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12 forwards of the Habs have scored at least 10 goals this season

The Canadiens did not have a great outing last night in Philadelphia.

The Montreal club was unable to beat the Flyers even though they scored four times in the game.

But in the loss, Christian Dvorak scored his 10th goal of the season. And that goal has some significance when looking at the statistics among the team’s forwards.

Dvorak’s goal has some significance because it allowed him to become the 12th forward on the Habs this season to score at least 10 goals.

In order: Cole Caufield (34), Nick Suzuki (22), Patrik Laine (18), Brendan Gallagher (17), Juraj Slafkovsky (16), Alex Newhook (14), Josh Anderson (12), Jake Evans (12), Joel Armia (11), Emil Heinemain (10), Christian Dvorak (10) and Kirby Dach (10) are on the list.

It’s an interesting statistic… because it shows that the four lines are capable of contributing when needed.

(Credit: HockeyDB)

In recent years, the Habs have always had trouble scoring goals.

There were often several gaps in the lineup, which meant that there wasn’t necessarily any depth within the team.

But despite this, the Canadiens are still ranked 18th in the NHL for goals scored (213) this season.

The Habs average three goals per game… and if the goalies can’t do the job – as is often the case lately -, it’s more difficult to win regularly.

But this also means that the defensemen are not super productive in terms of goals either.

Mike Matheson leads the Habs in this category (six goals), Lane Hutson is close behind (five goals) and Kaiden Guhle has scored four times this season. But for Savard (one goal), Xhekaj (one goal), Struble (two goals) and Carrier (two goals), it’s thinner.

The Canadiens will need better production from their defensemen to move forward.

Overtime

– They are competitive, the Flames.

– Wow.

– Hehe.

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Ivan Demidov was (really) dumb with a journalist: a first “red flag”?

Ivan Demidov started the first game of the SKA St. Petersburg series as the 13th forward of his club.

He didn’t play much during the game (7:43) and his club lost with a score of 3-1.

But before the game, the prospect of the Canadiens gave an interview to a journalist during warm-ups… and let’s say he didn’t look super happy.

The SKA forward was visibly frustrated because he answered all the questions in a pretty stupid way.

His answers were short, dry… and you could really feel his discontent.

When you watch the interview in question, you can easily notice that he wasn’t in the mood to laugh:

Is this a first “red flag” in his case?

After all, every time we talk about him since the recent draft, it’s for good reasons.

But here, he’s frustrated with the turn of events because he’s not being used as he wants and that’s why we saw him being in a bad mood in front of a journalist.

On the other hand, it’s really hard to blame him because his behavior is understandable.

He wants to be able to help his club win games.

He wants to be able to contribute to his team’s successes and he wants to be able to progress, but this can’t happen if Roman Rotenberg doesn’t play him.

This is logical, we agree. And it’s normal to see him act like this when we know the story with his coach.

However, we knew that Ivan Demidov was a competitive guy by nature and to me, that’s what we can see in his interview yesterday before the game. I really have the impression that we won’t make a big deal out of it from the Canadiens’ management side because in Montreal, everyone knows that Demidov will be treated the right way.

But in all this, I also wonder what his teammates think about the decisions of the team’s head coach. Again, the club is in the playoffs and the guys want to win… but the coach isn’t playing the club’s best scorer for political reasons.

It must be frustrating, at least.

And seeing Demidov answer like that to a journalist who just wanted to chat with him before the game, it says a lot about the atmosphere that reigns there.

Overtime

– Uh…

– David Jiricek’s season is over.

– It’s going to be tough tonight.

– I love it.

– Okay…

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Justin Kingsley has agreed to answer all my questions about the «rebrand» of the Impact

Good grief. What a week it has been.

The Canadiens lost two big games while in the midst of a playoff run – also known as the mix -, but the biggest sports stories of the week in Montreal sports, they involve CF Montreal.

On Monday morning, the club fired Laurent Courtois and appointed Marco Donadel as interim head coach.

On Thursday, an interview given by Joey Saputo in Italian to a Montreal media outlet made the rounds of other Montreal media, both Francophone and Anglophone. The most pessimistic people see it as a prelude to a hasty sale of the club, while the most optimistic see it as an extended hand by the owner, both to the city of Montreal and to the club’s fans.

