Author: Dose

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Rookies on the bench: the door is open for Alexandre Texier (and Samuel Blais)

Last night, the Canadiens won their match against the Utah Mammoth 4-3.

It wasn’t always a simple game. After all, Martin St-Louis’ men squandered a 2-0 lead in the second period with three goals in just over four minutes of play.

But the boys took matters into their own hands with three goals (including one disallowed, I know… but still) in the third period to put the game away. So they were back in control.

The second period isn’t necessarily the story of the game because of the win, but we agree that it could have cost the Habs the W.

And this morning, the story would have been different.

Martin St-Louis, who has the youngest team in the NHL, decided to keep a few rookies on the bench on the heels of the third period.

In fact, three of his six rookies hardly played at all at the end of yesterday’s game. And we’re not talking about Jakub Dobes, Ivan Demidov and Oliver Kapanen, who all had important roles to play.

But Jared Davidson didn’t play in the final period. Florian Xhekaj (who didn’t do badly) only played once in the last 17 minutes. And Adam Engstrom (who didn’t break anything on his debut) only jumped on the ice three times in the third.

Engstrom finished the game with 10:42 to play, not far off Mike Matheson’s time… in the last 20 minutes.

It’s not because the guys aren’t good that they didn’t play. It’s because the Canadiens really needed to win… and the veterans were better equipped to do it.

Six rookies playing is still a lot. And I doubt it’ll be the same tomorrow afternoon.

I say this because there’s nothing to stop Martin St-Louis from asking Alexandre Texier to dress for the game against the Golden Knights in Vegas.

And in fact, I expect that to happen.

In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Canadiens ask for Samuel Blais in the waivers, in order to send Jared Davidson back to Laval sooner rather than later.

And that’s even if it would mean the Habs would probably continue with 13 forwards, even when he returns home…

But hey. What can I take away from this game, which allowed the Canadiens to string together back-to-back regular season wins for the first time in a month and a half?

That’s no mean feat.

1. Jakub Dobes stopped 31 of 34 shots, which is good. He looked more solid in front of his net, which is also good news for the Habs.

But he still gave away three goals in four minutes and change. That’s not so good.

2. Clearly, Nick Suzuki looked better last night. Is his foot really starting to heal? The answer is probably yes.

Two goals, three points, nearly 24 minutes on the ice: the captain was on fire.

3. It wasn’t just Nick Suzuki who did well: the rest of his line did too. Especially Zachary Bolduc, who scored, played well and got three points.

So much the better if he can get comfortable.

4. The Canadiens fired 17 shots on goal and the Mammoth had 12 dangerous scoring chances on 34 shots. It’s not normal for the Habs to have won in 60 minutes, if that’s anything to go by.

It’s often said, but the club needs to learn to shoot at the opposition’s net more often. And it needs to take shots that can hurt, because only three dangerous scoring chances are too few.

5. Ivan Demidov scored his fifth goal of the season, giving him 18 points in 22 games. He’s on a four-game point streak.

And when he scores, it becomes an important goal.

6. Alexandre Carrier, in the shadows, isn’t having the same season as last year. It’s harder for him in some respects and defensively, he sometimes puts himself in the wrong place.

Yesterday was a case in point.

extension

The Canadiens headed to Las Vegas last night after the game. There will be no mandatory practice, as at noon (3 p.m. here), there will be an optional session on the menu at the Golden Knights arena.

Who’ll be there? To be seen.

So we won’t necessarily have any clues for tomorrow’s game just yet. Unless Martin St-Louis gives some in a press conference…

To be continued in due course.

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Top-5: William Nylander saves the Leafs… again

The Canadiens won last night’s game against the Utah Mammoth.

Let’s go!

Let’s see what happened elsewhere in the National League:

1: Another Nylander victory

It’s a good thing William Nylander is here in Toronto.

Because… without him, it would be tough. He’s one of those guys who gives it his all every night, and he’s capable of making the difference, as we saw last night.

