It was a crossroads night for the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday.
The Canadiens were 2-2 after four, but they didn’t play strong hockey for much of it. Game five was the test to see which direction they were going to go after being largely outplayed against Pittsburgh.
The Los Angeles Kings were at the Bell Centre after allowing a whopping 14 goals in their last two games against Ottawa and Toronto. However, Montreal was not able to solve them.
The Kings skated to a 4-1 win.
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Mike Matheson suffered an upper-body injury late in the first period and did not return for the final two frames. That meant someone on the blue line needed to absorb his minutes. Usually, you would see a veteran do that. Not this time.
In the second period, the rookie with not even a dozen games under him, Lane Hutson, played half of the period. His final total of ice time was over 30 minutes. This is a player who just broke into the league. This is a player who nearly all experts predicted the Canadiens would have to protect to keep him from embarrassing himself defensively.
It actually wasn’t the top game of Hutson’s career. That’s not the takeaway. The takeaway is he can handle big minutes. He can handle the top players of the other club. He can handle all situations. His possession time with the puck was double the next Canadiens player, Nick Suzuki. When he is on, all things are possible.
It hasn’t been a terrific ‘personnel’ start to the season. No one has surprised significantly to the upside, except Hutson. He has been everything that they could have hoped for. A rebuild is about personnel. It’s about finding talent that can fill top roles. It’s becoming more a possibility that Montreal has a top pair in the making in Hutson and Kaiden Guhle. Hutson, Guhle, and Samuel Montembeault, who had another strong game, are the only three players who have played above expectations this season.
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There just is not enough hockey being played in the opposition’s zone this season. This may seem like a simplistic analysis, but it is all the analysis that is required in truth. Montreal does not have the manpower yet to play a higher percentage of the game in the offensive zone.
It’s easy to count the number of times that Montreal has had concentrated pressure on the attack this season. In the first period, the Nick Suzuki line got a cycle going, and that looked strong, but it’s not happening enough.
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Lines three and four have weaker matchups, and it was hoped the veterans would be able to expose weaker players, but that is not happening. Only one partnership or line in five games is in the positive in Goals Expected share: Kaiden Guhle and Lane Hutson.
The Kings allowed 14 goals in their last two games. In Ottawa and Toronto, they couldn’t stop a fly stuck in honey. Against the Canadiens, they weren’t troubled at all. Management wants to be in the mix in March, but unless the ice tilts the other direction starting fairly soon, then it’s hard to see that happening. Montreal’s Goal Expected share overall is last in the league at only 37 per cent.
In the third period, trailing by one, playing a team who played the night before and three in four, the Canadiens had only two shots in the first 14 minutes — a discouraging ability to impact the contest no matter what the scenario.
Yes, it’s early, but no matter what the record is for Montreal, it’s important to see the club not so overwhelmed with so much of the game in their own zone. Even the top line, who looked the equal of any line in the league last season with 53 goals in the final 41 games, does not play much in the offensive zone. Their Expected Goals share is 38 per cent.
There’s plenty of season left, but so far, this is not all that encouraging.
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Canadiens Executive Vice President Of Hockey Operations Jeff Gorton said on Wednesday that the organization knows it’s going to take time for Kirby Dach to recover his game. Dach had reconstructive knee surgery 12 months ago. The process of getting comfortable in his head, and also physically feeling right is a long one.
Everyone would love if Dach was one of those players who had his knee redone and found his game immediately, but that’s just not realistic most of the time. It takes a year after ACL and MCL surgery for most players. In fact, if Dach returns to form this season, it would be historically surprising.
Right now? Let’s be honest, Dach is not right. This is not the former Dach. He cannot transition up ice. His speed is down. He’s got a 30-shot share. His line has one goal. He’s the worst +/- on the team. Patience is required.
Dach is the lynchpin for the second line this season. If he can’t transition the team up ice, Alex Newhook and Joel Armia won’t have good seasons either. A strong and stable centre powers the second line.
Success on the second line in the NHL is 70 goals. The Canadiens were the second worst second line in the NHL last year ahead of only San Jose. One goal in four games is not the path to 70, or even close.
As a result, the 2024-25 season could be challenging, just like the seasons before, without a contributing second line. It’s not just the lack of goals, either. It’s also that the game is played in Montreal’s end when the line is on 70 per cent of the time.
It’s not heartbreak yet, though. The sample size is small, and no one can make an educated guess how long it will take for Dach to get more comfortable again. No one should give up hope that he may recover more quickly than it appears at the moment.
Next season, Ivan Demidov arrives and he’s going to be a star. Michael Hage is off to an outstanding start at Michigan. Montreal has two first round draft picks this season. Management has built a war chest of solutions.
Dach can still completely recover to be his former self. Newhook can still improve. Patrik Laine returns mid-December. Demidov is on his way. Hage is highly rated. They have two first rounders in 2025.
Believe it, the 70-goal second line is coming soon to Montreal. They have planted so many seeds. It is ours simply to enjoy watching who steps up to seize the day, eventually.
The funny thing about patience is one always thinks they have shown enough of it the moment they are asked to show even more.
Brian Wilde, a Montreal-based sports writer, brings you Call of the Wilde on globalnews.ca after each Canadiens game.
