The Canadiens’ pre-season did not go very well.
They finished with a 2-4-0 record and lost their last four games. They also lost their big off-season acquisition, Patrik Laine, for 2-3 months when he suffered a sprained knee in the second game.
The Canadiens’ power play went 0-for 30 and their penalty-killers allowed seven power-play goals on 19 opportunities in the last four games.
Both goaltenders struggled in their last starts. Cayden Primeau allowed four goals on 16 shots in a 4-3 loss to the Senators last Tuesday at the Bell Centre and then Samuel Montembeault allowed four goals on 19 shots in a 4-2 loss to the Senators Saturday in Ottawa.
Head coach Martin St. Louis decided not to go with anything close to what will be his starting lineup during the final two pre-season games against the Senators in part because of fear of injury as tensions heated up between the two rivals.
Now, things get real with the Canadiens opening the regular season Wednesday at the Bell Centre against the Toronto Maple Leafs (7 p.m., SN, TVA Sports).
What gives St. Louis confidence his team can suddenly hit the switch and turn things around on opening night?
“I’m very encouraged that our five-on-five game is going to be the foundation of our success,” St. Louis said after the Canadiens made their final cuts of training camp before practising Monday morning at the CN Sports Complex in Brossard. “The special teams, we could be running at 30 per cent right now and probably talking about, ‘Well, they did it against American League guys.’”
St. Louis would have liked to have more repetitions, both at five-on-five and special teams, with his opening-night lineup during the pre-season, but said he had to manage the risks.
“Overall game, I’m very comfortable,” St. Louis said, adding the team is well ahead of where it was at this point last year. “The power play, I’m kind of happy that we haven’t showed any team anything. To me that’s a positive. … If we were running at 33 per cent and the first game starts and we go 0-for-6, who cares about that? So I know we’re going to get judged now.”
St. Louis is right.
Nobody will remember what the Canadiens’ pre-season record was or how bad the power play was once the regular season gets into full swing. But this looks like a rebuilding team that will miss the playoffs for a fourth straight season.
Among the final cuts on Monday were forward Joshua Roy and defenceman Logan Mailloux, who are both headed to the AHL’s Laval Rocket.
St. Louis said Roy didn’t do enough at training camp to earn a spot to start the season, while forwards Alex Barré-Boulet, Emil Heineman and Oliver Kapanen did. St. Louis added that he knows Roy has a high ceiling with the qualities to play in the NHL, but the 21-year-old didn’t show enough at camp and now has to keep working on his game and his consistency in Laval.
As for Mailloux, St. Louis said the 21-year-old defenceman had a “very good camp” and will play many years in the NHL, but that the best thing for his development now is to start the season in Laval.
It’s not a surprise that defenceman Lane Hutson made the team after thrilling fans at training camp and in pre-season games with his unique offensive skills. Hutson and the other young players learned they had made the team during a video session before practice started Monday, during which St. Louis told them that everyone in the room would start the season in Montreal.
“It’s pretty special, but the work’s not done,” said Hutson, who played the final two games last season with the Canadiens after spending two years at Boston University. “There’s a lot more work to do and I’m excited to learn more from the guys we got here.”
What makes Hutson most excited about this team overall?
“I think just how hungry we are,” he said. “I’ve never been part of an NHL dressing room until now. But seeing how motivated everyone is is really exciting and I’m excited to be a part of it.”
But there are reasons for concern as this rebuilding process continues, which is why at the Canadiens’ golf tournament before training camp, management would only go so far as to say the goal is to be “in the mix” for the playoffs this season.
That was before Laine was injured.
Joel Armia took Laine’s spot on the second line at practice Monday, along with Kirby Dach and Alex Newhook. Armia, who scored a career-high 17 goals last season, was also on the second power-play unit.
St. Louis said handling the emotional highs of opening night against the Leafs and staying focused on the process will be the keys to the Canadiens getting off to a good start.
What’s his biggest concern heading into the regular season?
“I don’t have a concern,” St. Louis said. “I think we’re going to be ready.”
We’re about to find out.