The Canadiens are starting to look like a team that could actually end up “in the mix” for a playoff spot this season.
In Year 3 of the rebuild, head coach Martin St. Louis finally has a roster with four set lines he can roll, along with three regular defence pairings and two goalies who can give the Canadiens a chance to win.
Also, the Canadiens don’t have any injured players for the first time in a very long time.
After shutting out the defending Stanley-Cup champion Panthers 4-0 Saturday in Florida, the Canadiens beat the Lightning 5-2 Sunday in Tampa.
Alex Newhook, Christian Dvorak, Jake Evans, Joel Armia and Brendan Gallagher (empty-netter) scored for the Canadiens, who outshot the Lightning 36-23 with Samuel Montembeault making 21 saves for the victory. Brandon Hagel and Nikita Kucherov scored for the Lightning.
The Canadiens are 5-1-0 in their last six games and are now only one game below .500 with a 16-17-3 record. The Lightning now have a 20-12-2 record.
Being in the mix for a playoff spot — which was management’s goal before the start of the season — seemed impossible after the Canadiens were embarrassed 9-2 by Pittsburgh at the Bell Centre on Dec. 12, basically giving up in the third period as the Penguins scored six unanswered goals. But since then the Canadiens have a 5-2-0 record and have outscored the opposition 30-16.
The return of Patrik Laine on Dec. 3 from a pre-season knee injury gave the Canadiens an offensive boost. The acquisition of defenceman Alexandre Carrier from the Nashville Predators on Dec. 18 in exchange for Justin Barron solidified the blue line. Carrier has become a solid second-pairing defence partner for Kaiden Guhle with four assists and a plus-3 rating in five games since the trade. Goalie Jakub Dobes stopped all 34 shots he faced in Saturday’s win over the Panthers a day after getting called up from the AHL’s Laval Rocket to replace the struggling Cayden Primeau. On Sunday, Primeau cleared waivers and he will now report to the Rocket.
The Canadiens are also starting to get goals now from players they need to score. Kirby Dach scored twice against the Panthers — doubling his season total — with Newhook picking up his first two assists of the season.
Newhook scored his first goal in nine games against the Lightning, giving him seven on the season. Laine picked up an assist on Newhook’s goal, giving him 8-3-11 totals in 13 games. Dvorak scored his first goal in 20 games and only his third this season against the Lightning, while Evans and Armia continue to shine on the fourth line with Emil Heineman. Evans scored in a fifth straight game, giving him 10 goals on the season, while Armia scored his seventh goal on a beautiful setup from Heineman. Gallagher’s empty-netter was his 10th goal of the season.
After Saturday’s win over the Panthers, St. Louis was asked by Sportnset’s Eric Engels in Florida about the maturity his team had shown over the last couple of weeks.
“I think it’s something we’ve been building,” St. Louis said. “I don’t think it happens overnight and sometimes there’s steps back and stuff. You take a step back and you take a giant step forward and I feel we’ve been doing that. And when you have a game like that (against the Panthers) it’s great and it shows and I think it brings confidence to the group in what we’re doing, how we’re doing it. But there’s also a part of you got to turn the page.
“You got to enjoy this, you got to turn the page,” St. Louis added. “Now, I want to see that maturity from the drop of the puck tomorrow.”
That’s exactly what St. Louis saw Sunday with the Canadiens taking a 1-0 lead into the first intermission on Newhook’s goal. The Canadiens had a 3-2 lead going into the third period, during which they dominated the Lightning, outshooting them 14-5 while getting goals from Armia and Gallagher.
“Two tough buildings to come in and get wins,” Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki told reporters in Tampa about the weekend sweep. “Really happy with everyone’s effort. Both teams were on a back-to-back (the Lightning beat the New York Rangers 6-2 Saturday in Tampa). The mind’s the first thing to go and I thought we played a really smart game. Managed the puck well, managed the game fully. It was a big two points for us.
“The last couple of years we probably found ways to lose those games or go into overtime,” Suzuki added about having a one-goal lead going into the third period. “Just a lot of mature plays and keeping it simple. Not making anything too risky and take advantage when you get those chances.”
St. Louis was impressed by the team effort against the Lighting.
“It’s not just the result, it’s how we went and got the result,” he told reporters in Tampa. “It’s our intentions. We were very engaged. We played together on both sides. It’s not one play that made the difference, it’s the manner in which we played and we were constant in those things that help us get a result.”
The Canadiens looked like a playoff team the last two games.
We’ll see if they can do it again Tuesday afternoon when they face the Golden Knights in Las Vegas (3 p.m., TSN2, RDS).