Author: Dose

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Carrier – Guhle: the first pair of Canadiens currently

The Canadiens had a challenging schedule last week, facing the Lightning, the Red Wings, and the Devils, two teams currently in the top eight in the East and another just a few points behind.

The Montreal team started poorly in each of their games, as they found themselves down 0-2, 0-3, and 0-3… but they still managed to grab three points out of a possible six. We avoided the worst.

However, a worrying trend – which seemed to have vanished for a month – has returned: the Canadiens are once again being completely outplayed by their opponents in terms of shots on goal.

35-22 against the Lightning on Tuesday, 45-29 against the Red Wings on Thursday, and 44-32 against the Devils on Saturday. Let’s remember that two of the three games were held at the Bell Centre.

In their last five games, the Tricolore has given up 7, 4, 2, 4, and 4 goals. The team’s defensive play is problematic once again.

Yet, the arrival of Alexandre Carrier, linked to the departure of Justin Barron, had seemed to solve everything…

Not Carrier’s fault
I was listening to Anthony Marcotte this morning on BPM Sports and he made a good point: only the pairing of Carrier – Guhle is reliable defensively. Hutson and Matheson are always a bit risky, while the duo Xhekaj – Savard cannot handle 20 minutes per game anymore.

On Saturday night, the top four defensemen each played more than 22m57 on the ice, while Xhekaj and Savard had to settle for 13m56 and 12m37 respectively. Does Savard still have juice left in the tank?

Alexandre Carrier has not finished a single one of his last seven games in the negatives. The same goes for Kaiden Guhle.

Alexandre Carrier and Kaiden Guhle form the best defensive duo of the Canadiens in recent games.
(Credit: Getty Images)

Carrier has three points in his last five games, while Guhle has four.

Since joining the Canadiens, Carrier has collected 10 points in 18 games (compared to just 7 points in 28 games in Nashville). Not bad for a defenseman who’s considered mainly defensive…

On his side, Lane Hutson has been held scoreless in his last two games and has a cumulative differential of minus-8 since the game against the Leafs, which is since the beginning of the stretch where the Canadiens are allowing too many shots (and too many goals).

Matheson has not scored a single point in six games, also showing a differential of minus-4 last week.

You can see where I’m going with this?

It seems obvious to me that for the past few games, the most useful, effective, and best pairing on the Canadiens has been the one formed by Guhle and Carrier, not Hutson and Matheson.

Guhle and Carrier are genuinely performing like a first pair right now.

Beware! This is not to throw stones at Lane Hutson and Mike Matheson (many of you are already doing that for the BAD pass he received from Patrik Laine in overtime on Saturday), but rather to applaud Alexandre Carrier and Kaiden Guhle.

To think we got Carrier in return for Justin Barron, who has only three points in 13 games in Nashville, faced criticism from some teammates and journalists, and has a differential of minus-2 there.

At least, things seem to be turning around for him recently. Good for him!

Overtime

The Canadiens will host the Jets (Tuesday) and the Wild (Thursday), before heading west afterwards. The two weekday games will actually take place at 10:30 PM next week…

We should expect to see Jayden Struble recalled as the seventh defenseman.

But will Rafaël Harvey-Pinard and Michael Pezzetta really be the 12th and 13th forwards on this trip? Will Emil Heineman be ready to return, which would likely send RHP back to Laval?

The next few days will be interesting for the Canadiens.

Looking forward to seeing if the pairing Guhle – Carrier will once again be the most complete and effective.

If so, we’ll have to start talking about them as the first pairing…

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Alex Pietrangelo: 24 minutes on the ice after saying no to Team Canada

Yesterday, we learned that Alex Pietrangelo would have to skip his turn for the Four Nations showdown scheduled for next month.

According to what the Golden Knights announced publicly, it is to “treat an illness” that the Canadian defenseman will not be present at the Four Nations confrontation.

These things happen. But…

But when you look at his last month (I could have said his year in general, too), it is clear that the Knights’ general is capable of playing. He hasn’t missed a single game and plays over 23 minutes per game in 2025.

Just yesterday, we’re talking about 24:22 of ice time.

But clearly, there must be something going on. The Golden Knights surely couldn’t pull him from there if he were at 100% of his health—oh no, never mind: we’re talking about the club that asks Mark Stone not to finish regular seasons to come back and play in the playoffs.

Will the Knights’ decision have an impact on other players who might decide to do the same? No idea. We will see in due time.

But more seriously, it is clear that Pietrangelo, who has clearly something going on, is opening the door for other players to do the same. Many clubs would prefer to see their players rest, two months before the playoffs, than to send them to Montreal and Boston.

