The Montreal Canadiens have a 4-5-1 record after 10 games, but somehow it has felt so much worse than that. After allowing eight against Seattle, the Canadiens had a chance for redemption in Washington, D.C.
However, the same horrific ‘goals against’ problem struck again. They were whacked 6-3.
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It’s the preparation. The release is just so quick. The result is that the goalie isn’t prepared yet for the shot. Cole Caufield does have strong speed on the shot, and his accuracy is excellent, but not enough attention is paid to how quickly he gets that shot away.
It was that quick release that got the Canadiens on the board in the second period. Caufield has been one of the few bright spots on the season and has lifted Nick Suzuki to better than a point-per-game as well.
Caufield has mesmerized goalies this season with 10 goals in 11 games to become one of the best goal scorers to start the season in Canadiens history. There will be a lot of regression, for sure, because his shooting percentage is an impossible 30 on the season.
The other big bright spot on the season is Lane Hutson who continues to look shockingly comfortable in difficult situations with a lot of minutes. The young guns on defence are struggling this season, and you would infer that the youngest and smallest of them would have a hard time getting comfortable in the big man’s game.
Hutson is having little difficulty. He doesn’t have a physical presence to stymy offensive forays against him, so he gets aggressive taking away time and space, often in a surprising manner. It works. He needs some help from his partner when there is a cycle down low, but even then, he’s not lost by any means.
The shortcomings are so seldom seen that one gets even more excited about his remarkable skill set offensively. Though it is early in the season, Hutson’s offensive chance rate is higher than any defender in the league. He truly has suffered from his teammates not converting on his many high-quality passes.
It appeared Hutson had scored his first of the season with a slapshot into the top corner, but it turned out that Brendan Gallagher got a stick on it for the tally. Hutson will have to wait for his first goal.
However, late in the period, it was Hutson again with an assist on a Nick Suzuki tally as he one-timed an excellent pass from David Savard. Suzuki now has 13 points on the season in 11 games. Hutson is up to seven points already. That’s quite a solid total for a player just getting his feet wet.
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The NHL’s popular utilization in 2024 on the power play is only one defender, but with the Canadiens’ manpower, they might just be better with two defenders like the old days. They are in a diamond formation often on the power play when they set up, but that often means they don’t have enough presence on the point to keep the puck in.
They are also being victimized by odd man rushes a lot this season with the extra man. In fact, if not for a skate offside, they would have allowed a shorthanded goal. It was challenged and the Canadiens won the challenge.
If it were Hutson and Mike Matheson on the first unit together, one of Kirby Dach or Juraj Slafkovsky would have to be pushed to the second unit. It would be worth it. Frankly, the most talented player on the ice with a man advantage is Hutson. He should be setting up the best players on the first unit.
The Canadiens should line up with two power play defenders. Matheson is an old-school classic; he shoots or he passes to either of the half-walls. While he does get a lot of points each season, he is not a dynamic player on the power play. Hutson is dynamic and he should be featured more.
Hutson is already getting a lot of minutes each game, so perhaps the organization is leery of adding even more minutes to his total, but everyone knows this change is coming one day. The kid creates. There is no denying him. He is going to be a special player.
Obviously, that complaint takes a back seat to the club’s major inability to stop the puck from going in their own net. After the eight they allowed Tuesday, it was six in the first 28 shots on Thursday. That these young players are not improved from last year is acceptable in the long journey that gaining experience is, but it also is a bit unsettling that there is regression.
Last year’s club defensively was better than this one. They can’t get goaltending, and they can’t keep the puck out of the net.
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It’s disappointing how much heat Head Coach Martin St. Louis is taking early in this season. A coach loses the media and the fan base when they feel the club should be doing much better than they are.
Expectations were high that this season would be the turning point on the rebuild. However, that was before so many negative events took place.
The high expectations had a strong second line in them, but Patrik Laine hurt his knee, Kirby Dach couldn’t find his game, and Alex Newhook isn’t implicated enough. The second line has barely scored a goal, and with only one line, no one should expect a winning streak.
We also felt that the blue liners would simply arrive in the NHL and start dominating in the first 100 games of their career. Again, to step back from it and assess from the outside looking in, young defenders struggle all the time. It is rare for any defender to do well at 20.
You can be absolutely certain that there is no heat for St. Louis in the Canadiens front office, nor in the locker room. They have strong faith that he knows exactly what he is doing, and everyone respects him to a high level.
What has to happen for the heat to come off the head coach is everyone has to drop their expectations. That is difficult to do because it means admitting that a mistake was made in evaluation before the season began.
I admit it right here: I got it wrong. Without a second line, and with this young blue line making mistakes, they will not be in the mix. And that is not the fault of the head coach. It’s all part of a rebuild that takes longer than we wish it to.
We should look for incremental progress with an eye to enjoying the players’ better days, while understanding there will be some bad days, too.
This all doesn’t mean the organization has done anything wrong. It just means it takes time. That time needs to be given to the head coach or this will get ugly, and that will be unfair.
Brian Wilde, a Montreal-based sports writer, brings you Call of the Wilde on globalnews.ca after each Canadiens game.
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