line, they sure seem set.
They have Guhle and Matheson already in the mix proving themselves. They’ll soon be joined by David Reinbacher and Lane Hutson who also project to be top-four defenders. Barron is working his way into the conversation for the future. Jonathan Kovacevic, Jordan Harris, and Arber Xhekaj are already NHL proven.
This is a heck of a blueline corps Montreal is setting up. Certainly, it’s not next year, nor maybe even the following year, when will everyone be at their best, but down the road, this club is set up for defencemen excellence.
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Up front, there is a lot to love from a Canadiens team that competed against the league’s best. Nick Suzuki was strong as he tied it up late in his 300th game. Sean Monahan is even better than last season before he got injured. He scored shorthanded. Cole Caufield was dancing. Rafael Harvey-Pinard had his best game of the season. Alex Newhook managed to hit four posts on two shots. There was a whole lot to like in Montreal’s play.
In goal, Samuel Montembeault stopped a penalty shot in overtime against Jack Eichel. The Canadiens outshot Vegas 39-25. He had a relatively easy night, but came through with a huge one as Eichel tried the five-hole.
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What is to note negatively when the Canadiens took the defending champs — who haven’t lost in regulation time this season to overtime — before losing in a skills competition? The only negative really is that a thriller of an overtime had to stop at five minutes. The NHL needs to try to convince the Players’ Association to play two more minutes. It’s such exciting hockey, and the shootout has become a let down by comparison.
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While the Canadiens are surprising to the upside so far this season, the Laval Rocket are surprising to the downside. The Rocket have upgraded their entire team with players who dominated at the junior and college level, and it is making no difference to their win-loss total at all.
In fact, the Rocket may be worse than they were last season. The number one issue is goaltending, where a star at the college level has had an extremely difficult time translating that success to the American Hockey League. Jakub Dobes has a save percentage of .842. After a .934 and a .918 in two seasons at Ohio State University, this is a stunning reversal.
The Rocket sought another option after Dobes struggled so mightily, so they have gone more to Strauss Mann. He has only marked an .851 save percentage. Between the two goalies, the goals-against average is 5.25. These numbers suggest they’ll try to sneak Cayden Primeau through waivers sooner rather than later.
While it’s impossible to have a winning record in the AHL needing six goals for the win, the Rocket have seen other disappointments as well. Sean Farrell was a top-five forward in the entirety of college hockey at Harvard last season, but he has only one goal this year. He is developing chemistry with Joshua Roy, and the organization would love to see that continue.
Roy, without any doubt, is the number one optimistic note this season with five goals, seven assists, and 12 points in just seven games. Roy is one point shy of the league lead in scoring so far. He has been outstanding in his first games in the AHL after dominating in Sherbrooke last season.
Another upside surprise is Lias Andersson who had a strong season in the AHL last year and has picked it up again with seven goals so far. Andersson was a first-round draft choice, taken seventh overall. It’s taken him a long time to get comfortable anywhere as a pro as he is 25 years of age already. The window for his NHL success is open only a slight crack, but if he continues to excel at the minor league level, he will get a look eventually.
On defence, one has to assess Logan Mailloux as having some defensive challenges despite scoring two goals. Mailloux is a team-worst minus-9 this season. Another offensive gem on defence Mattias Norlinder is also struggling at minus-6. It’s great to add the offence, but the struggle can’t be real on the defensive side of the puck.
Contrast that with the steady Jayden Struble who leads the club in plus-minus. That means with the poor goaltending behind him, Struble is making sure that the shot total is nearly non-existent against him. Struble, of all the blueliners, looks the most ready so far to step into the NHL, though that can change quickly as we are dealing with a small sample size.
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