So I expect that Pietrangelo will not be an isolated case.

If there are other players saying no to their team, perhaps that could open doors for Nick Suzuki and/or Cole Caufield, who are playing like guys who could stand out at the tournament.

But Pietrangelo is not a forward—and he is not American, in Caufield’s case. It will take another situation to open doors for both forwards from the Canadiens.

In our case, the name Mike Matheson could be circulating. After all, he is a Canadian defenseman and he can be a very good defenseman on the ice.

And that’s even if it has been more difficult these days… and many people are keen to remind that.

But because Matheson is a lefty and has his ups and downs, he is probably not the first candidate on Team Canada’s list. At least, this morning, Elliotte Friedman (32 Thoughts) did not mention him in his podcast when it came time to raise names.

Drew Doughty, MacKenzie Weegar, Brandon Montour, and Chris Tanev are names that Friedman raised.

Lastly, it is worth noting that Friedman claimed to have talked to people who confirmed to him that the Four Nations is like an All-Star Game: if you’re healthy, you must go.

Will Pietrangelo be penalized if he doesn’t go and continues to play? Can he prove that he is “just injured enough” to play with Vegas, but not take on more with Canada? We’ll see.

In brief

– To be continued.

– Things are going well for Pascal Vincent’s club.

– Indeed.

– Well done.

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Top 5: Big victory for the Sens that allows them to reach 3rd place in the Atlantic

Five games were presented in the NHL on Sunday.

Martin Necas played his second game with the Avalanche, the Sens had a good challenge on the table…

Let’s see how it went:

1: Big Win for the Sens

The Senators had a great opportunity against André Tourigny’s team.

And the players understood it, especially in the third period.

Claude Giroux and Brady Tkachuk scored in the final twenty to allow the Sens to claim a 3-1 victory:

A goal that feels good for Tkachuk, who hadn’t scored in his last eleven games…

But where it gets interesting is when we look at the standings.

With their victory, the Sens climb to 3rd place in the Atlantic:

(Credit: NHL.com)

It’s ultra-tight in the standings in the East and that’s why the Canadiens must continue to win their games.

The moment is crucial right now!

2: Martin Necas Makes New Friends

The trade involving Martin Necas and Mikko Rantanen caused quite a stir over the weekend.

Yesterday, Necas showed that he can help his new team with his vision of the game.

He collected two assists in his team’s victory (5-4) in New York:

Cale Makar also stood out in his team’s victory with his three points scored.

On the Rangers’ side, Artemi Panarin and Vincent Trocheck were the club’s top scorers in the game. They each recorded a goal and an assist.

Big performance for the Avalanche, who achieved only their fourth victory in their last ten games.

3: Gabriel Vilardi Takes Care of the Flames

Gabriel Vilardi is a very good hockey player.

The one who was acquired in the Pierre-Luc Dubois trade helped the Jets defeat the Flames last night by scoring two goals:

Vilardi scored two goals… But he also collected two assists in the Jets’ victory (5-2).

Connor Hellebuyck enjoyed a rare night off: it was Eric Comrie who got the start for the Jets and he did relatively well.

He stopped 20 of the 22 shots directed at him to achieve only his fourth win of the season.

Comrie worked hard in his team’s victory:

4: The Golden Knights are Too Good for the Panthers

Do you miss Tanner Pearson?

Yeah, neither do I…

The former Canadien stood out last night in the game between the Panthers and the Golden Knights by scoring a beautiful goal:

The Panthers were trailing 2-0 at the start of the third period, but Anton Lundell scored to give his team a chance.

However, when it was 2-1, Jack Eichel stepped up and the Knights never looked back:

The Vegas team ultimately won the game by a score of 4-1.

It is also worth noting that Tomas Hertl recorded a point in his 9th consecutive game.

5: The Wild Win in Chicago

At first glance, a game between the Wild and the Blackhawks… This isn’t the most exciting thing on earth.

But last night’s clash between the two clubs still provided a good show.

The Wild led 3-0 in the third period and the Hawks tried to mount a comeback:

Frank Nazar scored a few minutes after Seth Jones to bring the score to 3-2… But on Nazar’s goal, what stood out was what happened afterward.

Zach Bogosian jumped on Ryan Donato immediately after Nazar’s goal:

I imagine that it took the wind out of the Hawks’ sails because they were never able to complete their comeback.

The Wild won the game by a score of 4-2. Marcus Foligno scored into an empty net.

Overtime

– I love it.

– Oh. Things are heating up!

