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    • Canadiens instant summary: Caufield honors Johnny Gaudreau
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    Canadiens instant summary: Caufield honors Johnny Gaudreau

    Vaseline Posted on

    The Montreal Canadiens hosted the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday night, marking the season-opening game for both original six teams.

    The Bell Center faithful quickly recognized head coach Martin St-Louis during the pre-game ceremony, a rare situation for a bench boss who has yet to coach a winning game. It just shows how much confidence the fans have in the long-term plan at this stage of the rebuild.

    The warmest reception was given to Patrik Laine, who came to the Bell Center on crutches due to a knee injury that will keep him out of the lineup for a few months. There’s no doubt that Habs fans can be tough at times, but moments like that remind you of the deep love the city has for its players, regardless of whether they have yet to lace up the skates in an NHL game.

    Samuel Montembeault was the star of Game One, throwing an impressive 47-save shutout, the first time the Leafs had been held off the scoresheet in 227 games. It was also the record for saves in a shutout game to open an NHL season.

    Let’s take a look at the highlights of the Canadiens’ 1-0 win.

    For Johnny

    The team’s lack of success on the power play in the preseason was a continuation of a declining man advantage from the previous year, a major concern for a team looking to take the next step in rebuilding. 5v5 play is important, but you simply can’t make the playoffs if your special teams are less effective than a slingshot compared to the vastly superior trebuchet.

    With that in mind, Cole Caufield’s power-play goal to open the season was encouraging for several reasons, and not just because of the emotion he couldn’t contain while wearing his new jersey number 13. Caufield changed his number in the offseason to honor the late Johnny Gaudreau, and you could tell he had his friend in mind during his goal celebration.

    As for the play itself, it took place thanks to a great pass from Kirby Dach and Juraj Slafkovsky, with the latter making a beautiful one-touch pass to find his linemate. That kind of move should pay off if the Canadiens can continue to provide coverage for the player in the slot like they did before the goal. Once the Leafs started focusing on Nick Suzuki, passing lanes started to appear and the Habs were quick to exploit the open ice.

    The Habs failed to repeat the experiment later in the game, but for now we’ll consider the fact that they actually scored on the man advantage a success.

    Montembeault dialed in

    It’s always important to remember that goaltenders take a little longer to develop than most other players, as evidenced by both Montembeault (27 years old) and his backup, Cayden Primeau (25 years old). I would also argue that the Canadiens also took the right route by avoiding a significant investment in a “franchise” goaltender, although recent additions to the NHL seem to suggest that I may be wrong. Regardless, by the end of the season the statistical difference between the highest-paid goaltenders and Montembeault will likely be negligible.

    The Leafs did receive a series of messages, including a few in the second period, but in these situations I tend to quote Tom Barrasso, who famously responded to a question about messages by saying, “What, you want me stop the messages, we also go wide?”

    Toronto outright dominated the shot clock, not to mention the number of dangers (82 percent), but Montembeault kept his team in it, a very familiar refrain for Habs fans.

    habs shot card

    Montreal Canadiens Miscellaneous Notes

    – Lane Hutson looked good as usual. I’m well aware that fans want to see him play on the top power play unit from the get-go, especially after the Canadiens’ dismal 5-on-3 midway through the game. It will happen, that much we know. And it will probably happen faster for Hutson than for most NHL defensemen. However, we also have to remember that this was only his third NHL game. Martin St-Louis deserves some credit in this case. Not only was Mike Matheson one of the most productive defenders on the power play last season, St-Louis also avoids putting too much pressure on its star rookie, a wise approach for any head coach when dealing with a top talent.

    – Joel Armia looked good on the second line, although it’s hard to look bad next to Kirby Dach. The 21-year-old center completely changes the face of this team as he provides St-Louis with another quality option in the middle of the ice who knows how to help a team in transition. With Alex Newhook’s speed, Armia’s penchant for winning puck battles and Dach’s all-around excellence, the line certainly has potential.

    – Speaking of playing well in transition, for the first time in a while, the Montreal Canadiens had more than just Suzuki running the play. Slafkovsky had some nice controlled entries, as did Hutson, Dach, Newhook and a few others. It’s encouraging, but it’s just a start as the team needs to control the neutral zone if they want to qualify for the playoffs.

    – Alex Barre-Boulet didn’t look out of place. He is a hard worker with a degree of offensive skill that will likely come in handy if the first and second lines fail to perform. He’s also ready to prove everyone in the Tampa Bay Lightning organization wrong, and we all know that can be the ultimate motivator.

    – The fourth line (Brendan Gallagher, Jake Evans, Emil Heineman) had the best possession numbers, although that may have more to do with the matchups they were given than their offensive prowess. That said, it’s one of the most talented fourth lines the Canadiens have frozen in years.

    The Montreal Canadiens are back in action on Thursday. They will face the Bruins in Boston, with puck drop scheduled for 7:00 PM ET. All stats 5v5, unless otherwise noted, via Natural Stat Trick.

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