Decidedly, the timing of our interview with Justin Kingsley on Stanley25 – which had been booked for two or three weeks already – couldn’t be better. Do I need to remind you that he’s the one who led the rebrand of the Impact to CF Montreal?

Justin Kingsley, a brand and marketing strategist, obviously spoke to us about his three years with the Canadiens, pushing the 24CH series, launching the Club 1909, and promoting the The Hockey Club advertising campaign…

But he agreed to answer all my questions about the rebrand of CF Montreal.

Was it a mistake? Who decided? What was the mandate? Why him? How to deal with the dissatisfied fans? How does he see it in hindsight? What was it like working with Joey Saputo?

Justin didn’t dodge any questions; he answered everything. And his answers helped us understand a bit better what he was trying to do when he led the rebrand from the Impact to CF Montreal.

If you’ve never watched a single episode of the Stanley25 podcast, I really recommend listening to this one:

Towards the end of our conversation, I asked him if four years later, he considered the rebrand a success or a failure. He couldn’t be more frank in his answer.

@9millions_ The “CF Montreal”, a failure? ⚽ The man behind the Impact rebrand speaks honestly 😳 An essential episode to listen to with Justin Kingsley 🚨 #montreal #quebec #qc #soccer #mls #cfmontreal #CFMTL #mls #fyp ♬ son original  – 9millions

« Is it really a success? That’s not the case anymore. So it can just be no. It’s been destroyed. » – Justin Kingsley

Good watching. Whether you like Justin Kingsley or not, you’ll come out more informed about the sports rebrand that generated the most buzz in the history of our country.

I would like to thank Justin Kingsley again for accepting to come and chat with openness and transparency about such a polarizing topic. #Class #Respect #GreatContent

Extension

– I re-listened to the podcast twice since recording and from what I understand, it was Kevin Gilmore who suggested to Joey Saputo to change the brand and when it was accepted, he called upon Justin Kingsley. That’s also how I see the chronology of events.

– Justin Kingsley threw jabs at several journalists during the interview. Jack Todd and Réjean Tremblay were not spared.

– Reminder: we have a Patreon with Stanley25 where we have fun dropping exclusive info, as well as our content a few hours/days in advance. This week, Jean Trudel released exclusive images of the rebrand of Daoust, led by Justin Kingsley, as well as accurate information (and before everyone else) about an incident that occurred between Cam York and John Tortorella on Tuesday evening after the game. [Patreon]

– Marco Donadel met with the media this morning at the Centre Nutrilait. Here’s what I took away from his first interview as the new head coach of the club.

– Fernando Alvarez and George Campbell agreed to talk to us about the 4-man defense used this week.

– There are still several injured players on the Montreal roster.

– I’ll say this to finish. If CF Montreal really wants to get closer to its fans, I have a suggestion: go back to the name of the Montreal Impact.

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Another indication pointing towards Kaiden Guhle’s return to the game tonight

This morning, we learned that there were good chances of seeing Kaiden Guhle play tonight, against the Hurricanes.

But now, on the heels of the Canadiens’ activities today, we can think, more than ever, that Guhle really has a chance to rejoin the lineup for tonight’s game.

We’re only talking about clues here… but when you add them up, it means something.

This morning, there was no practice after last night’s travel, which means only the extra players skated. Jakub Dobes, who will be on the bench tonight, and Michael Pezzetta took to the ice.

But with them, there was no Kaiden Guhle: there was Joshua Roy, who played yesterday.

It’s possible to believe that the Canadiens won’t play the three players who skated this morning. This possibility is really logical, when you think about it.

Bringing Guhle (if that’s the plan) back in a seven-defenseman format would allow him to return more “quietly” after weeks of absence in the playoff race.

If that’s the case, Roy (who plays in the top-6) would likely be left out. We don’t want to touch the bottom-6 of the club this season when possible, and Roy could be the one to take the hit.

To be continued in the next few hours.

Overtime

– Hmm…

– What do you think?

– Charles Hudon in Russia next season?

– Indeed.

