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Hugo Brossoit:Four of Six Points |
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After the first 3 games of the season, the Montreal Canadiens sport a 2-1-0 record despite a very challenging task of beginning the season with three games in four nights and divisional (and traditional) rivals.
So far, we’ve seen some very interesting and positive things from the Habs in these few games,
we’ve also seen things that will need improvements to put it mildly.
Let’s take a step back and break down what has been a real rollercoaster of emotions after 3 very different games for Montreal.
Needed Improvement
We'll get the negatives out of the way first.
The Canadiens spent the better part of their first two games chasing the puck in their own
zone. The lack of pressure on the puck carrier, their inability to stop the opposing team from
circling the puck and a plethora of wrong decisions while trying to clear the puck or counter
attack made it so the Habs needed their goaltender to bail them out of bad situations way
too often (and sometimes they didn’t, but we’ll get back to that).
Let’s not sugarcoat it: you’ll lose most games when these things happen repetitively.
The silver lining is that it obviously looked much better against the Senators. It remains to be seen if this was more a product of the quality of opposition or if the Habs really made the
right adjustments so quickly.
We can add the first line’s performance at 5-on-5 here but since Cole Caufield already has compiled four goals (is anyone still worried about him? Really?) and Jiri Slafkovsky has three assists in three games,some patience is in order to give Montreal time to figure out the big picture before going into panic mode.
They did look much better against Ottawa so maybe it was just a matter of getting enough
repetitions, which they didn’t get in preseason.
Exciting signs
Now that we got the negatives out of the way, we can focus on what is currently fueling the
#Optibus of the Canadiens' faithful.
First, as something that badly needed improvement from last season, the power play is
looking good(ish). If we forget the abysmal 5-on-3 opportunity against Toronto that helped turn themomentum in Toronto’s favour, we’ve also seen some very interesting plays and execution
from both units.
If we’re being completely honest though, it feels like the second wave is actually getting
more chances since the beginning of the season and the reason is simple: Lane Hutson.
By moving so smoothly in the opposing team’s zone, making the defending players move and
commit to him, he creates so much space for everyone else around him. It’s been a joy to
see him do his thing and so far, the hype surrounding his first season in the NHL has been
justified.
Speaking of Hutson, not only has he shown impressive skills with the puck, he’s been more
than reliable in his own zone, which was the main worry about his NHL debut. There will
likely be warts and problems along the way, but so far, his addition already makes Montreal
a better team compared to last season.
Finally, a few words on a player who, in the past few years, sadly went from fan favorite to
“cannot wait until his contract ends so we can shoot him into the sun” from the fan’s
perspective. Brenden Gallagher has a really, really good start to his season.
Not only does he already have two goals in three games, but we see him involved in the play, creating chances for his teammates and spurring an effective forecheck. If he can somehow
sustain this level of play, I think the number of people baffled by his contract will slowly diminish. He’ll remain overpaid, but he’ll also be useful.
Between the pipes
I decided to address the goaltenders situation separately from the rest of the team as I think
we need to take a small step back here. I’ve always been a big Samuel Montembeault
supporter as I believe he’s been extremely underrated the past two seasons playing behind
a poor defensive team in front of him.
So far, Sam has been almost perfect, sporting a gaudy .986 save percentage and is the main reason Montreal survived the Leafs onslaught in the first game of the season. Sam deserves all the credit for the major improvement he’s made to his game since first arriving through waivers in the 2021 and his current contract looks like a real bargain when you see the numbers being thrown at goalies around the league these days.
In the Senators game, if you asked a completely uninformed person to pick the 8.25M
goaltender between him and Linus Ullmark, he probably would have picked the wrong guy.
Rumours have it that they’ve already started writing his name on the October Molson’s Cup: that's how great Montembeault has been so far.
As for Cayden Primeau, we can’t deny his poor performance against Boston but we also know he can play a much better game than that. From an outside perspective, it still feels like Primeau's confidence (which is one of the most important thing for a goaltender) remains a weakness for him.
After a rocky start, it seems he never managed to truly find his game against Boston and didn’t actually give his team a chance to win. Now, it’s only one game, the team in front of him didn’t make his life any easier and he will have many opportunities to bounce back. It's never wise to read too much into a tiny sample size.
That said, if Montreal hopes to remain “in the mix” for the playoffs, they’ll need Primeau to bring out his best like he did for most of last season.
The bottom line
The Habs will gladly skate off with four out of six possible points in any similar gauntlet over the course of the season. The Canadiens got a big win over Toronto and another divisional W against Ottawa in the same week.
As such, it’s pretty hard to feel bad about the state of things. Hopefully the Canadiens build on
their performances against Ottawa and the rest of the ride has a little less ups and downs.
Lastly, here's a reality check: With a still-rebuilding team, the fans might as well fasten their seat belts. Eighty-two games is a marathon.
Thank you all for reading and have a nice long weekend.
Hugo Brossoit (Scabeh)
Blogger • 
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