The Montreal Canadiens looked to recover from a seventh straight overtime loss when they took on the Vancouver Canucks again on Wednesday night. Montreal seems to be improving under Dominique Ducharme, but some difficult elements remain before an argument can be made that they have turned the corner. In this one, which bizarrely ended at 1:40 a.m. ET, the Canadiens were as good as they have been all season, skating to an easy 5-1 win.
Wilde Horses
- The head coach tried some new line combinations in this contest, and one of them paid off richly. Jesperi Kotkaniemi got Brendan Gallagher and Tyler Toffoli on his wings. The Gallagher addition was a first and it was immediately effective. Every shift the line had in the first period was outstanding. In fact, the Corsi numbers were practically unbeatable: Gallagher and Toffoli were 100 and Kotkaniemi was 90. That’s some domination. The best chances fell onto the stick of Kotkaniemi who early had a terrific chance, but he hesitated with it and ended up not getting a good shot away. He didn’t make the same mistake later in the period as he got the Toffoli pass and immediately fired it into the far side. It was the only goal for the Canadiens in the first even though the shots on goal were 16-4.
READ MORE: Call Of The Wilde — Montreal Canadiens lose again in overtime (March 8, 2021)
- There is something else happening to Kotkaniemi’s game right now that can not be noted enough. The 20-year-old Finn is finally learning how to puck battle. In that rookie year, when Kotkaniemi was getting praised so profusely, he almost never won a battle. He actually fell down in the process a lot. Suddenly, in the last three or so games, he’s getting in battles and winning them. He is winning the battles in two ways as well. Firstly, he is getting his body into positions to block out his opponent, or push out and turn away from an opponent. Secondly, he is simply using that long stick that everyone has hated so much and getting control simply with his reach. This is a huge development in Kotkaniemi’s game. Winning puck battles is an under-appreciated aspect of hockey. There are a ton of battles for the puck, and if you are losing them, you are the reason that possession ends, and that’s one of the worst things there is in sports. Without possession, nothing good can happen. Kotkaniemi also is learning how to win face-offs. He was weak for so long, but recently he is putting together huge nights in the dot. He’s still so young, and his progression is continuing. This is terrific news for the organization. You don’t know when a player hits a ceiling. All you can do is hope they keep learning and raising the bar. Kotkaniemi persists.
READ MORE: Call Of The Wilde — Montreal Canadiens dominate the Winnipeg Jets (March 6, 2021)
- Make it six power-play goals already since Alex Burrows took over running it from Kirk Muller. The first five goals were scored by the second unit with Jesperi Kotkaniemi as the key centre and Jeff Petry as the QB on the blue line. Nick Suzuki at centre and Shea Weber had not scored a power-play goal yet. The issue was that Weber’s 100 mph slap shot was not hitting the net. It did perfectly into the top corner on the soft dish from Jonathan Drouin. It was a Weber rocket to make it 3-1. The Burrows power play is running at around 40 per cent.
- While all of the attention was rightly given to Kotkaniemi’s line, quietly, Philip Danault’s line was just as dominant. Danault even scored his first goal of the season. Both Kotkaniemi’s line and Danault’s line were over 90 per cent Corsi. Both lines owned the ice. Imagine this scenario, where taking Gallagher off Danault’s line didn’t hurt them in their two-way play, yet elevated the two-way play of Kotkaniemi’s line to a much higher level. That would be the gift that keeps on giving. Danault with Tatar and Armia putting in strong performances defensively would give the Canadiens a chance to keep the other team’s top line at bay, and open up freedom for the first two lines to succeed with easier match-ups. Here’s the caveat: it was the Vancouver Canucks who did not seem at all inspired in this game. Let’s see what the Corsi or the Expected Goals Percentage analytics are for the lines when they face the Maple Leafs, Jets, or Oilers. That will be a better test, but for now, this type of line domination for both Danault and Kotkaniemi is an exciting development for the coaching staff.
