The Montreal Canadiens have done an excellent job this season against some of the clubs they are supposed to beat if they are to make the Stanley Cup playoffs. One of the clubs the Habs need to beat just about every time is the Ottawa Senators. So far it has been five out of a possible six points for Montreal. The final game of their season series was at the Bell Centre on Saturday night.
WATCH: Back-to-back wins over the Sens
Wilde Horses
- Claude Julien is old school. He loves his check-finishers and his defence-first guys. So you knew that the leash on Nicolas Deslauriers was going to extend to Europe. He finally got tired with Deslauriers and in came Matthew Peca. He has been a bright light adding to the unusual brilliance that is the fourth line. On the one hand, the fourth line has been the Habs’ best for a couple of games recently. On the other hand, the fourth line shouldn’t be your best line for a couple of games. Peca brings speed and while he has never had a nose for the net, he is scoring now.
- Brendan Gallagher had another strong effort. He never cheats you. In the second period, he had a clear shot on the rebound with the Senators goalie out of position but he put it right into his chest to miss a vital opportunity.
- Brett Kulak has struggled recently, but he had a strong one against Ottawa. It seemed as if Kulak thought he was a forward in this one — he joined the rush on multiple occasions. That’s the new NHL and its new defender. Kulak started beautifully. He then fatigued and found the matchups difficult, but in this one, he recovered.
- Jesperi Kotkaniemi needs to fire his shot as it is good, but he rarely uses it. When he finally did in this one, he wired one beautifully through the rearguard’s legs and found the net for his fourth goal of the season. His goal was good, but his pass for his assist was amazing. The Finn is in a perfect position to shoot. One could say 97 out of 100 players in that position do shoot, but Kotkaniemi holds on to it and watches the goalie slide across the crease to lose position, so he then can calmly slide it over to Paul Byron who has a wide-open net for 4-2. The kid is sensational. He only just turned 18, but he can already bring 21,000 fans to their feet. One other note: Kotkaniemi needs to be on the half-wall on the power play. He’s a passer. He’s got great vision. The half-wall is where you put the guy who can thread gorgeous passes through bodies. Let him create there and see what he can achieve. He’s going to be there in that spot for many years.
READ MORE: Ottawa Senators acquire defenceman Elliott, forward Lindberg from Pittsburgh Penguins
- Shea Weber has changed everything on the blue line for the Habs. Before his return, the Habs were allowing four or five goals per night and were in the midst of a five-game losing skid. It was looking grim as if that fast start was a mirage. Weber returns and the defense — for the most part — is stingy again. Jeff Petry’s minutes are lower allowing him to be his very best as a result. Weber scored his fourth goal of the season to make it 3-2 Habs and the elation was obvious. This is supposed to be a rebuilding year for the Habs — a so-called reset according to the GM Marc Bergevin. However, don’t tell that to Weber who is usually stoic, but celebrated like the Cup was won. There’s a lot of passion in this group, led by the captain. The Habs outshot the Sens 47-19. That’s an enormous margin to get Julien his 600th career win. Before the captain returned three weeks ago, they didn’t have any 47-19 advantages. Since his return, they have had two 42-21 advantages and a 49-21 against Carolina. Remarkable how Weber has stabilized everything front to back. The Habs have six wins in nine games with Weber
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READ MORE: Call of the Wilde: Montreal Canadiens dominate the Ottawa Senators
Wilde Goats
- Jordie Benn has so many difficult nights it is impossible to understand how he plays game after game while others sit. True, there isn’t really much talent on the left side of the blue line and Victor Mete was sent to the minors to find his game, but Benn is not so far and away the best option that he never sits. This was one of Benn’s worst games. On the first goal against, he has an easy clearance. It’s right on his stick. He whiffs. He whiffed on a static puck sitting there. It wasn’t like it was a 90-mile-per-hour fastball. It was the equivalent of a ball on a tee. On the second goal, it was Noah Juulsen who had a man on him and lost a one-on-one battle. But before that, Benn was following him behind the net, leaving the slot — the place where players score goals — unguarded. The great news is Josh Brook is playing on the left for Moose Jaw and Canada, so perhaps he is one of those rare players who can be as good on both sides. It’s not often that you can clearly point to one player in a 19-man game who costs you so dearly, but on this night, we have that player.