The Swede gave the Leafs the win and helped his club beat the Blue Jackets 2-1… by scoring this magnificent goal in overtime :

William Nylander is one of the best hockey players in the world.

And that’s no exaggeration either. He’s become the face of the Leafs in the absence of Auston Matthews, and it really feels like his club right now.

Yesterday’s win might do some good, by the way, because things have been really bad in Toronto lately…

2: Even the Avalanche goalies are unstoppable

The Avalanche completely dominated the San Jose Sharks last night.

Why do I say that?

Because Colorado won the game by a score of… 6-0. Mackenzie Blackwood stopped all 26 shots he faced for the shutout.

Nothing seems to be stopping the Avalanche at the moment…

The duo of Mackenzie Blackwood and Scott Wedgewood is simply too strong right now.

The Avalanche have now won 17 of their 23 games this season… and lost just once in regulation time. It’s going to be a tough one for the Canadiens on Saturday…

3 : Uh…

The Flyers showed us an example of what NOT to do when two players find themselves alone in front of the net.

I’ll let you watch the sequence before elaborating…

Yikes. You can’t do that.

I don’t know what Sean Couturier was thinking, but the result is truly awful. But good thing the Flyers found a way to score four goals in the game because they managed to beat the Panthers 4-2.

We can forget about that mistake. And I’m sure the guys had a few laughs after the game for obvious reasons…

Hehe.

4: Jackson LaCombe… wow!

You could say the Ducks were angry after the first period of their game against the Canucks. They were trailing 2-0… and Jackson LaCombe took advantage of the moment to stand up.

The Ducks defenseman scored just nine seconds into the second, tying the Ducks record for the fastest goal to start a period:

The Canucks finally won the game by a score of 5-4… and we have to talk about Conor Garland’s goal.

Because to see a player make a fool of the opposition like that is special. Garland’s goal was simply magnificent, and will go down as one of the finest of the season.

A real gem!

5: Hands off Bedard

The match between the Blackhawks and the Wild had to go into overtime to determine a winner between the two clubs.

And in overtime… this happened:

Connor Bedard took a solid hit from Joel Eriksson Ek… who then took a freeze from Ilya Mikheyev.

But you know what?

It was the Hawks’ player who was chased down on the sequence… and the Wild took advantage to score the winning goal in overtime.

Kirill Kaprizov (of course) played hero for his club and Minnesota won 4-3 :

Extension

– Love this.

– Nice goal.

– Sick.

– Wow.

– He’s a good one.

– Last night’s top scorers :

(Credit: Screenshot / NHL.com)

– No games tonight in the NHL.

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Another Habs win over Mammoth

After a fine victory over Toronto on Saturday, the Habs were back in action tonight against the Mammoth.

It was the start of an important and difficult journey for Martin St-Louis’ team.

For the occasion, Jakub Dobes was in net and Adam Engstrom was making his NHL debut. Here are the line-ups:

The Habs were the first to get on the scoreboard.

Zachary Bolduc, finally, scored a powerplay goal.

What a shot!

And later in the period, Nick Suzuki scored his 400th NHL point.

He completed a play by Bolduc and Cole Caufield.

In the second period, the wind shifted.

In 4:19, the Mammoth scored three goals to take the lead.

At the start of the third period, Montreal thought they had tied the game, but Juraj Slafkovsky, the scorer, was offside.

But it was only a matter of time before Nick Suzuki scored his second of the game on the same power play.

And Ivan Demidov gave the visitors back the lead with a precise veiled shot.

4-3.

That’s how the game ended: Montreal held on late.

Thanks to the brilliance of Dobes, in particular.

Final score: 4-3.

Martin St-Louis’ team returns to action Friday night against the Vegas Golden Knights. The game will be played at 4 p.m., please note.

Extension

– Coach cuts his bench.

– Still.

– His first career game.

– He’s on fire.