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The Canadiens will need to go get a #2 goalie this summer

Logically, next year, Samuel Montembeault will be the habs’ #1 goalie. But after that?

We know Jakub Dobes will be either in Montreal or Laval. We can assume promising Jacob Fowler will also be in Quebec to play his first season as a pro.

And we’re not sure what’s next for Cayden Primeau, who will be a restricted free agent this summer.

For a while, it seemed simple to think that Dobes would back up Montembeault in Montreal and the habs would replace Connor Hughes (who should return to Europe, according to the latest news) with a veteran to back up Fowler in Laval.

But now, do you want to easily give Dobes the #2 spot next year?

In 2025-2026, the habs will be more than ever a team that needs to aim for the playoffs. And right now, we can see that Dobes lacks the experience to help the habs in the NHL. To what extent will the offseason change everything for Dobes…

For a few weeks, Dobes hasn’t been the most reliable in front of his net. It’s not all his fault, but he doesn’t inspire confidence.

He’s not the only story of this loss in Philadelphia. But at the risk of repeating myself, Jakub Dobes, since the end of his undefeated streak in January, is struggling.

Current stats:

Before January 25: 5-0-0 / 1.55 / .941

Since January 25: 1-4-2 / 4.04 / .871

— Simon-Olivier Lorange (@so-lorange.bsky.social) March 27, 2025, at 10:06 PM

This is why the habs will have to think about getting a #2 goalie who can back up Samuel Montembeault for next season. If we want to prioritize the habs, it’s a necessity in my opinion.

After all, right now, in the organization, there’s only one healthy NHL goalie: Monty.

As I said, this must be the priority since Dobes has shown he’s not ready to play in the NHL. The habs might have thought they could keep Dobes in the NHL for 2025-2026 after his first games in town, but…

But right now, it’s not working.

We should never forget that the development of a young goalie is not linear. I’ve already written, when things were going well for Dobes, to fear that we might ruin Dobes’ development by bringing him to the NHL too quickly.

And Primeau even said, this week in an interview (Radio-Canada) with Marc Antoine Godin, that he would have liked to stay in the minors in 2022 to develop. For me, that’s a good reason to think about sending Dobes to the minors in 2025-2026, which makes the insurance policy necessary.

I would have liked to be left alone and let things develop on their own, instead of rushing them. — Cayden Primeau on the winter of 2022, when he was rushed into the NHL

Met Cayden Primeau today.
Having spent some time with him, he exuded confidence that I hadn’t felt before. It’s worth what it’s worth, but when he says (positively) that he’s not the same, I have no trouble believing him.
ici.radio-canada.ca/sports/21509…

[image or embed]

— Marc Antoine Godin (@magodin.bsky.social) March 26, 2025, at 8:28 PM

But if Kent Hughes signs a #2 goalie in Montreal and sends Jakub Dobes to the minors, we might see a problem on the horizon: Jakub Dobes and Jacob Fowler would likely have to share the net in Laval.

Is it ideal? No. But if neither of them is ready for the NHL and the habs don’t want to send Fowler back to Boston for a third year in the NCAA, it might be a necessary evil.

overtime

Of course, nothing is set in stone yet. But we can see that it was simpler when Dobes was playing well and had a chance to stay as Montembeault’s assistant for 2025-2026.

But life is not simple, sometimes.

It’s not said that Dobes won’t win a spot at the next camp… but it’s not a scenario we should count on. It takes a plan B, and I imagine the habs know that.

However, note that finding a goalie who wants to play in an organization that has Montembeault, Dobes, and potentially Fowler in the NHL/AHL could be tough to find.

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Without Lane Hutson on the ice, the Canadiens play like a last-place club

Lane Hutson is going to break the bank the day he signs a long-term contract. It’s not bad, it’s certain.

And we’ll say it: he deserves it. He’s the best rookie in terms of points in the NHL – even though he plays on the blue line – and he’s the seventh-best scorer among defensemen in general.

His five goals and 56 points put him behind only Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield on the Habs.

Yesterday, he once again picked up two assists, bringing his total to 51 for the season – and 53 assists in 73 career games. He stepped up when the Habs needed him.

Did we mention he played 28:40, by the way?

