Habs Weekly: Hitting the Olympic Break on a Good Note

The Habs wrapped up their pre-Olympic portion of the schedule with a pair of road games against the Central.  While they couldn’t snap their extra-long losing streak in Minnesota, it was still a successful week in the standings with Montreal picking up three of four points.

The Week That Was

Feb. 2: Wild 4, Canadiens 3 (OT) – When the Wild scored on the opening shift of the game, it felt like things were heading for the usual blowout that Montreal’s games in Minnesota usually end in.  But some timely goals from the Habs made it interesting.  Brendan Gallagher scored in the last minute of the first, Ivan Demidov in the last minute of the second, and Kirby Dach tallied just 12 seconds into the third and all of a sudden, the Habs had the lead.  Alas, history ultimately repeated itself.  Brock Faber tied the game to send it to overtime and Kirill Kaprizov’s second goal of the game (on the power play) earned the home side the extra point.

Feb. 4: Canadiens 5, Jets 1 – The Habs came out flat in this one with Samuel Montembeault being peppered early and often.  However, after Kyle Connor opened the scoring, Montreal started to push back and eventually tied it up before the end of the first.  From there, the veteran checking line added a pair of goals in the second, giving them a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.  Montembeault was especially sharp in this one, his first game in close to two weeks.

StatPack

Skaters:

#	Player	GP	G	A	+/-	PIMS	SOG	ATOI
8	Mike Matheson	2	0	1	-1	0	3	25:16
11	Brendan Gallagher	2	2	2	+3	2	3	12:51
13	Cole Caufield	2	0	0	-1	0	6	17:15
14	Nick Suzuki	2	0	1	-1	0	1	18:45
17	Josh Anderson	2	1	2	+4	2	3	14:14
20	Juraj Slafkovsky	2	0	1	+1	0	3	17:45
21	Kaiden Guhle	2	0	0	-2	0	2	20:44
24	Phillip Danault	2	1	1	+3	2	5	15:52
45	Alexandre Carrier	2	0	1	+3	2	1	18:02
47	Jayden Struble	1	0	1	+1	0	0	12:03
48	Lane Hutson	2	1	1	+5	2	1	23:29
53	Noah Dobson	2	0	3	+2	0	4	23:21
71	Jake Evans	2	0	0	E	0	3	16:05
72	Arber Xhekaj	1	0	0	E	0	0	5:51
76	Zachary Bolduc	2	0	1	E	2	1	11:13
77	Kirby Dach	2	1	1	-1	0	4	16:18
90	Joe Veleno	2	0	0	E	0	1	11:59
91	Oliver Kapanen	2	1	0	+2	2	5	14:04
93	Ivan Demidov	2	1	0	+1	0	1	14:11

Goalies:

#	Player	Record	GAA	SV%	SO
35	Samuel Montembeault	1-0-0	1.00	.973	0
75	Jakub Dobes	0-1-0	3.82	.833	0

Team Leaders:

Goals: Cole Caufield (32)
Assists: Lane Hutson (48)
Points: Nick Suzuki (65)
+/-: Nick Suzuki (+25)
PIMS: Arber Xhekaj (104)
Shots: Cole Caufield (171)

News And Notes

– Brendan Gallagher is now in sole possession of 14th on Montreal’s all-time goals scored listing, passing Mats Naslund.  He’s 13 away from being tied for 10th, a mark he probably won’t reach this season but should have a shot at getting to in 2026-27.

– Zachary Bolduc is now waiver-eligible as he has played in 160 career NHL contests between the regular season and playoffs. 

– Samuel Blais passed through waivers successfully and was assigned to AHL Laval.  He had been a healthy scratch for close to three weeks before the move was made.

Last Game’s Lines:

Caufield – Suzuki – Dach
Slafkovsky – Kapanen – Demidov
Anderson – Danault – Gallagher
Bolduc – Evans – Veleno

Matheson – Guhle
Hutson – Dobson
Struble – Carrier

The Week Ahead

For most of the Habs, the next week (and then some) is nothing but rest.  Four Canadiens will play at the Olympics while the rest are off until at least February 17th when teams are eligible to bring players back for practice.  Looking to their next week of games, here’s what will be on tap.

Feb. 26: vs New York (I) – Despite a roster that’s struggling to score and is without several key players for the rest of the season (including Alexander Romanov), Patrick Roy’s group is in a playoff spot at the break.  GM Mathieu Darche then rewarded his team with the additions of Carson Soucy and Ondrej Palat to try to give them a boost.  Matthew Schaefer sits third on the team in scoring with 16 goals and 23 assists and is still the likely top contender for the Calder Trophy ahead of Ivan Demidov.  Meanwhile, it has been a rough year for former Hab Jonathan Drouin who has all of three goals in 51 games.

Feb. 28: vs Washington – After winning the division last season, the Capitals are out of the playoffs at the moment.  That’s despite a balanced attack that sees them with already ten double-digit goal-scorers (Montreal, one of the top-scoring teams in the league, has nine) and none of those are Pierre-Luc Dubois who just returned from injury before the break.  Logan Thompson has been one of the better starters in the league this season and after being in more of a timeshare with Charlie Lindgren last season, he has ran away with the starting job.

Final Thought

With the trade deadline fast approaching, one of the things that the Habs need to do is figure out what needs they think they can try to fill.  Not all of their needs will be filled, obviously, especially with the team being pretty tight to the salary cap.  But one or two might be doable.

One of the more common ones lately is the need for a top-six forward.  Perhaps not a top-six centre since Oliver Kapanen has held his own in that role.  But with Juraj Slafkovsky now helping to anchor the second line, there’s a spot on the top line potentially up for grabs.

Lately, Kirby Dach has gotten a look with Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki and he has held his own.  Overall, after being held without a point in his first four games back from injury, Dach now has five in his last four games.  And while he has been inconsistent in the past, he has had some success with those two previously.  In a way, the timing of the break wasn’t great for him as he was just starting to get up to speed. 

But has he done enough for management to think that between him and Alexandre Texier, they might be able to fill that spot in-house and turn their focus elsewhere?

On the other hand, given his penchant for injuries and a qualifying offer worth $4 million on the horizon, is he someone who is still part of Montreal’s long-term plans?  If not (or if they’re still unsure), he could become one of their more intriguing trade chips if they want to try to use him to fill one of those areas of need.

Dach’s play as of late was better, potentially good enough to make not only the Habs think but other teams as well, assess if he might fit in with them should the Habs look to make a bigger move.  With only a handful of games left before the trade deadline next month, he’s going to be one of Montreal’s bigger wild cards down the stretch as a result.