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Jordan Binnington in Edmonton: It rhymes… and makes a lot of sense

The Edmonton Oilers have had the same damn problem in front of the net for several years now.

But it looks like it’s worse than worse right now.

Last night, Stuart Skinner (the club’s #1 goaltender) gave up four goals on eight shots against the Dallas Stars. The Oilers lost 8-3, and it’s clear from the team’s season-to-date performance that the goalies aren’t getting the job done. It’s worse than in Montreal…

I feel bad for Connor McDavid. The best player in the world can’t do everything on his own in Edmonton, he’s just signed a new contract (at a discount, no less) and his club isn’t helping him.

Perhaps, that said, the solution to the Oilers’ problems lies in St. Louis. Nick Kypreos (Sportsnet) wrote about it: the Blues seem to want to turn the page on Jordan Binnington because they don’t see the goalie being part of the team’s “re-tool”.

Reminder: Binnington and McDavid know each other well, having won the gold medal together at the 4 Nations Confrontation…

Would Binnington solve ALL the Oilers’ problems in Edmonton? Probably not.

But…

But I’m willing to bet everything I’ve got… saying that picking him up in St. Louis might help. We’re talking about a guy with experience because he has a Stanley Cup ring and a gold medal on the international scene.

That’s what the Oilers need right now. A guy who can help the club stay calm and who knows how to make the big saves in the most important moments. Binnington has proven that he can do just that…

You’ll tell me that things haven’t gone well for him in St. Louis since the start of the season, and that’s true. But at the same time, it’s not as if the team in front of him is helping him… and that’s something to consider, too.

Jordan Binnington in Edmonton, that rhymes. And it seems to make a lot of sense in my head…

Overtime

– Tristan Jarry could be another target…

– Oh.

– That’s right.

– Big win.

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More productive, less flashy: Alex Kovalev criticizes Ivan Demidov (and that bothers me)

Alex Kovalev gave an interview to Sergey Demidov of RG Media.

And in the text, we learn that the former Habs player refused to be honoured at the Bell Centre. Our colleague Charles-Alexis Brisebois wrote an article on the subject earlier today.

But in the interview in question, Kovalev also talked about Ivan Demidov, and his comments are a little… odd. You’ll understand.

The man nicknamed “The Magician” in Montreal knows that Demidov is a talented player. He sees that his style of play appeals to Canadiens fans because the youngster is capable of putting on a show when needed.

That said, according to Kovalev, Demidov needs to be less flashy… and score more goals. He’d like to see him be more productive on the ice:

His style of play is spectacular, and Montreal loves that, but he also needs to be productive: score more goals and get more points. – Alex Kovalev

Eum…

Kovalev’s exit bothers me for two reasons in particular.

1. Coming from a guy who relied on his skills to produce in the NHL, it’s a bit ironic. Kovalev has always had the same style of play: that of a player who used his skills to be spectacular on the ice.

That’s how he’ll be remembered, after all.

2. Ivan Demidov “needs to produce more”… but he scored 17 points in his 21 games with the Canadiens this season. He has 19 points in 23 games so far in his NHL career, and is on track for a 66-point rookie campaign if he can keep up the pace.

It took Alex Kovalev a long time to produce like this in the NHL…

(Credit: Screenshot / HockeyDB)

Seriously… Can we give Ivan Demidov a break?

The kid does what he has to do without bothering anyone, he accumulates points at a more than interesting pace playing with Oliver Kapanen and on the club’s 2nd powerplay, he helps the Canadiens win games in his own way…

Ah, and he’s only 19. He’s not playing badly enough to be criticized, and that’s what bothers me about Alex Kovalev’s comments.

Overtime

– Of note.

– Yikes.

– It’s your turn to answer.

– Love this.

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Team Canada goalkeeping combination: Samuel Montembeault not mentioned

The Canadiens will be counting on a few players at the Olympic Games.

For Slovakia, Juraj Slafkovsky will be there.

For the Czech Republic, Jakub Dobes has a chance.