What’s crazy is that the 50-assist plateau for a rookie allowed him to join a select group. Among active players in the NHL, only seven have had at least 50 assists as a rookie: Kane, Malkin, Ovechkin, Backstrom, Crosby, Barzal…

And him.

In history, among defensemen, only five players (including him) have had 50 assists as a rookie. The names of the other guys? Larry Murphy, Chris Chelios, Stefan Persson, and Gary Suter.

That’s it.

But it goes further than the numbers, as you know. After all, he plays a lot during games and he doesn’t put his club in trouble. In fact, it’s quite the opposite.

When we look at the Habs’ advanced stats for a little over a month (since the return of the Four Nations Tournament), we see that with Hutson on the ice, the Habs dominate. And without him? They play like a last-place team.

That’s a player who deserves to win the Calder. The other guys in the running deserve it too, but Hutson’s historic pace in a playoff run is noteworthy.

We’ll see if he’ll win.

Overtime

– He should play tonight.

– No David Reinbacher either.

– Yeah.

– No Canadiens logo on his kids’ jacket because he never played in Montreal. It’s logical, but it brings back bad memories.

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John Tortorella : a firing linked to Cam York (who was penalized against the Canadiens)

Tuesday evening, John Tortorella drew attention by saying he didn’t want to learn how to manage a club like the Flyers, a team at the bottom of the Eastern conference standings.

That’s what was remembered from the game, which ultimately was his last at the helm of the Flyers – and perhaps in the NHL.

Daniel Brière, yesterday, confirmed that it wasn’t necessarily those comments that led him to feel the need to show his former coach the exit.

And now, another event that occurred on Tuesday, against Toronto, is at the heart of Tortorella’s dismissal.

We don’t know exactly what happened… but we do know that Cam York, during the game, only got 3:50 of playing time. That’s less than Michael Pezzetta usually gets.

And apparently, there’s a link between Tortorella’s departure, just a few weeks before the end of the season, and the situation with York.

According to journalist Kevin Kurz, it’s “fair to say” that something happened between the two men in Toronto, which contributed to the coach’s dismissal. Both men allegedly “crossed the line” according to what was reported by the journalist.

Not only was York benched in Toronto, but yesterday, against the Canadiens, he was dressed but didn’t play at all. It was a disciplinary measure, and he’s expected to play tomorrow, as usual.

But that means that interim coach Brad Shaw punished his player… and it wasn’t an order from Tortorella, who’s no longer there. What happened for both men to be punished, to different degrees, this week? Who knows.

It’s all quite curious.

Maybe someday, someone will shed light on what happened. But for now, we understand that something big happened in that locker room this week.

Overtime

– Cayden Lindstrom will apparently play in the NCAA in 2025-2026. He didn’t play a single game this year in the WHL due to injury.

– What does that mean, exactly?

– What do you think?

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Kaiden Guhle has “good chances” of playing tonight

Defensively, the Canadiens are struggling. And clearly, we’re wondering when Kaiden Guhle will be ready to return to the game.

Because when Guhle returns (it’s no longer a question of if, but when) to the game for the Canadiens, it will help stabilize the blue line of Stéphane Robidas.

This will not be a luxury in this playoff race.

So the question everyone is asking is when he will be ready to return to the game to participate in the team’s playoff race.

We know he’s on the road, but Martin St-Louis has never confirmed that he’s expecting his defenseman this week.

But according to Eric Engels on Twitter, Kaiden Guhle has a “good chance” of playing in tonight’s game against the Hurricanes in Carolina.

Martin St-Louis will speak to the media at 11:45 am. We may learn more.

Obviously, the next question is who will give up their spot to Guhle if the defenseman is indeed able to play tonight.

Lane Hutson, Alexandre Carrier, and Mike Matheson won’t give up their turn if they’re healthy. That’s understood.

Jayden Struble is not playing like a player who deserves to lose his spot, not only in the lineup but also alongside Lane Hutson. I don’t see him being scratched.

And even if David Savard (a right-handed defenseman) could potentially give up his turn for tonight’s game, I think it’s the Sheriff who is in danger. The defensemen’s ice time last night is a good indication.