– The top scorers of the night:

(Credit: NHL.com)

– Five games this evening in the NHL:

(Credit: Google)
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Rumor: the Canadiens against the Senators (without public funds) in Quebec

There will (probably) be NHL hockey this fall in the Old Capital.

According to Bruce Garrioch, tomorrow, the Ottawa Senators are expected to announce that they will play one or two games in Quebec City during the preseason schedule for the upcoming season.

The Canadiens should also announce in a few days the presentation of a game at the Videotron Centre during the upcoming training camp.

One of their two games is expected to involve a matchup between the two teams, and it will once again be a good opportunity for the city to show its interest in NHL hockey.

The arrival of the Sens and the Habs in Quebec should also cause much less controversy compared to when the Los Angeles Kings received a grant of 5 to 7 million dollars from the CAQ to come play two preseason games at the Videotron Centre on October 3 and 5.

The Kings had faced the Boston Bruins and the Florida Panthers, respectively.

Many had questioned the usefulness of giving state money to the Kings to come play in Quebec, while the Canadiens were ready to do so (and have often done so in the past) at their own expense without any subsidy.

Although the two games were a success, it remains a difficult decision to justify in such a context.

Let’s say that the arrival of the team from the federal capital in the provincial capital is likely to be less contested in public opinion.

It will also be interesting to see who the Senators’ second opponent will be for their second game at the Videotron Centre.

Moreover, the city of Quebec should contact teams geographically close like Boston, Buffalo, and even Pittsburgh to potentially present several preseason games, of course at their own expense.

If it manages to present four or five preseason games each year with respectable crowds and possibly add some festivities around the event, it’s definitely a good opportunity to demonstrate the viability of hockey in the Old Capital.

But hey, it’s just an idea thrown out like that, and by then, we should have more details about this announcement soon.

In Brief

– Beautiful goal from the Canadiens’ prospect!

– The Rocket loves playing against the Bruins.

– Zadorov’s comments regarding Michkov and Dandonov.

– Already 20 home wins!

– The Chiefs in the Superbowl!

– The table is set.

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Cayden Primeau is undefeated in seven starts with the Rocket

Cayden Primeau has been on fire since his return to Laval. The goalie has won every one of the seven games so far with the Rocket.

He notably helped his team win all three matches of the week, including a 3-2 overtime victory this afternoon thanks to a goal from Logan Mailloux.

Primeau is at the heart of the recent successes of the Rocket, which, after a somewhat difficult stretch, is back on top of its division, having only suffered one loss in regulation in its last ten games (8-1-1).

Since his arrival in Laval, the young goalie has a goals-against average of 1.83, a save percentage of .925, and one shutout.

This is a solid turnaround for the young netminder, who had been having a disastrous season so far with the Canadiens. Primeau had only two wins in 11 starts, a glaring average of 4.70, and a save percentage of .836.

In the weeks leading up to his demotion, the organization had clearly lost confidence in him as the backup goalie while he finishes the third year of a three-year contract worth $2.67 million.

Although Primeau had to go through waivers, no team claimed him, and many wondered if his career was over.

However, it seems that the Michigan native has taken this opportunity to bounce back and regain his confidence with the Rocket.

However, the problem for Primeau is that Jakub Dobes continues to perform well with the Canadiens. Although he experienced his first loss in overtime last night, absolutely nothing would justify his demotion.

Furthermore, I don’t believe that the CH wants to relive the three-goaltender situation by recalling Primeau.

What should the Canadiens do with Primeau? If the goalie continues on his current path, could he interest other teams and become a trade asset by the end of the transaction period?

It’s hard to say when just a month ago, 31 teams passed over the opportunity to acquire him for nothing, but often things can change quickly in professional sports.

In short, for now, let’s hope Primeau continues his momentum with the Rocket while waiting to see how this situation unfolds.

In Brief

– Suzuki IS a number one center!

– The Rocket has the best win ratio.

– Things are going well for Davidson.

– The Eagles are heading to the Super Bowl!

– Movement coming?

– The end?

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Logan Mailloux gives the victory to the Rocket in overtime

We can’t deny it, Logan Mailloux is not having a season that meets expectations.

It has been very difficult for him for most of the season, with only a few games where he performed well.

Recently, things have been going very well for the young right-handed defenseman.

In the last game on Friday night, he scored two goals and had an assist, securing the victory for his team with a goal at the end of the 3rd period.

On this Sunday afternoon, as the Rocket faced the Providence Bruins, Mailloux struck again with another winning goal. This time, it was in overtime.

