The fears that the Montreal Canadiens were losing their energy heading into the Four Nations break were well founded. Montreal had five straight losses heading into their contest in San Jose on Tuesday night.
The Canadiens went from the final wild card spot to nearly out of the chase in less than two weeks. They absolutely had to have a win against the Sharks, and they got it 4-3.
Wilde Horses
The Canadiens goal early in the second period was a massive one for the confidence in many respects. Firstly, it was a power play goal. The play with the extra-man has been abysmal recently, and one of the reasons that the club has struggled.
The players who were in on the goal needed a big moment. Cole Caufield scored his first power play goal since late November. It was his 26th goal of the season. Caufield is on pace for 41 goals.
Nick Suzuki had one of the assists. He now has 52 points in 53 games. Suzuki is trying to be a point-per-game player for the first time in his career.
Probably the most important player to be involved in the goal was Lane Hutson. He scored his first point in six games. Hutson has hit a wall recently. That’s expected considering he has already played more games than his college season in Boston last year.
The Canadiens went up 2-1 shortly after. The second line was shuffled by the head coach for this contest. Patrik Laine was moved on to Jake Evans’ line. Moving to play with Kirby Dach was Josh Anderson.
It was Alex Newhook who took the shot to give Montreal the lead on an excellent pass from Alexandre Carrier. Newhook got an assist as the second power play unit chipped in early in the third period with a well-orchestrated marker.
Dach was instrumental on the goal as he made the clever and quick pass to Brendan Gallagher for a tap-in goal. Dach is coming around offensively nicely, but he hasn’t found success defensively as a centre yet. That’s the deficiency now more than any point accumulation recently. Dach has seven points in his last 11 games, but he is also the worst plus/minus player in the entire league.
Owen Beck played his fourth NHL game and looked considerably better than his first three. Beck was strong showing the future that he has in the league when he gets comfortable. Beck hit the post in the second period as he almost had his first NHL goal. Beck also made a couple of excellent passes in the first period.
In the third period, the Canadiens had a strong shift with the offence cycling. Beck was the catalyst as he dominated on the forecheck hounding the Sharks defence until they relented.
Get daily National news
If this final third of the season is about improving the club in the long run with prospects shining, then this was a strong game for the rebuild due to the play of Beck because besides the strong offence, he also showed he can play the game defensively.
Beck is a heady player. He may not be heading back to Laval for a while. Beck’s performance made the attempts by Rafael Harvey-Pinard and Michael Pezzetta to stay in the line-up as the 12th forward look weak by comparison.
It was 3-3 late, and it looked bad for the Canadiens when Jayden Struble took a ‘puck over glass’ penalty. That’s when the Jake Evans-Joel Armia connection came through again. These two have been a revelation killing penalties.
Evans handled the 2-on-1 perfectly, waiting, then laying a soft pass to Armia to finish it top shelf. Evans is an outstanding player on odd-man rushes. He makes the right play nearly every time. Armia’s tally was the winner – a winner that the Canadiens absolutely had to have.
Wilde Goats
After five straight losses, the Canadiens put two important points in the bank. There’s been plenty of goats recently, and there will be plenty of goats to come. No need to concentrate on the negative when Montreal finally won a game.
Wilde Cards
The recent Canadiens losing skid has likely taken them out of the playoff race this season, but the excellent run they experienced for two months has created a new attitude to explore. Consensus around the league is that Montreal being the best team in the league over a 15 game stretch has made management feel as if they can now expedite the process of the rebuild in constructive ways.
Insiders are reporting that the Canadiens are active, and are looking for veterans around the age of 25 who have some term left on their contracts, and who can make an immediate impact in the line-up. There are two needs. The club must get stronger on defence where just one injury has changed the make-up too significantly.
Kaiden Guhle is gone for the season with a thigh contusion. His injury exposed that they don’t have enough NHL depth. That may be a problem next year as well where the top prospects David Reinbacher, Logan Mailloux, and Adam Engstrom all may need more seasoning in the minors.
Look for a deal that is reminiscent of the Alexandre Carrier trade. Montreal will be looking for a three or four depth defender willing to give up a second or third round draft pick to complete the deal.
The second need is at centre where the feeling is that management is ready to say that they can’t go into next season with Kirby Dach as their second line centre. The thinking is that this is not about the health of Dach’s knee to play more effectively. It is about his ability to think the game defensively at centre.
The Canadiens first line is 14th in the NHL in goals for. The third line is 16th in the league. The fourth line is second in the league in goals scored behind only Carolina. However, the second line is 23rd in the league.
That stat is charitable to that second line, as it is computed not taking only 5-on-5 gaols, but, also, power play goals. Take away Patrik Laine’s power play markers and that line is struggling even worse than 23rd.
Next season looks better. The best prospect not in the NHL today Ivan Demidov joins the club from Russia. He is putting in the best under-20 season in KHL history. However, considering Laine is not strong 5-on-5, that line needs a strong 200-foot centre to help the wingers play good defensive hockey.
The second line centre can’t also be a liability defensively. This is why the Canadiens are in the hunt for a player who could make all the difference to the second line. If that 23rd ranked second line could get in the top-ten, the club would be rejuvenated. Michael Hage may be the answer down the line, but not as soon as next season.
Management knows they are still in the hunt for top-line excellence at defence and centre, so don’t expect them to trade their first round picks. Nine times out of 10 in the NHL, a star player was chosen in the first round. Montreal has both their own first-round pick and Calgary’s first-rounder this June. They hope to find a future star with those choices.
-
Former Habs player Chris Nilan confronts his struggles with mental health in a new one-man show
-
Call of the Wilde: Habs fall 4-2 to Red Wings -
Call of the Wilde: the Habs’ surge continues -
The Call of the Wilde: The Habs’ Big Turnaround -
High hopes for Habs after mid-season turnaround -
Call of the Wilde: A tough stretch for the Habs