Wilde Goats
- I’m not sure what the history was behind Ben Chiarot and JT Miller deciding to fight right off the face-off with seemingly nothing to warrant it. But there they went, and the first right that Chiarot took was off the helmet or visor of Miller and boom goes the hand. Chiarot left the ice immediately. As he made his way to the dressing room, you could see him throwing his helmet with the left hand while holding up his right hand like he was in considerable pain. At these moments before you get a doctor’s word on it, one always judges the player’s level of frustration. They tell you sometimes with their own anger. Chiarot’s anger said to everyone that this was not gonna be good. Chiarot never returned to the ice. The Canadiens public relations department announced after the first period that he would not return. It’s hard to imagine a more intellectually challenged way to lose a player, but here we are. It would not be surprising if on Thursday night Victor Mete is beside Shea Weber against the Flames in Calgary.
Wilde Cards
It can not be disputed at this point that if the Canadiens are going to find a higher level of success this season, they need to improve their left side defending. Specifically, they need to get a puck-moving defenceman to help Shea Weber. The pairing of Ben Chiarot and Weber is too much of a bad thing — the stay-at-home defenceman. They’re staying at home so much, it’s like they are in curfew.
Yet finding a solution to this issue this season via trade is extremely difficult. Many refer to the quarantine of two weeks to get into Canada, but that is not an issue. Just because you have to wait two weeks to use a player does not mean for a second that you do not pull a deal for a player that you want for the playoffs.
The issue is not quarantine. The issue is available talent — as in, there is very little around the league that is eligible.
The criteria is simple. It’s a prospects trade for teams that are not going to be contending for a playoff spot. The search continues by only including those players who have no years left on their contracts or one year left. In the one-year-left scenario, the GM is thinking in terms of a longer rebuild for his club.
With those criteria in mind, there was an almost complete absence of players available to Marc Bergevin to get that magic player to change the fortunes of the club.
Only four players even fit the criteria and three of them are actually not that strong.
The Columbus Blue Jackets are close to selling, so they will move Michael Del Zotto. He has played in 26 games this season with two goals and five assists. He is an unrestricted free agent after this season. He is sufficient and would improve the blue line, but he is a cheap add that would not be transforming.
Marc Staal has had a long career in the NHL and at 34 years of age, his best years are behind him. However, perhaps he has one good playoff left in him. He is a UFA as well, but he has a no-move clause in his contract. One would think he wouldn’t have too much trouble waiving that to get out of Detroit. Staal has two goals and two assists in 27 games this season and his analytics are quite good for a bad club. Still, though, this is not the dream trade to transform the Habs.
That brings us to the final eligible player in the entire league on the left side blue line that fits the criteria, and this player is the home run. This player sticks out as superior to every other so significantly that the market will be intense for his services should the Nashville Predators decide to trade him.
Firstly, they should. They are not going to be a great team next year and then they will lose the unrestricted free agent for nothing when he finishes his $3.75 million per season contract at the age of 31. His trade value is highest right now.
Mattias Ekholm has played in 19 games this season and has four goals and five assists for nine points from the Predators’ left side. Those are strong numbers. If you like plus-minus, Elkhom is tops on the team at plus-6. If you favour analytics, the best is goals above expected, and Ekholm is the top player on the entire Predators team with an extremely good 2.5. Colton Sissons is second at 1.4. Ekholm is the best player on his team this season by that metric by a big margin.
If you look at that Goals Above Expected analytic around the entire NHL, only three defenders are ahead of Ekholm: Jakob Chychrun, Darnell Nurse and Jeff Petry. Ekholm is dominant on a bad team. That is even better than being dominant on a great team. Put Ekholm with better players and he could flourish even more.
There is absolutely no question at all that the target is Mattias Ekholm. Any other player would not move the needle much. Ekholm could change everything.
Brian Wilde, a Montreal-based sports writer, brings you Call of the Wilde on globalnews.ca after each Canadiens game.
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