Here is his goal (9th of the season) from this afternoon:

He positioned himself well in front of the net to wait for the pass from Laurent Dauphin.

This goal will do him a world of good, and we might finally see the Logan Mailloux we all expected this season.

With the Rocket still at the top of the Northern Division, having Mailloux in top form will only help them aim for great honors.

Aside from Mailloux’s goal, two Quebecers also stood out in the victory.

First, Alex Barré-Boulet collected one goal and two assists in this 3-2 victory for Laval.

Laurent Dauphin won the faceoff. Riley Kidney then passed to ABB, who surprised the Bruins’ goalie with a quick shot.

Speaking of Dauphin, he also had quite a game.

Not only was he credited with an assist on Mailloux’s goal and Barré-Boulet’s goal, but he was also involved in the first goal of the match.

Noel Hoefenmayer opened the scoring early in the first period, taking advantage of a power play.

Cayden Primeau was stellar again, remaining undefeated with the Rocket this season.

This victory was very important for Pascal Vincent’s squad, especially against Providence, which is one of the forces in the Eastern Conference.

Let’s hope that Mailloux and Primeau can continue on this good momentum and help the Rocket in the playoffs.

In Brief

– Pietrangelo withdraws from the Four Nations Tournament due to an injury.

– Incredible.

– Don’t miss: Taylor Swift and the Kansas City Chiefs against the Buffalo Bills.

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The Buffalo Sabres would be in the running for Elias Pettersson

When Mikko Rantanen was traded to the Carolina Hurricanes, it surprised many, including myself.

We knew that the Colorado Avalanche and Rantanen were having difficulty finding common ground for a contract extension. But the fact that it happened so quickly and somewhat out of nowhere is what caused the greatest surprise.

For the past few weeks, there has been a lot of talk about J.T. Miller and Elias Pettersson in trade rumors.

As for Miller, we know that the Rangers seem to be the only possible destination considering his full no-movement clause. The Hurricanes were also in the mix, but with their acquisition of Rantanen, it would be extremely surprising to see them acquire the American.

In Pettersson’s case, there haven’t really been any specific teams with known interest in the Swedish forward.

The Boston Bruins have already been mentioned, as reported by RG Media, but nothing concrete on that front.

On Saturday night, during the Saturday Headlines on Sportsnet, Elliotte Friedman reported that the Sabres are clearly interested in Pettersson.

Without saying they are the favorites for his acquisition, he also mentioned that there are other teams, but no clubs have been mentioned.

Honestly, it makes a lot of sense.

Buffalo has everything it needs to propose an attractive trade for the Canucks.

We know that the Canucks would like to receive at least one established top-6 center in return for Pettersson or Miller.

Dylan Cozens would be a pretty logical choice, and Bowen Byram could complement this trade very well.

There wouldn’t be much more for the Canucks to add for them to have no choice but to accept.

Obviously, a trade of this magnitude takes time to finalize, and they must also consider the salary cap. And not just for this year, but for the years to come as well.

It is also important to keep in mind that the Canucks are not in a hurry to trade one of their two star centers and will wait to receive the best possible offer.

Let’s wait and see what the future holds for Pettersson.

In Brief

– An excellent performance from Necas with the Avalanche this afternoon.

– There’s talk of a salary around $11.75 million per year for eight years.

– I can’t wait to see the intensity of the clashes between these two countries at the Four Nations Tournament.

– Amazing, this Saquon Barkley. And he added another one on the Eagles’ second offensive series.

– There’s no doubt about it.

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89 shots granted in two games (!) : The CH must better support its goalies

The Canadiens let it slip last night at the Bell Centre.

The Montreal club managed to come back to force overtime and earn an important point in the standings, but they didn’t play the right way.

Especially not in the defensive zone.

It has been two consecutive games where defense has been more difficult, and it shows when you think about the fact that the Canadiens allowed 45 shots against the Wings (Thursday) and 44 shots against the Devils last night.

89 shots allowed in just two games… That’s too much. You can’t give that many chances to the opponent.

That said, credit has to be given to Samuel Montembeault and Jakub Dobes because without them, it would have been a disaster.

And that’s when we realize having two quality goalies really helps.

  • 41 saves for Montembeault in Detroit
  • 40 saves for Dobes last night at the Bell Centre

Dobes lost his first career game in the NHL, but he put on a show and allowed the Canadiens to stay in the game until the end:

It seems that the Canadiens have returned to their bad habits.

The players may understand that the goalies are capable of doing the job in front of the net… But they also need to find a way to help them.

