After a successful road trip with five out of a possible eight points won, the Montreal Canadiens returned home for a Saturday night date with the Los Angeles Kings. But the Canadiens were flat for much of the night, losing 4-2.
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Mike Hoffman returned to the line-up to score his sixth of the year. The Canadiens need Hoffman to keep contributing. With his contract at $4.5 million until 2024, he is not an attractive trade piece. Hoffman scoring and playing well is important to the rebuild.
Cole Caufield also scored with time running down in the third period to make it an exciting finish for the fans at the Bell Centre. Caufield shot from a horrible angle in the corner, trying to find that gap between the pad and the post. That goal was Caufield’s 16th of the season in his 27th game. That’s a pace for a 49-goal season. Even if there is no playoff push this year, Caufield’s contribution could translate into some wonderful drama.
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There’s something about the first game back after a long road trip. It rarely goes well.
The line of Pezzetta-Evans-Pitlick along with the defensive pair of Guhle-Edmundson was on for two minutes and fifty seconds to end the first period. They could not clear the zone.
The fans actually booed the club off the ice in the first period. Montreal hockey fans want to see a good effort during this rebuild. They know that there will be losses. This night, the effort was not good enough.
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Joel Armia does not have a single goal this season. He’s had seven and six the last two years. What was Marc Bergevin thinking? Evgenii Dadonov has two goals this season. He had 20 last year in Las Vegas. These players can bring more than they are.
The intensity doesn’t seem there in some parts of the line-up. Just because it’s a rebuilding season, doesn’t mean your mates don’t want the best from you.
Head Coach Martin St. Louis tried to change his lines up to see if Kirby Dach could find some success at centre. Dach did fine. It was Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield with Josh Anderson that was the problem. Through the first two periods, the line had only 21 per cent of the shots in 5-on-5 hockey.
That ended the experiment even before one game had been played. It’s an indicator that those two need a very good defensive player with them such as Dach. It’s not spoken of much, but the way Dach carries the puck up ice and rotates to the centre position is a big relief of pressure for Suzuki. That line actually operates as if it is two centres.
If the organization wants to have Dach as a second-line centre because they are not able to draft one next summer, then they are in need of a responsible winger who plays a 200-foot game. A player like Artturi Lehkonen would be a perfect winger for Suzuki and Caufield, if he is still around.
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The World Junior Hockey Championships this December are going to be quite exciting for Canadiens hockey fans. The Montreal prospects announced keep increasing every day. For Slovakia, Filip Mesar will no doubt be on the roster, but don’t expect to see his countryman Juraj Slafkovsky.
Executive vice president Jeff Gorton was asked about Slafkovsky being loaned to the Slovak National Team and said “with the way he is playing right now, no”.
That follows the path through history. If a player is on the fringe in the NHL, he is often sent to the World Juniors to get some ice time. A good example is Shane Wright who has been in and out of the Seattle Kraken line-up, so experience playing for Canada will be vital for him. But if a player is contributing every game for his NHL team, it makes little sense for an organization to consider a lower league.
There is so much in that short quote from Gorton. It indicates a wary eye and a ready stance should Slafkovsky slow down his development.
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An excellent example of mishandled development is Jesperi Kotkaniemi. Kotkaniemi forced the hand of general manager Marc Bergevin coming out of his first camp. The third pick overall was strong in September and earned his spot.
However, when Kotkaniemi began to stagnate and his development stopped, he remained in a league too tough for him. He hardly touched the puck. He did not lead line rushes. He did not carry the puck to enter the zone effectively. He left some skills behind by not going to the AHL soon enough.
The keys for Slafkovsky’s development as a winger revolve much less around carrying the puck. What he needs to learn, he’ll learn best at the NHL level.
He needs to keep his head up and be much more wary of his surroundings. He’s definitely going to learn that less with lighter and smaller players at the World Juniors. He could fall back into bad habits.
Slafkovsky also needs to stop deferring to others with more experience at the NHL level. He is passing up shots that are there for him to take because he feels like the rookie. Going to Halifax just starts that process all over again.
Another of Slafkovsky’s weaknesses is his ability to puck-battle along the boards. He has a gigantic frame and really did not have to learn to use it. He needs to keep learning how to puck-battle against players who challenge him in that area.
Tossing little guys around again in Halifax teaches him nothing about puck battling.
There is not a single thing in Slafkovsky’s game that gets better at that junior tournament. As long as he is playing like he is now, the NHL is where he should remain. Gorton is absolutely correct in his assessment.
Gorton, Hughes, and Head Coach Martin St. Louis are interested in Slafkovsky’s skills improving. They are interested in his development. Confidence is about skills improving at the NHL level, not scoring goals against little juniors from Latvia.
Brian Wilde, a Montreal-based sports writer, brings you Call of the Wilde on globalnews.ca after each Canadiens game.