Lane Hutson and Cole Caufield have a chance (even if they don’t hit) and will definitely be among the finalists.

And for Canada, Nick Suzuki has a good chance of representing the club. I haven’t even mentioned Samuel Montembeault, who, at the start of the season, seemed certain to be there.

In his 32 thoughts editorial, Elliotte Friedman didn’t mention the Québécois goalie when he was talking about Canadiens goalies.

Friedman mentioned Scott Wedgewood, who came out of nowhere this morning, Jordan Binnington, Darcy Kuemper and Logan Thompson.

In addition to Montmbeault, the names of Adin Hill, who was there at the Four Nations Tournament, and Stuart Skinner were also not mentioned. Obviously, the identity of the goalkeepers has not been confirmed, but it’s rare that Friedman writes to say nothing.

And the fact that the name of the Habs’ protégé wasn’t mentioned says a lot. And honestly, I’m not surprised… This season, Monty has an efficiency average of .852 and a goals-against average of 3.71.

I’m a Habs fan, but I’m also a Canadian fan. And if I had to choose between Monty or the Avalanche goalie, who has a 2.09 goals-against average and a 91.8% save percentage, I’d go with the latter.

Overtime

– Coming up.

– Joel Quenneville impresses. [JdM]

– It’s worrying, yes.

– Lions win.

– Listen now.

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Samuel Blais is placed in the Toronto waivers

Samuel Blais signed a contract with the Canadiens this summer.

He took part in the Montreal practice camp before being placed in the Habs’ waivers. The Leafs claimed him, and the Québécois started the season in Toronto.

But… here he is (again) in the waivers. Blais has one goal and two assists in eight games with the Leafs this season.

What you need to know is that forwards Auston Matthews, Matthew Knies and Nicolas Roy will be back in action Wednesday night for the Leafs against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Matthews had to be made room in the 23-man roster, as he was on the injured list… and Blais was the obvious choice.

Will the Canadiens be interested in asking for him back, even with the recent signing of Alexandre Texier? Hmm…

Note, however, that Blais could be automatically traded to Laval if the Canadiens are the only club to claim him.

But the question still arises because Blais has the qualities of a player who can help the Canadiens right now. He plays a more robust game, he’s not afraid of upsetting the opposition and he’s known for his more physical style.

Florian Xhekaj fits that bill for now… but Blais also won the Stanley Cup in St. Louis. He has more experience than Arber’s little brother, let’s put it that way.

And it’s probably Jared Davidson who would get the boot anyway if Blais came back to town. Blais has more of a 13th forward profile than Davidson, but it’s also worth remembering that the Habs like to keep only 12 forwards up top when playing at home…

That said, I’m inclined to believe that Blais will be given another chance. He really wasn’t bad during his time in Toronto, and he was just as good at the Canadiens’ practice camp a few weeks ago.

We know what he can bring to the rink, after all. And we know that players like him can help every NHL team when needed.

Extension

Remember that Cayden Primeau was also placed in the waivers by the Leafs in early November… and was claimed by the Hurricanes.

Will Blais be claimed?

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Alex Kovalev refused to be honoured at the Bell Centre

Alex Kovalev was an excellent player for the Canadiens.

No, he didn’t spend 10 years in town. No, he wasn’t necessarily here in his prime. Yes, he left for Ottawa because of a contract dispute. And yes, he only gave of himself when he felt like it.

But what a player he was.

Through his great talent and some memorable moments, he has his place in the history of the Canadiens in the 21st century. And Geoff Molson is fully aware of that.

Why do I say this?

Because, according to Sergei Demidov, who interviewed Kovalev on behalf of RG Media, Geoff Molson and the Canadiens have offered to prepare a tribute evening for Kovalev at the Bell Centre.

But Kovalev refused.

Please note: #27 didn’t say no because he doesn’t want anything to do with Montreal. He said no because, at the time, he was a head coach in the KHL.

