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In Hainsight: A Good First Impression |
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Follow me @KarineHains for all updates about the Montreal Canadiens and women's hockey
With so little to play for at this stage of the season, all eyes were on new acquisition Denis Gurianov who was playing his first game as a member of the Montreal Canadiens in San Jose last night. Martin St-Louis wanted to see what his new player could do and he decided to put him on the first line alongside Suzuki and Hoffman. The 6’3’’ , 205 pounds Russian made a very good first impression, playing big and going into the dirty areas. He didn’t get on the scoresheet, but it wasn’t for lack of trying as he did take 6 shots on net. Perhaps his acquisition is an insurance policy of sorts if Kent Hughes does decide to move Josh Anderson at the trade deadline, who knows.
The game didn’t start well for the Habs as Jake Allen gave up the first goal on the very first shot he faced thanks to two Justin Barron turnovers early in the game, but it was to be the only success the Sharks would find on the night. The Canadiens had to wait 8 minutes into the final frame to finally solve Kahkonen, when Kaiden Guhle, who was returning after a knee injury, scored with a slap shot. The young blue-liner looked very good in his return, playing 20 shifts for 18 minutes and 27 seconds of ice-time, taking 3 shots on goal, landing a hit and blocking a shot. More importantly, he looked comfortable and not at all hindered by the injury who had kept him on the sidelines since late December.
Less than 2 minutes after Guhle found the back of the net, Jesse Ylonen scored his second of the season on a 2 on 1 attack in which he only had to tap in the puck thanks to a great Pitlick deke and pass. When the final buzzer went, the score was 3-1 Canadiens thanks to a Christian Dvorak empty netter scored with 5 seconds left in the game.
All in all, it was a good start to this 4-game road trip but what really stood out was the fact that Joel Edmundson still wasn’t ready to return. After practice, he stayed on the ice for ages and it was obvious that he wasn’t going to make his return. Now, only one game remains before the clock strikes 3 PM on Friday afternoon and trades are a thing of the past. Considering that Edmundson has yet to prove he’s healthy again and that one of his rumored landing spot acquired Mattias Ekholm last night, it seems more and more unlikely that Steady Eddy will move this time around.
The Canadiens could still get in on the action acting as brokers for a team that needs cap space, but let’s hope that if they do, the fee to do so is a pick and not a veteran big contract. A slowed down rebuild because your most marketable assets are injured is one thing, but taking on veterans that will slow down the development of your young players is quite another. Soon enough, we’ll know if Hughes was able to pull another rabbit out of his hat with the trade deadline being a little over 48 hours away. In the meantime, the GM has been busy signing forward Xavier Simoneau to a 2-year entry level contract which will kick in next season, I’ll admit that when I got the notification on Twitter, I though something else had happened… a trade or a Caufield extension, but it wasn’t to be…
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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