There has been much consternation in Montreal so far this season, yet the Canadiens on Sunday night had a chance to move to .500 on the season.
The Canadiens in Philadelphia rose to 4-4-1 on the year with a 4-3 win over the Flyers.
Wilde Horses
The dominance of the Nick Suzuki line with Cole Caufield and Kirby Dach will be an interesting trend to examine as the sample size increases. When the line had Juraj Slafkovsky on it, the trio was getting caved in. With Dach against the Flyers on the wing, the line had an 83 goals expected share after two to take over the game. It was a dominating performance when it counted, though they did hold on in the third period.
This is the first time this season that any line on the Canadiens has been able to put together a strong number to key a win. It’s been a rough start for Montreal 5-on-5. In the first period, it was Dach with a sharp short pass to Suzuki for the tally.
So much for the brutal start to the year for Suzuki that was concerning everyone. Suzuki has 11 points in nine games this season. One of these years he is going to hit that elusive point-per-game plateau.
Second period, Cole Caufield continued his scoring ways. Make it eight goals in nine games for Caufield. It was another goal scorer’s goal. One of those shots that you feel would not make their way through the goalie’s equipment for anyone else.
Lane Hutson was back to his more dazzling ways in this one after showing a little more reserve on Saturday night against St. Louis Hutson is so good at creating space for himself, then dishing to teammates for excellent chances.
However, imagine if he could make his shot just a little heavier, what that would mean for defenders trying to neutralize him. Hutson would watch a defender peel off for a pass, then release a powerful shot. It would create an entire new level of dominance.
Another big plot point was the goaltending of Cayden Primeau. He has struggled so far this season. He went into the Philadelphia contest with an .880 save percentage. That’s not high enough for the NHL. He needed to recover with an NHL-worthy game.
Primeau certainly found his form. Midway through the second period, the Flyers had a huge opportunity. Ryan Poehling took the shot for the top corner. Primeau has been dropping down on these while the shot is going up, but this time he stayed high and strong. He darted out the glove for the big save.
Primeau gave up a couple of late goals, and the young team showed that young teams don’t know how to make it boring very well, but all in all, Primeau and the Canadiens did what they had to. It’s in the W column. That is the bottom line.
Wilde Goats
This was the first dominating performance by Montreal this season, despite the late hijinks. It shows what some practice time can bring. After the debacle against the New York Rangers, Canadiens Head Coach Martin St. Louis said that he would look at the film and find solutions.
They’ve been a lot tighter after three days of practices. Occasionally, there are times when they play so many games, or only have time to travel between games, that bad habits can start. This is particularly true for a young team that is being taught a lot to develop their games.
Credit to St. Louis for getting the players prepared to correct errors, and play better hockey. There’s nothing to pick apart in this one. All good from the Canadiens. They won two games. They are .500 on the year. Incidentally, that’s good for third place and a playoff spot at this very early juncture.
Wilde Cards
While the Canadiens are having some growing pains with young players trying to leap to difficult heights at the NHL level, the AHL club is on fire to start the season. The Laval Rocket have won five and lost only once to start the season. Place Bell is absolutely packed with the atmosphere the envy of the league.
The club is spreading around the scoring so far this year. Alex Barré-Boulet is the leader on the team, but he is well off the league lead even with eight points in four games.
Signing Barré-Boulet was an intelligent move by General Manager Kent Hughes. In fact, giving him a one-way contract was even smarter still as it meant when Hughes tried to move the Quebec native to the minors, he knew no one would scoop him up on the waiver wire having to pay him NHL money to play AHL games.
Barré-Boulet has been an absolute sure thing at the AHL level with solid scoring seasons for many years. The supporting cast is doing well too as Joshua Roy has six points in six games to be second on the team. He hasn’t pouted after not making the big club, but worked hard, and played well to earn his return.
Perhaps the biggest reason for success though is the head coaching of Pascal Vincent. He has the young club playing a structured game. They give up very few chances. Vincent is solid on the defensive side of the puck, and, in time, it’s easy to see the front office giving him a chance to work with the defenders at the NHL level.
Brian Wilde, a Montreal-based sports writer, brings you Call of the Wilde on globalnews.ca after each Canadiens game.