Habs Weekly: Opportunity Awaits

Last week was a tale of two halves for the Habs.  In the first half against divisional rivals, they took care of business.  However, over the weekend against a pair of Western opponents, they struggled and failed to pick up any points, leading to a split week overall.

The Week That Was

Mar. 10: Canadiens 3, Maple Leafs 1 – Early on, this had the makings of a rout.  The Habs were all over Toronto and scored twice in the opening 20 minutes.  Frankly, it had the feel of a preseason game where one team had much more talent than the other.  However, the Maple Leafs woke up after that and had the Canadiens on their heels for notable portions after that.  William Nylander got it to a one-goal game in the second but Montreal held the fort defensively from there, allowing Jake Evans to eventually pot an empty-netter for insurance.

Mar. 11: Canadiens 3, Senators 2 – Martin St. Louis made an interesting decision before this one, opting to recall and start Jacob Fowler in his first NHL appearance in the better part of two months against a division rival in the second half of a back-to-back.  (No pressure, kid.)  It worked.  He was quite sharp, especially in the dying minutes, which paved the way for Ivan Demidov’s go-ahead goal in the third to stand as the eventual winner.

Mar. 14: Sharks 4, Canadiens 2 – Macklin Celebrini gave the Habs fits in their first matchup earlier this month.  That continued into this game.  He scored twice (plus another one that was called back) and set up another tally and that was the difference.  Overall, Montreal played reasonably well and didn’t give San Jose the type of high-volume opportunities we’ve seen this back end give up at times.  However, Jakub Dobes wasn’t as sharp in this one and the Sharks skated away with the two points to keep them in the mix for the playoffs in the West.

Mar. 15: Ducks 4, Canadiens 3 – For the second straight meeting between the two this month, the Habs pulled off a multi-goal comeback to take the lead.  This time, it came in the second period instead of the third.  But once again, a late third-period goal hurt.  Unfortunately, this wasn’t to tie the game; Cutter Gauthier’s marker with 2:30 stood as the go-ahead tally and eventual winner.

StatPack

Skaters:

#	Player	GP	G	A	+/-	PIMS	SOG	ATOI
8	Mike Matheson	4	0	1	-2	0	8	22:10
11	Brendan Gallagher	3	0	0	+2	7	2	11:05
13	Cole Caufield	3	2	0	-3	0	9	16:50
14	Nick Suzuki	4	2	2	-1	0	8	21:32
15	Alex Newhook	4	1	2	+3	0	4	15:12
17	Josh Anderson	4	0	1	E	4	5	13:16
20	Juraj Slafkovsky	4	1	2	-2	0	11	20:36
21	Kaiden Guhle	4	0	2	E	0	4	20:18
24	Phillip Danault	4	1	0	-1	2	1	14:17
45	Alexandre Carrier	4	0	0	+1	0	3	15:54
47	Jayden Struble	2	0	0	+2	0	2	10:13
48	Lane Hutson	4	0	3	E	6	8	24:14
53	Noah Dobson	4	0	3	E	0	7	21:51
71	Jake Evans	4	1	1	+1	0	6	14:38
72	Arber Xhekaj	2	0	0	E	2	3	10:34
76	Zachary Bolduc	3	0	0	+1	0	4	13:09
77	Kirby Dach	4	0	0	-1	0	7	10:31
85	Alexandre Texier	3	1	0	-2	0	5	13:06
91	Oliver Kapanen	4	1	0	+1	0	6	14:34
93	Ivan Demidov	4	1	3	E	2	10	16:51

Goalies:

#	Player	Record	GAA	SV%	SO
32	Jacob Fowler	1-1-0	3.05	.903	0
75	Jakub Dobes	1-1-0	2.04	.897	0

Team Leaders:

Goals: Cole Caufield (39)
Assists: Lane Hutson (56)
Points: Nick Suzuki (78)
+/-: Lane Hutson (+26)
PIMS: Arber Xhekaj (108)
Shots: Cole Caufield (198)

News And Notes

– Jacob Fowler’s recall from Laval counts as Montreal’s first post-deadline regular recall.  The limit is up to five this season (it was previously four) and lasts for as long as Laval’s playing, including the playoffs.