It’s not that he didn’t want to: it’s that he couldn ‘t. #Nuance

Now that Kovalev has lost his KHL job and has more time on his hands, one wonders if he’ll be tempted to say yes to a ceremony in the future.

Remember that in the short term (next Wednesday), it’s Andrei Markov who will have one.

Seeing players from the past receive an honor is nice. It happened for P.K. Subban recently… it will be Andrei Markov’s turn… Alex Kovalev is being considered…

And we imagine Sharks legend Carey Price will get his tribute when his contract expires.

overtime

– Yes.

– They deserve their chance.

– They certainly do.

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Adam Engström: the Habs can say thank you to the Hurricanes (and to Jesperi Kotkaniemi)

In August 2021, the Carolina Hurricanes put the Habs in a rather precarious situation. The Canes submitted an offer sheet to Jesperi Kotkaniemi, which he accepted.

Marc Bergevin had a week to decide whether or not to match the offer, and in the end opted to let KK head for Raleigh.

The Canadiens, in the process, got a first-round pick and a third-round pick, both in 2022. The former was used to obtain Christian Dvorak… but the third-round pick stayed in town.

In the end, Kent Hughes and his gang were able to use it, and with that pick, they selected… Adam Engström.

Yes, we’re talking about the man who’ll be making his NHL debut tonight.

(Credit: Screenshot/HockeyDB)

In reality, then, Bergevin’s decision not to match the offer is really making him look good. Not only did Kotkaniemi never become the true top-flight center we’d hoped he would, but Engström is one of the Montreal organization’s bright prospects.

The decision to pay top dollar for Christian Dvorak, on the other hand, was less fruitful. But that’s another story.

In the end, then, the Habs seem to have emerged from this saga with the upper hand over the Hurricanes. They’ve avoided overpaying for Kotkaniemi, and they’ve landed a young defenseman who’s attracting attention across the NHL right now.

Imagine if, in the end, Engström allowed the Habs to get their hands (via trade) on the second center they never had in Kotkaniemi. That would be something.

Overtime

– Speak of the devil.

– Hehe.

– It’s understandable.

– Brett Hull almost wore a Habs uniform.

– Interesting.

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Florian Xhekaj: the Panthers really wanted to draft him (and the Habs knew it)

In the 2023 draft, the Habs selected Florian Xhekaj 101st overall. The Habs reunited the two brothers… who both played with the big club last Saturday.

It was a special moment for the family, clearly.

That said, yesterday we learned that, at the time, Pierre Dorion had Xhekaj in his sights. He really wanted to select him… but he didn’t get a turn until the 108th rank. By then, Xhekaj had already been selected.

Tonight, Elliotte Friedman also talked about Florian’s case at the 2023 draft in his 32 Thoughts column… and what we learn is that another team really wanted to select him.

We’re talking about the Florida Panthers, another division rival of the Habs.

Friedman explains that the Panthers met with Florian numerous times during the process, including a meeting the day before the draft. It’s usually a sign that a team really wants a prospect when that happens.

And the Panthers intended to select Xhekaj somewhere between the third and sixth rounds. The club held a second-round pick, used to select Gracyn Sawchyn… but his next pick was only 127th.

As with the Senators, Xhekaj was no longer available to the Panthers. And it’s interesting to read that, according to Friedman, the Habs knew that the Panthers were interested in Florian.

We can therefore assume that this may have precipitated Xhekaj’s selection. The Habs knew they were coming into the window where Florian would start to interest other teams, and they made sure not to let him slip through their hands.

The Panthers could have stepped forward to beat the Habs, that said. But given that the club didn’t have a ton of options, it wasn’t easy to pull off.

In short, we understand that Xhekaj was a prospect of interest to many clubs at the 2023 draft. And we agree that the Panthers, who play a very physical style, had good reason to like Arber’s little brother.

Overtime

– Of note.

– Interesting.

– That’s right.

– Craig Conroy is expected to sign a contract extension with the Flames.

– This is a very big signing for the Blue Jays.