Because obviously, Monty and Dobes can’t do everything alone, even if they are good.

Martin St-Louis and his group must get to work to prevent this from happening again or to stop it from becoming more frequent.

The Canadiens have had much success in recent weeks because they trusted their system and played tightly defensively.

They need to find that path again because if the team continues to allow so many shots to the opponent, losses will be more frequent than wins until the end of the season.

And with all the teams fighting for a playoff spot, it’s not the right time to start being ordinary in the defensive zone.

In Brief

– 100%.

– Beautiful view!

– Yeah.

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Nikita Zadorov does not understand why the Hawks ignored Ivan Demidov in the draft

When the Columbus Blue Jackets selected Cayden Lindstrom with the 4th pick in the last draft, we all said the same thing.

Yeah! Ivan Demidov is coming to Montreal!

Many were truly satisfied with the choice of the Montreal organization, and that’s understandable. Demidov was seen even before the draft as a player of great talent, and we’ve seen that since the beginning of the season in the KHL. The Canadiens are lucky to have seen him slide to the 5th selection!

At this level, Nikita Zadorov, who played in Chicago in recent years (2020-2021), does not understand the Hawks’ decision to have overlooked Demidov in the draft.

It doesn’t take anything away from Artyom Levshunov, but he was surprised to see the Hawks select a defenseman when Demidov was still available.

He talked about it during an interview with RG Média:

If I were Chicago, I would have taken him. When you have a player with such natural talent and such a hockey IQ, in my opinion, you take him, and the rest will sort itself out later. – Nikita Zadorov

It’s hard to believe that Zadorov is the only NHL player who thinks this way:

By drafting Ivan Demidov, the Hawks could have had one of the good one-two punches in the National Hockey League.

Demidov with Connor Bedard, it seems that would be enough to scare any NHL team… But the team decided to take a different path by improving its defensive corps.

They drafted Levshunov because they had a need, but it’s not like the kid is tearing it up this season in the AHL:

(Credit: HockeyDB)

I know, I know…

It can take a while before a defenseman reaches the peak of his potential. But Levshunov’s performance is far from spectacular, and in the meantime, Ivan Demidov is one of the best players in the KHL at only 18 years old…

After all, since Bedard was selected first overall in 2023, we keep saying that the Hawks need to find a way to surround him well.

That said, Bedard would have had a hand quickly with Demidov in the lineup, and that’s where I think they missed out.

Again, Bedard and Demidov in the same lineup would have been frightening…

In Brief

– Things are going well for the Canadiens prospect lately.

– That would be quite a surprise.

– It’s Kidney’s time to shine.

– It’s true that we hardly hear about him anymore.

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Overview of the CH’s hopes: 30 saves and a 6th shutout for Jacob Fowler

As the Montreal Canadiens are in a playoff fight for the first time since 2021, the eyes of the fans are less focused on the various prospects of the CH across different leagues.

Indeed, given that the Tricolore is playing very good hockey and is in the playoff mix, the performances of the prospects attract less attention.

However, this does not mean that they are performing any less than before; on the contrary.

Jacob Fowler – Goaltender – 20 years old

The future of the Montreal Canadiens in net is having a truly historic season.

Fowler is too good for the NCAA, as he is dominating even more this season compared to last season.

To give you an idea, last night, Fowler recorded his 6th shutout of the season, which is double that of last season, and this in 17 fewer games.

What is even more impressive with this sixth shutout is that it was achieved against Boston University, the main rival of Boston College, by a score of 2 to 0.

In short, Fowler is really developing very well in the NCAA, and his statistics show it, as he boasts a save percentage of .938 and a goals-against average of 1.63.

Michael Hage – Center – 18 years old

Here’s another prospect of the Canadiens who is dominating in the NCAA.

As a freshman, Michael Hage is truly impressive this season, as he has 25 points, including 11 goals in 23 games.

Producing at a pace of over a point per game is really encouraging for the future, especially for an 18-year-old.

I’m mentioning Hage in this text because last night, he scored one of the most beautiful goals I’ve seen in a shootout.

He simply outsmarted the goaltender with a very sharp and quick direction change.

Hage will definitely be one to watch until the end of the season, and it will be interesting to see if he will play another season in the NCAA before making the jump to the pros.

As for other notable performances from the Tricolore prospects this weekend, here is a video showing the most important highlights from the last two days.

You can see Vinzenz Rohrer’s goal, Oliver Kapanen’s goals, and Tyler Thorpe’s goals.

In Quick Hits

– Here are the games and prospects to watch for CH this Sunday.

– To be continued.

– Noted.