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In Hainsight: Habs Win an Offensive Battle in OT |
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Follow me @KarineHains for all updates about the Montreal Canadiens and women's hockey
Montreal played a near perfect first period last night, opening the score less than two minutes in with a Josh Anderson wrister from far out and controlling the play to only allow Pittsburgh to take 4 shots in 20 minutes. The Pens are experienced though, and they weren’t phased at all, coming back to take the lead within 4 minutes in the second. The Habs weren’t going to go down without a fight though and the two teams traded blow for blow in the final frame which ended in a 4-4 tie. Finally, it was Mike Hoffman, with his 4th goal in 3 games, who sealed the Canadiens’ win thanks to a great Kirby Dach pass.
This was an insanely entertaining game to watch and the main reason for that is that there is a lot of forechecking going on and the Canadiens are taking the game into their own hands. With the previous regime, the Habs were backing off and waiting for the opponents to come to them and attack, but it’s no longer the case. Martin St-Louis hockey is attacking hockey even without the puck and that’s what makes the games so interesting.
The first line kept dazzling yesterday, Suzuki had a goal and an assist, Dach a couple of helpers and Caufield a goal but beyond the points, what’s both important and impressive is that they had no problem taking on the Penguins’ top line of Guentzel, Crosby and Rust. There once was a time where the Canadiens insisted on shielding their young players but it’s no longer the case. Looking at the stats this morning, Nick Suzuki not only leads the team in points with 19 but also in goals with 10, one more than Cole Caufield. Looks like he has no problem dealing with the pressure of having a huge contract or wearing the C.
Meanwhile, Kirby Dach has got 14 points in 15 games, and it looks like the Blackhawks might have been a bit hasty in giving up on him. Still, he was acquired to be the second center and it’s not looking like he will be for now, unless he’s moved back to that position when Slafkovsky is ready to step up, but time will tell. So far though, it’s hard not to love this trade by GM Kent Hughes. Dach’s career best in points was 26 in 70 games last season, it’s safe to say that he’ll eclipse that mark this year.
On the blueline, Arber Xhekaj was once again used on the 2nd power play and he doesn’t look out of his depth at all, he’s even doing better than Chris Wideman who was used there before being scratch. That’s yet another tool in the young defender’s toolbox and another reason to keep him in the line-up when Matheson comes back. The Canadiens once had a big 3 on defense and right now, they have a fab 4. Not that the 4 rookie defensemen are anywhere as good as the legends were, but for 4 rookies, they are playing fabulously well.
Finally, some are starting to wonder if this will be a rebuilding year after all, if the Canadiens shouldn’t be buyers instead of sellers at the deadline, to those I say that the season is young, and they must not be fooled by the early results. Hughes and Gorton have said that they want to build a perennial contender not a middle of the pack pretender, they understand not all the pieces are in place yet and I do not see them changing their course of action anytime soon.
The Habs will be back on the ice on Tuesday when they take on the New Jersey Devils and they will do so rocking their brand-new Retro Reverse jersey and with the support of their new unofficial mascot Metal! While I love the jerseys, I’m not a fan of this new creature who looks like a smurf experiment gone wrong…
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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