– Kirby Dach left Sunday’s loss to Anaheim with an upper-body injury.  There’s no word yet on how much time he might miss.

– Updating last week’s Lane Hutson stat, he winds up with 118 assists in his first 150 NHL games, putting him three ahead of Sergei Zubov for the league record.

– The loss to San Jose was the first time that the Habs didn’t score three goals in a game since January 22nd against Buffalo.

Last Game’s Lines:

Caufield – Suzuki – Slafkovsky
Newhook – Kapanen – Demidov
Texier – Evans – Dach
Anderson – Danault – Gallagher

Matheson – Guhle
Hutson – Dobson
Xhekaj – Carrier

The Week Ahead

Tuesday vs Boston – The Habs will be catching the Bruins on the second half of a back-to-back set for this one.  Depending how their game tonight goes, they could be tied for third place in the Atlantic Division as well.  While they only have two players with 20-plus goals, they have seven more with double-digit goals as they have one of the more balanced attacks in the league.  They’re also one of the most penalized teams in the league with a below-average penalty kill which will make getting Montreal’s struggling power play back on track for this one even more important.

Thursday at Detroit – Another key divisional game and Montreal might very well be catching them at the right time.  Forwards Dylan Larkin, Andrew Copp, Michael Rasmussen, and Michael Brandsegg-Nygard are all out with injuries, resulting in several players getting called up from the minors.  One of those is Dominik Shine, who scored his first NHL goal earlier this month at the age of 32.  The Red Wings struck a deal to add a key piece at the trade deadline, moving a first-round pick and more to St. Louis to add Justin Faulk to their back end.

Saturday vs NY Islanders – While this one isn’t a divisional matchup, the two teams are nearly tied in points which could come into play if the teams wind up in a Wild Card position.  New York’s calling card continues to be on the defensive side of the ice, anchored by goalie Ilya Sorokin and defenceman Matthew Schaefer, who, with all due respect to Ivan Demidov, is starting to run away in the Calder Trophy race.  The Isles also made a deal of significance at the trade deadline, bringing in centre Brayden Schenn from the Blues while offloading former Hab Jonathan Drouin in the swap to help balance out the cap element.  Suffice it to say, these three games could go a long way toward making or breaking their playoff hopes.

Final Thought

The biggest storyline in Montreal this past week came off the ice with the decisions to move Samuel Montembeault to third-string status and make Brendan Gallagher a healthy scratch.  But with Montembeault struggling, the coaching staff felt they had no choice but to turn to Jacob Fowler.  And in Gallagher’s case, with Alexandre Texier doing well after being put back in the lineup, it’s fair to question if Gallagher is one of their top 12 forwards anymore.

But regardless of the answer to that question, this shouldn’t be that big of a deal.  Kirby Dach’s recent injury notwithstanding, this team is pretty healthy at the moment and has decent depth.  Given the condensed schedule down the stretch, this can actually work in Montreal’s favour.  That is, as long as they use their depth to their advantage, at least when it comes to their skaters.  (Given the move they’ve made in goal, it’s hard to see Montembeault seeing much, if any action, the rest of the way.)

On defence, it’s fairly simple.  Since neither of Arber Xhekaj or Jayden Struble can establish themselves as the go-to sixth defenceman, keep rotating them to keep them both fresh.  Maybe even sneak in a night off for Alexandre Carrier if they can get clinched beforehand.  Up front, Gallagher can benefit from a game off here and there.  Zach Bolduc can miss the odd one and it’s okay.  Same with Texier.  I’d even go as far as suggesting Josh Anderson and Phillip Danault could benefit from a night off.  There are enough healthy players to have 13 or even 14 players playing with some regularity.  Keeping those role players fresher might come in handy along the way.

With injuries likely to still hit down the stretch, this is the time to rotate some players in and out before injuries ultimately take the benefit of that depth away.  Does that mean some players are going to sit?  Yep.  But in the long run, I think the Habs will be better for it.