The Montreal Canadiens completed an American Thanksgiving weekend set in Los Angeles on Saturday afternoon. It did not go well. The Kings skated away with a 4-0 victory. It wasn’t a complete surprise, as the Kings have lost only three games in regulation time all season.
Wilde Horses
It’s been a popular refrain this season that the Canadiens simply can not continue with three goalies. The truth is, half the teams in the league would be happy to have even one goalie performing well, never mind three like Montreal has. The Oilers would be in a playoff spot with two fewer goals against per game allowed, if they had just one of Samuel Montembeault, Jake Allen or Cayden Primeau on their roster.
For the fifth straight game, the Canadiens changed their starting goalie choice. Each of the Montreal goalies continues to stop the puck at a strong rate this year. Both the veterans are over .900 in save percentage and the young gun, Primeau, just finished 31 stops out of 33 in San Jose with five saves out of six in the shootout. This year, for some bizarre reason, save percentages have tumbled. Montreal has three good options.
In Los Angeles, Martin St. Louis went back to Allen. The Kings were dominant. That’s an extremely good team, especially down the middle with maybe the best threesome of centres in the game: Anze Kopitar, Philip Danault and Pierre-Luc Dubois.
The final score made it look like it was not painstakingly abysmal. It was. This one was rock bottom so far this season for Montreal.
The shots on goal for the day were 31-18 favouring Los Angeles. The goaltending must be pointed out in this one, because there simply is nothing else to like, except that it is over.
Wilde Goats
It was a difficult game to enjoy. Montreal simply could not generate any offence. Los Angeles could make an impressive run in the playoffs this year if the way they ran over the Canadiens is any indication.
Montreal had one shot in the first period. It was a dump-in while short-handed from 150 feet. In the second period, the Canadiens improved a little with competitive chances from Nick Suzuki on a pass from Sean Monahan, and a Cole Caufield 20-footer. Juraj Slafkovsky looked strong at the end of the game on an actual individual rush to show how he is gaining in confidence. That was it. No goals. Perhaps three quality chances in total.
It was simply a game to get through in a five-game road trip that is even at two wins and two losses. All in all, Montreal will take a .500 record heading into the final contest in Columbus on Wednesday.
On to the next one.
Wilde Cards
The path to 50 more goals scored per season is clearly the most important objective roster-wise for the Canadiens.
A pessimist might tell you that they have to draft a top-five pick or make a big trade or a huge free agent signing. However, an optimist might be inclined to believe the talent is already in the organization. Before the season began, the optimist would have been laughed out of the room, but a hopeful person now has at least a presentable case.
The optimist can start to rally around Juraj Slafkovsky. He struggled in his first season, and with limited puck touches during the start of his sophomore season, Slafkovsky would have been better served in Laval. However, in the last five games, he has four points.
Slafkovsky is starting to win many of his puck battles along the boards. He is scanning the ice better as well. A lot is going right for the former No. 1. It’s not completely out of the equation that Slafkovsky could count 20 to 25 goals two seasons from now.
Next comes Joshua Roy who has done nothing but be a top scorer in every league he has played. Roy was a scoring machine in the QMJHL and now he is in the AHL. Roy has 18 points in his first 17 games in a mature league of veterans. He may also be a 20-25 NHL goal man.
Add to the mix Alex Newhook and his possible goal tally. This, so far, has been a breakout year for Newhook. His best season was 14 goals, but he is on pace for 24 tallies this season.
The final player who has the potential to be a scorer at the NHL level is Filip Mesar. After an initial rough go acclimating to the smaller ice surfaces in North America, Mesar is suddenly on fire. He is scoring at a stunning pace in Kitchener, Ont. Mesar is tops in the OHL at just shy of two points per game. Mesar has 23 points in 12 games on nine goals. He might be a top-six NHL forward.
The 50 additional goals are obviously possible via free agency, trade or draft, but it might just be that Slafkovsky, Roy, Newhook or Mesar who are already in the organization are the ticket to a 285-goal season as soon as 2025.
The significant story for Habs general manager Kent Hughes is that all options are open. He has the cap space. He has the draft picks. He has depth players to leverage in a trade.
So, 280 to 285 goals. Watch for it. You’ll be watching a lot of wins the season you finally see it in the ‘goals for’ column.
Brian Wilde, a Montreal-based sports writer, brings you Call of the Wilde on globalnews.ca after each Canadiens game.