- Carey Price was felled early in the first period and he grabbed his left knee — not the right knee that cost him a season. He skated it off for about 30 seconds. He was clearly in distress. So why did the training staff not come out to see him? Price waited until the TV timeout to go see the trainer. Why do you have a $10.5-million player who might just have another knee injury and you don’t check him? In the end, he looked fine, but that was not known at the time. If he takes a therapy day on Monday, the entire city is going to freak out. It’s easy to feel fine during a game when the adrenaline is running through you, and then the next morning you feel the pain and the swelling. It wouldn’t be the first time it has happened. In fact, it happens all the time. He’s fine. Surely, he’s fine.
- The Habs power play is running at between three and four per cent since the return of Shea Weber. It was Weber who was supposed to provide the spark with that big shot of his, but all that is happening is the club is focusing a lot on Weber to get it done, as are the opposing penalty killers who are taking that shot away by playing tight to him. The Habs power play needs to do two things to score: The first thing is just hard hockey. You have to work harder and be in the dirty zones. There’s rarely anyone in front of the net to make things miserable. The second thing is the club is quite static on the power play with little movement. A still subject is an easy subject to cover. You don’t break down a short-handed box when you are static.
- The Max Domi line seemed to be skating in quicksand in this one. They had nothing. Jonathan Drouin barely had the puck. Andrew Shaw with his first lackadaisical game since joining the line. At one point on the bench, you could see Claude Julien tearing a strip out of them for their role in the 2-1 goal. Domi did get an assist on an empty-netter by Drouin to maintain his point-per-game pace but this was this line’s worst game in a month. They’ll take the 5-2 win though as three games in 12 days between the two teams all ended with that identical score.
- The officials have never been a Wilde Goat… until now. The Habs scored what looked like the game-winner on a tremendous play by Artturi Lehkonen as he was falling on a hooking penalty to Ottawa but he kept playing and beautifully executed a shot toward the net where Phillip Danault redirected it. Sensational play by Lehkonen who is on fire these days. The Bell Centre was going wild, then suddenly the referees are meeting and they’ve called Lehkonen for embellishment. No goal ruled on a goal? Has anyone ever seen that before? Embellishment while the player is in the process of continuing to play so his team can score? Worst call seen in a hockey game since Carey Price was dragged to Moose Jaw by a New York Rangers player and no goalie interference was ruled, as if Price chose to finish the play by the boards in the corner on his own recognizance. This is why they don’t put the refs’ names on the back of their uniforms: The shame of potentially being that bad is too much to live with.
WATCH: Young hockey players live out a dream on Bell Centre ice
Wilde Cards
- It is almost certain that the Habs will have two players on Team Canada this Christmas for the World Junior Championship in Vancouver. Josh Brook is a guarantee as he has earned one of the seven defenceman spots. It might just have been that Brook was the best defender for Canada in their selection camp. He played on both the right and left side showing his versatility. He’s a right-handed defender but if Brook can be comfortable on the left side, that would fill a gigantic hole in the Habs roster in the years to come where they are weak. It is likely that Brook actually starts on the left so the less versatile Evan Bouchard can be his blue line partner for the tournament. Bouchard is also right-handed and he doesn’t transfer well to his off-side. It is almost a lock as well that Nick Suzuki will make the Canadian team. The Canadian squad has one more cut to make but it will be an injured player certainly. Suzuki was a late cut last year. Again, it’s interesting to note how the Montreal players are the ones playing out of position. Suzuki has played most of his junior time on the right side, though he has been playing in the middle for Owen Sound for the last month. For Tim Hunter’s squad, it appears he will line up in the middle. Suzuki as a pro is hard to imagine as a centre. He is much more of a trigger man who hunts goals and is not a classic 200-foot player like some of the Habs’ other youthful talent like Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Ryan Poehling. The Habs will likely put Suzuki on the right when he arrives as — if you can believe it — Montreal is suddenly too rich in talent at centre. Max Domi, Kotkaniemi, Poehling, Phillip Danault, Jake Evans, and Jacob Olufsson are already in the mix. What a difference a year can make!
READ MORE: Veteran defenceman Justin Falk signs 1-year, 2-way deal with Ottawa Senators
WATCH: Call of the Wilde: Wins and Losses
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