(Credit: NHL.com)

Is it possible that Arber Xhekaj will give up his spot? Yes. And then, we wonder who will play with whom.

Will Jayden Struble give up his spot in the top 4 to play with Savard, which would break up his duo with Hutson? Will Mike Matheson play with Savard to recreate the Guhle/Carrier duo? We’ll see.

Overtime

– Big day in the MLB yesterday.

– Ryan Lindgren is indeed in Colorado. [RG media]

– To watch.

– Same here.

– There’s movement in David Reinbacher’s former team.

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Revisions: Brendan Gallagher wants “people who understand the game”

And then? How’s your playoff run going?

It was clear that the Habs couldn’t keep the pace of the “old days” when the team was winning all the time. But did you think the guys would come out so shapeless this week?

Because yes, in the losses in St. Louis (6-1 on Tuesday) and in Philadelphia (6-4 last night), the Habs looked bad. The eye test confirmed it: the guys aren’t there.

Yesterday, against Flyers who hadn’t won in the regular season in March and who hadn’t scored on a powerplay in March (!) before last night’s game, the Habs lost. #EffetBradShaw?

The Habs are still in the playoff picture this morning, but still: everyone knows the situation is precarious.

(Credit: Sportsnet)

The guys are lucky that opposing teams are only losing in this race. After all, if that weren’t the case, qualifying would be a lot more difficult.

For now, the Habs still have a chance.

This doesn’t prevent some guys from being dissatisfied with what’s been happening since the start of the trip. And among them is Brendan Gallagher, who’s playing despite the loss of his mother.

What did he have to say, Gally?

After the game, we felt all the frustration of the veteran towards the NHL and the situation with disallowed/goals when the goalie is (or isn’t) interfered with.

Let’s say #11 didn’t hide to say what he thought.

He spoke of a lack of consistency in the decisions made in Toronto in such situations and would like people who understand the game to make the decisions. Ouch.

He also talked about frustration across the league since nothing is consistent from one game to another. And he’s right.

Maybe the goal would have been disallowed if it was Gally who had his two feet in the goalie’s blue paint… but we don’t know. We just know that in this case, the goal was allowed.

And we also know that on the powerplay obtained by the Flyers on the failed challenge by the Habs, the Flyers made it 5-2. That was one of the last nails in the Habs’ coffin.

But we have to stress that even if the goalie interference situation didn’t help the Habs’ cause, we’ll agree that the team wasn’t playing well enough to hope to win.

So what explains the Habs’ loss?

1. Defensively, the team is struggling. The players are having trouble making good defensive plays (except maybe the duo of the two Americans) and let’s say that Kaiden Guhle’s return will help.

On that one, Mike Matheson has already looked better, let’s say.

2. Yesterday, we saw that an easier game on paper isn’t always easier on the ice. The Habs couldn’t get at least a point against Philly, but will have their #1 goalie against Carolina tonight.

Would you have done the same thing? With hindsight, it’s easy to talk. But yesterday, I understood Martin St-Louis’ decision since, in my eyes, Samuel Montembeault needed rest.

That being said… we saw that Jakub Dobes needs to work before becoming a real NHL goalie.

Yesterday, the loss isn’t really his fault, we agree. However, sometimes a goalie can get up and make a save at the right time to give his team a boost. And yesterday, that didn’t happen. Dobes’ movements didn’t inspire confidence and that’s what happened.

3. Nick Suzuki tried, but he couldn’t buy a goal in the game against Philly. However, he contributed by getting an assist on Patrik Laine’s goal… who scored on a 6-on-5. #Obviously

Cole Caufield, Alex Newhook (who’s doing well at center) and Christian Dvorak found the back of the net yesterday. And Lane Hutson got two assists, obviously while playing almost half the game.

4. The Habs have had several comebacks in the last few weeks. But this week, we saw that it can’t happen too often because it’s unsustainable.

We’ll need to start games better, period.

5. Speaking of starting games better: Gilbert Delorme, this morning on BPM Sports, wondered if the fact that they’re no longer skating in the mornings of game days explains the bad starts. The question arises.

