It was a difficult night for the Montreal Canadiens to keep the winning streak alive. The New York Rangers visited the Bell Centre Saturday, but that wasn’t the big challenge – it was that the club suffered three injuries in the Nashville Predators game.
Kaiden Guhle is gone for four to six weeks with a lower-body injury. Patrik Laine and Kirby Dach are also out with lower-body injuries, but listed as day-to-day. Joe Veleno drew in for Dach, and Owen Beck was an emergency call-up for Laine.
The substitutes were good, but the Canadiens goalie struggled in a 4-3 Rangers win.
Wilde Horses
The forward injuries forced alignment changes for Head Coach Martin St. Louis. The first power play unit remained the same, but the loss of Dach and Laine meant someone had to help the second unit. It was a stroke of genius that the head coach simply put his best player on both units.
Nick Suzuki and Ivan Demidov finally got a chance to play together, and the results were immediate. On the first shift together, Demidov was on his usual right-hand side as a left-hand shot. He found Suzuki on his off-side as well for a one-timer and an easy goal.
Only 93 seconds in, it was Cole Caufield leading a two-on-one with Juraj Slafkovsky. Caufield is the goal scorer, so he received so much attention that a pass to Slafkovsky was wide open. Credit to Slafkovsky as he one-timed the pass. Any goal scorer worth his salt knows that a one-timer is a must.
The goal for the last three seasons for Slafkovsky has been faster, faster, faster. There’s no time to glide and think. The objective is skate and react. When we see Slafkovsky processing the game at higher speeds, that’s when the size will make him unstoppable.
The Canadiens were off to a quick two-goal lead in the most wide-open game of the week. Veleno looked strong in his first game. He has the footprint that the Canadiens head coach wants. He’s a fast skater and makes decisions at top speeds. When all the forwards are healthy, it would be a difficult call who to sit instead of Veleno, but he deserves a spot based on this look.
Demidov was another who had a top performance. While everyone has marvelled at the great moments, there have also been moments when it was clear that he wasn’t sure what was the right decision. He’s figuring it out. His timing on his choices is getting better by the period.
Demidov has all the skills, but it will come together completely for him when his choices are more instinctive. In the learning phase right now, there’s some hesitation, but it’s clear that he’s turning that corner already in only game six this season.
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It’s also quite normal for a rookie to defer all the time; to feel like the veteran should have the puck or take the shot. He began to defer a lot less in this contest realizing he was the player with the skill-set to get it done.
It appears Demidov and Matthew Schaefer are going to have quite a battle for the Calder Trophy. Both are off to tremendous starts.
The Canadiens had some issues defensively, but it was a winnable game with some saves. Montreal got its first goal from Noah Dobson since becoming a Canadiens defender. He scored with a point shot that made its way through Brendan Gallagher and Josh Anderson who were screening well.
Wilde Goats
The numbers are still not great for Samuel Montembeault this season. The career .900 goalie entered the night with an .870 save percentage on the season. He’s been a consistent goalie for the Canadiens over the years.
This season, he is the Canadiens second best goalie behind Jakub Dobes. It was 2-2 in the third period, and you could not blame Montembeault for either of the goals, but then a 50 to 55 footer by Matthew Robertson that was unscreened and had nothing on it beat Montembeault.
A couple minutes later, another goal by Artemi Panarin that wasn’t a howitzer, but was labelled well went off the post to beat Montembeault. Not great goals against. In fact, the third goal against was a complete banana.
That was four goals against on only 18 shots. His save percentage on the night was .778 after the fourth goal. It’s too early to declare anything definitively, but the club may have a goalie issue. The numbers don’t lie. Montembeault is struggling.
Wilde Cards
There will likely be quite a lot more consternation among the fan base that Kaiden Guhle is gone four to six weeks, but the real concern is that Kirby Dach is out day-to-day with a lower body injury. The organization will not reveal the exact nature of the injury as they are allowed.
Let’s hope it’s his toe, because if it is that knee flaring up again, that is a bad omen for the longevity of Dach.
He has been quietly excellent so far this season. Dach is doing exactly what is required as a centre. He is a plus-player on the season playing an average 15 minutes per night. He has only a goal and an assist, but the task at hand for Dach isn’t offence. It’s defence.
Last season, when Dach played his last game, he was the worst plus/minus player in the entire league at minus 29. He was a liability to the fortunes of the club. He didn’t defend well. This season, after a second major reconstruction of that ACL, he has been outstanding.
Dach has a 53 per cent Corsi and a 55 per cent Fenwick. That’s the fifth-best forward on the team behind only the Suzuki line and Zach Bolduc. By contrast, the worst on the team is Oliver Kapanen at only 29 per cent. Dach has quietly been excellent defensively.
The offence should come for Dach when he starts to feel more comfortable in puck battles, but for now, he’s learning from Coach St. Louis how to be in better position as a centre to make good plays. It’s like the Hippocratic Oath for Dach: First do no harm.
Everyone’s heart should go out to Dach. Imagine the work it has taken to get back to this point. We won’t get told if it’s his knee swelling up again and causing trauma. Occam’s Razor says if it’s always been his knee, it’s likely his knee now.
Dach has been showing he can be a useful third line centre. Take away the responsibility of facing the other club’s top line, and he is comfortable, but not if that knee is ailing him. No one can rise above that.
Hopefully, the organization will be more revealing Monday, but history says they won’t.
Brian Wilde, a Montreal-based sports writer, brings you Call of the Wilde on globalnews.ca after each Canadiens game.
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