It’s a week for no sleep for east coach hockey fans as the Montreal Canadiens are out west in Vancouver and Calgary. Wednesday’s game starts at 11 p.m. ET, so Monday’s game against the Canucks with a 10 p.m. start seemed doable by comparison.
For those who couldn’t make it to the end, it was Montreal leading almost the entire game, only to lose to Vancouver in overtime 2-1.
Wilde Horses
- Talent wins hockey games. Without talent, everything is a chase. However, a little coaching can help, too. Case in point is the Canadiens’ power play, which was languishing for years. In comes Alex Burrows, and the suddenly horrendous power play is firing at 50 per cent. In the first period, when Jeff Petry scored to make it 1-0, the power play moved to five of 10 under Burrows. It’s the second unit that has scored all five goals: two for Petry, two for Brendan Gallagher and one for Tomas Tatar. You didn’t hear the name Corey Perry there, but he has been instrumental in the positive development. Perry parks in front of the net and no one can move him. He is outstanding at getting in front of the eyes of the goaltender as well. You also didn’t hear the name Jesperi Kotkaniemi, either. He has been instrumental as well with his vision and outstanding passing. On the first goal, Kotkaniemi counted an assist as the first-in-forward that won the puck and possession that eventually led to the Petry shot. Meanwhile, the first unit continues to rely on Shea Weber’s 55-foot slap shot still. This simply is not an effective play against today’s NHL goalies. If they could design this so Weber was firing from 35 feet, then perhaps it would work a bit better. For now, Habs fans can celebrate the Burrows changes because they are making wins out of losses.
READ MORE: Call Of The Wilde — Montreal Canadiens dominate the Winnipeg Jets (March 6, 2021)
- Jeff Petry just keeps on getting better each year. Is it too early for a conversation about his Norris Trophy chances? Ordinarily, it would be too early at this point, but this season is only 56 games, and it is almost half over already. Petry is tied for the league lead in goals among defenders with nine. He leads the Canadiens in points with 23. He and his partner Joel Edmundson are among the best in plus-minus, if you like that marker to establish credibility.
Wilde Goats
- There is so much to like about the Dominique Ducharme Canadiens so far, but it’s time now for the Weber decision. The head coach either needs to move Weber away from Chiarot, or he needs to take Weber off the power play. The most charitable thing would be to argue that there is a lot of hockey in this condensed schedule and Weber is tired, or perhaps he is injured. It is more likely that he has lost a step and cannot skate at the same level that he did as a younger man. Weber can’t log this high minute count anymore. It’s too much for him. Weber is 35 years of age, and he certainly wouldn’t be the first to begin to suffer at 35. Weber loves the game, though. He will go until they tell him that he can’t anymore. Hopefully, it won’t come to that for this proud athlete, but let’s start with fewer minutes. When that happens, it will be easier to assess whether it is a fatigue issue during the game that can be managed. As you age, it is like a marathoner who can no longer do all 26 miles, but breaks down at the 20-mile mark. It happens. Until Weber is dropped down to 15 minutes, no one will know the truth about his speed and his aging body. There was a time that everyone thought Zdeno Chara was done; instead, his role changed. That was years ago for Chara. It is time for Weber to get fewer minutes, and hopefully, for the Habs, that leads to better minutes.
- The Canadiens were able to hold on to their lead for almost the entire game, but in the last minute, Adam Gaudette tied it. He was all alone coming down the right wing. The left defender was Ben Chiarot who was standing right beside Weber on the right side. This is extremely fundamental hockey, spreading out the coverage as the forwards attack. What Chiarot was thinking — playing on the right side of the ice and leaving Gaudette all alone to fire a 20 footer — is beyond comprehension. Such an extremely simple play. Nothing more to say, except that moment was horrific. What a way to lose the regulation win. The coaching staff still thinks of Chiarot and Weber as their number one pair. They should not have been out there in the last minute. They are the poorest of the three pairs on the club. Every game it becomes more obvious.
READ MORE: Troubling pattern in net prompted firing of Canadiens goaltending coach, Bergevin says
- The Canadiens need to practice the 3-on-3 overtime because they have no idea whatsoever what they are doing. The Canadiens are now 0-for-7 in overtime this season. They have been dominated in every extra five minutes session. They have not even been competitive at all in the extra time. Even Ottawa looked like the Central Red Army against the Habs. The Canucks had all of the chances in a terrible extra session, even though Vancouver was also looking for its first overtime win. Montreal did nothing but change lines. They didn’t even seem prepared to go forward. It felt like they were afraid to go forward because then they would not have the puck, if it didn’t go well. Abysmal. Confused. Frightened.
READ MORE: Call Of The Wilde — Montreal Canadiens lose in Winnipeg again (Feb. 28, 2021)
Wilde Cards
While we have talked a lot about Cole Caufield in this Wilde Cards segment, there are two other important prospects for the Canadiens who are also playing a college season in 2020-21 despite the COVID-19 pandemic. Jordan Harris and Jayden Struble are two of the big hopes on the Habs’ blue line for the future.
The Canadiens desperately need a puck-moving defender to become a more well-balanced team, and trading for one of those is extremely difficult. You have to draft this skill set and the Canadiens have a number of hopes through the ranks: Mattias Norlinder, Kaiden Guhle, Josh Brook, Harris and Struble. It’s so difficult to know which of these five could elevate their game in the future to become solid NHLers. All an organization can do is keep giving them all opportunity, and hope their ceiling keeps going higher as they age.
The two college kids are playing at Northeastern this season with the Huskies. Both improved this year again. Both look to be bona fide hopes. Harris struck for more than a point-per-game from the blue line, amassing 19 in 18 games played with six goals. Struble, a year younger at 19, managed 11 points on the season with two goals.
While both were solid, their team did not shine as much as they had in the past when Cayden Primeau was their goalie and they won two straight Beanpot Tournaments in Boston.
This year, the Huskies head into the Hockey East playoffs as decided underdogs. The Huskies are the 20th ranked team in the nation. They will take on the seventh-ranked U-Mass Minutemen. It’s a quick tournament because of COVID-19 and this quarter-final is a one-game affair this Sunday.
Brian Wilde, a Montreal-based sports writer, brings you Call of the Wilde on globalnews.ca after each Canadiens game.
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