6. Have the math caught up with the Habs? A few weeks ago, we were talking about a one-in-five chance of making the playoffs. Last week, we were saying that the one-in-five chance could happen. But the way the team is playing…

The Habs, who currently have a 34% chance of making the playoffs, play in sequences. It will depend on the next games – and the losses of other teams in the Eastern Conference race.

7. I know it doesn’t work exactly like that, but if Matvei Michkov had scored his two goals for the Habs instead of the Flyers, the game would have still ended 6-4, but…

Ah, never mind.

overtime

The Habs will play in Raleigh tonight. Samuel Montembeault will be the starting goalie for the Habs, and we’re wondering if Kaiden Guhle will be able to play.

Around 11:45 AM, Martin St-Louis will speak to the media.

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Top-5 : Ovechkin brings teammates back on the ice to shake hands with Fleury

The Habs looked crazy last night in Philadelphia.

Losing to a team that had only one win in their last 12 games and who fired their coach on the same day… it hurts.

But there were also nine other games presented in the NHL:

1 : What a nice gesture from Ovi

The Capitals were visiting Minnesota last night.

And they lost the game with a score of 4-2.

For those who wonder: no, Alex Ovechkin was not able to score to get closer to Wayne Gretzky’s absolute record.

But…

But the Capitals’ captain still attracts attention because he made a great gesture when the game was over.

The Caps’ captain wanted to make sure his teammates returned to the ice so that all the guys could shake hands with Marc-André Fleury – who wasn’t even playing last night.

It gave a nice moment:

Of course, we know it’s Fleury’s last season in the NHL.

And we also know that over the years, Fleury and Ovechkin have had some great battles.

Seeing the Capitals’ captain respect his opponent like that shows how much the Quebecois goalkeeper is a guy appreciated throughout the league.

2 : Meanwhile…

In Buffalo, we were watching Sidney Crosby.

Why?

Because with one point, he would become the first player in NHL history to have at least 20 seasons with at least one point per game.

And… the Penguins’ captain made history with a goal scored in the first period:

The evening did not go as planned for the Penguins, who ultimately lost the game with a score of 7-3.

Ouch.

But at least they were able to experience a nice moment seeing Crosby break a record held by Wayne Gretzky. Not bad for a 37-year-old guy!

3 : Big loss for the Wings

There was a playoff atmosphere in Detroit last night as the Red Wings faced the Senators.

This was an important game for the playoff race in the East… and the Sens responded with three consecutive goals.

It ignited, too:

The Red Wings did everything they could to try and come back in the game.

Patrick Kane and Vladimir Tarasenko notably touched the target in the third period:

Tarasenko’s goal reduced the deficit to one goal… but it was too late for the Wings.

The Senators won 4-3 in regulation, and that means the standings haven’t changed much.

The Habs are still in the last playoff spot this morning:

(Credit: NHL.com)

4 : The young Sharks take care of the Leafs

We’re heading to the end of the game between the Leafs and the Sharks.

Believe it or not: with one minute left to play, San Jose was leading by two goals (5-3).

But, of course… what was supposed to happen happened.

The Leafs scored twice in the last minute of play to tie the game:

No goals were scored in overtime… and it was the young Sharks who took care of the Leafs in the shootout.

Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith scored two beautiful goals to allow their team to win with a score of 6-5:

5 : MacKinnon is too strong at home

When he plays at home, Nathan MacKinnon is the best player in the NHL.

That’s it!

The Dogg helped his team beat the Kings with a score of 4-0 by collecting an assist on a Jonathan Drouin goal.

MacKinnon now has at least one point in… 23 consecutive home games.

Wow:

In the game, we must also remember Mackenzie Blackwood’s performance.

The Avalanche’s goalkeeper was perfect in front of his net, stopping all 22 shots to earn his fourth shutout of the season.

He’s really helping the Avalanche since his arrival in Colorado:

Overtime

— 500 career points for Oliver Ekman-Larsson.

— Nice goal.

— Big performance from Casey DeSmith.

— A rocket.

— The Blues are really on fire.

— The top scorers of the evening:

(Credit: NHL.com)

— Six games tonight in the NHL, including the Habs’ game in Carolina. Go Ducks and go Canucks!

(Credit: Google)