10 Thoughts: Top Line Leads Habs Over Islanders

After a disappointing loss in Detroit on Thursday, the Habs had yet another game against a team right behind them in the standings on Saturday as they hosted the Islanders.  The top line took over when it mattered most, leading Montreal to a 7-3 win.

With Josh Anderson unable to return for this one, there were no changes up front while Martin St. Louis kept the defence intact as well.  The lone change came in goal with Jacob Fowler getting his first start in a week while the rest of the team lined up as follows:

Caufield – Suzuki – Slafkovsky
Newhook – Kapanen – Demidov
Bolduc – Evans – Texier
Veleno – Danault – Gallagher

Matheson – Dobson
Struble – Hutson
Guhle – Carrier

10 Thoughts

1) The Habs got out to a nice start to this one.  The second line started strong and Kaiden Guhle threw a big hit early.  Then, they capitalized on an early slashing penalty from Casey Cizikas.  Ivan Demidov was stopped early on the power play on a cross-ice feed but the Canadiens kept possession.  Eventually, Juraj Slafkovsky was able to slip coverage and took a Nick Suzuki feed and one-timed it past Ilya Sorokin.  We think of Cole Caufield as the shooter on the power play but Slafkovsky has carved a nice niche for himself as a trigger man in that bumper role.  With that goal, Slafkovsky set a new franchise record for power play goals before the age of 22 with 29.

2) Unfortunately, soon after, Guhle’s physicality came back to bite him on his next shift.  After his stick broke, Guhle was trying to pin Matthew Schaefer on the boards.  He did that part well but he then channelled his inner linebacker and tackled him to the ice.  Alouettes Defensive Coordinator Noel Thorpe might have liked the tackling form but it was an easy roughing call as that’s the wrong sport.  Montreal did great on the first 90 seconds of the kill but after Anders Lee gained the zone, he sent a quick feed to Emil Heineman.  Heineman caught Fowler flat-footed (not expecting the shot) and fired a precise one past him from an odd angle.  He had a few of those for the Habs last season as well, catching goalies by surprise.  In general, however, Fowler looked a little rattled at the start of this game between this goal and some puck-handling adventures that he’s lucky didn’t come back to bite him.

3) Lane Hutson does a lot of terrific things in the offensive zone.  So much so that you have to live with the mistakes that come from his aggression.  With a little under seven minutes left, he tried to thread a cross-ice feed to Suzuki, one that was a low-percentage play.  Adam Pelech intercepted it and flipped the puck to centre where Simon Holmstrom was there to corral it for a breakaway.  Hutson did his best to get back but Holmstrom went in uncontested, got Fowler to bite, and slipped a shot past him.  Montreal pushed back and got another power play but couldn’t get the equalizer.  All in all, the Canadiens had a very solid opening 20 minutes but had nothing to show for it but a one-goal deficit.

4) The Habs killed off a Noah Dobson penalty early in the second period.  That bears mentioning because in the first half of the frame, that’s about all that went right.  It took them more than 15 minutes to get a shot on goal…and it was one from their own end.  Fortunately for the home side, New York couldn’t take advantage.  Schaefer briefly looked like he doubled the Islander lead when he knocked the puck out of midair, banking it off Fowler and in.  However, he clearly hit it with a high stick.  It was a nice baseball play but again, that’s the wrong sport.  Schaefer hit the post a couple of shifts later for good measure.  The good thing that came out of this is that the Habs finally woke up.

5) The playing time for the second line has been a point of discussion lately with that trio struggling.  With that in mind, it’s fitting that they’re the ones who tied the game.  After Hutson took a huge hit from Jean-Gabriel Pageau (one that Jayden Struble tried to respond to but didn’t take a penalty for it), the Canadiens came down the ice.  After just hopping on the ice, Guhle sent a cross-ice feed to Alex Newhook who one-timed it past Sorokin to tie the game.  Possession for that second line hasn’t been pretty all year but they’ve outscored their struggles at times to compensate.  It’d be great if that trio could even get back to doing that.

6) Tony DeAngelo took his second penalty of the game late in the second, sending the Habs to another man advantage.  Early on, it looked like they were trying to work on setting Slafkovsky up but New York was defending him a little tighter.  That was good news for the other shooter, Caufield.  Suzuki fed him the puck down low and as Caufield has done many times this season, he found a small pocket from a tight angle and made no mistake.  Yes, another Saturday goal for Cole.  Somehow, someway, in a period that they were dreadful in for three quarters of it, the Canadiens wound up winning it by two goals, giving them the one-goal lead after 40 minutes.

7) It was short-lived.  Brendan Gallagher took a bad penalty with only a few seconds left in the second period and New York made them pay.  Bo Horvat sent a feed to Schaefer at the point and the rookie slapped one past Fowler, a shot that he’d probably want back.

8) The good news is that it didn’t matter.  Barely two minutes after the goal, Gallagher won a scrambled draw back to the point.  Alexandre Carrier sent a quick feed to Guhle and his slapper changed direction on the way to the net and beat Sorokin.  That really got the home side going and the Isles on their heels.

9) From there, the top line took over.  Caufield was able to find Slafkovsky in the slot and he wired home his second of the night.  This was more of the usual play we’ve seen on the power play with Slafkovsky firing from closer to the net but it worked.  Three minutes later, Slafkovsky returned the favour.  After Guhle’s shot was stopped, Slafkovsky got the rebound and sent it to Caufield in the slot for his second of the night, chasing Sorokin after that.  Then, on a late power play, Suzuki fed Caufield on a two-on-one to give the winger his second hat-trick of the season.  That line hasn’t taken over as much lately but that was a tremendous third period from them.

10) There was a bit of rough stuff to note as well.  Mathew Barzal seemed determined to fight Suzuki which is something you don’t see too often but the captain wanted nothing of it.  That sparked a pair of scrums, getting Barzal and Guhle tossed for good measure.  After the Caufield hat-trick goal, Suzuki and Brayden Schenn were then tossed as well.  Suzuki usually doesn’t get too involved in that stuff but something tells me he was contributing a fair bit to all of that.  Fortunately, by then, it didn’t matter much, as the Habs locked up the key two points.

HW Habs 3 Stars

1st Star: Cole Caufield – For whatever reason, Caufield keeps finding ways to elevate his game on Saturday nights.  This was a whole other level beyond the usual, however, with a five-point effort.

Stats: 3 goals, 2 assists, +2 rating, 3 shots, 16:07 TOI

2nd Star: Juraj Slafkovsky – We still don’t see it night to night like many hope will be the case at some point but there are games where the youngster can take over and use his size to dominate in the offensive zone.  This was one of those nights which helped fuel the top line’s dominance.

Stats: 2 goals, 2 assists, +2 rating, 4 shots, 17:14 TOI

3rd Star: Nick Suzuki – Kaiden Guhle easily could have landed here but this is a night that belonged to the top line.  Suzuki reached the 60-assist mark for the first time in his career as part of a four-point effort and added one of his best games in a while at the faceoff dot for good measure.

Stats: 4 assists, +2 rating, 10 PIMS, 3 shots, 2 hits, 10/14 faceoffs, 18:47 TOI