Habs Weekly: The Defence Isn’t Getting Much Better Yet

After looking like they had turned things around with a set of back-to-back wins last weekend, the Habs reverted back to their struggling ways, falling in all three games, two of which saw even more struggles at the defensive end.

The Week That Was

Oct. 29: Kraken 8, Canadiens 2 – Just when you thought it couldn’t get worse than having seven goals hung on you the week before, it got worse for the Habs.  They surrendered four goals before the 11-minute mark of the game and this team doesn’t have the firepower to overcome that.  There were actually times in the game where Montreal played relatively well but they just had nothing to show for it and it quickly became another one to forget.

Oct. 31: Capitals 6, Canadiens 3 – After a defensively sound first period, the wheels fell off again on that front for the Habs.  They allowed three goals in the second (plus another one called back on an offside) but they were opportunistic enough to bury enough of their few opportunities to keep it tied heading to the third.  Unfortunately, the defensive struggles continued while the opportunism didn’t, allowing Washington to get the win.

Nov. 2: Penguins 3, Canadiens 1 – This time, it was clear that Montreal was going to emphasize defensive zone play even at the expense of offence.  Getting back to fundamentals isn’t a bad thing but it made for a pretty lacklustre game overall.  Sidney Crosby had Pittsburgh’s first two goals and despite a decent pushback from the Habs in the third, they were only able to beat Alex Nedeljkovic once (Christian Dvorak’s first of the year) to end the week on a losing note.

StatPack

Skaters:

Goalies:

Team Leaders:

Goals: Cole Caufield (10)
Assists: Matheson/Suzuki (9)
Points: Nick Suzuki (13)
+/-: Guhle/Slafkovsky (+1)
PIMS: Mike Matheson (25)
Shots: Cole Caufield (34)

News And Notes

– Montreal actually had some good news on the injury front as Kaiden Guhle, Justin Barron, and Juraj Slafkovsky were able to return from their respective injuries.

– Rather than carry eight defencemen, the Habs opted to re-assign Logan Mailloux back to Laval.

– Since the season-opening win over Toronto, Samuel Montembeault’s save percentage is just .862.  That’s still somehow better than Cayden Primeau who sits at .861 through his first six appearances.

Last Game’s Lines:

Anderson – Suzuki – Caufield
Newhook – Dach – Slafkovsky
Armia – Evans – Gallagher
Heineman – Dvorak – Kapanen

Matheson – Guhle
Hutson – Savard
Xhekaj – Struble

The Week Ahead

Tuesday vs Calgary – After a hot start, the Flames have cooled off a bit as of late, only winning two of their last seven games.  A rebuilding team like Montreal, they’re being led offensively by defenceman Rasmus Andersson who’s averaging a point per game over his first 11 outings.  Anthony Mantha was their addition of note over the summer in the hopes of getting some value back and he’s off to a good start with six points thus far.  Also like Montreal, Calgary is deploying a relatively untested goalie tandem although the combination of Dustin Wolf and Daniel Vladar have played to a .908 SV% so far, well above the NHL average.

Thursday at New Jersey – The Devils have been the busiest team in the NHL in terms of games played so far (and that’s with a trip overseas to start the season, no less).  Aside from a recent injury to Curtis Lazar, they’re fully healthy after missing several key pieces for extended stretches last season.  Nico Hischier is tied with Cole Caufield for the league lead in goals while former Hab Johnathan Kovacevic is logging over 21 minutes a night while playing in their top four.

Saturday at Toronto – Things have been hit or miss for the Maple Leafs out of the gates who played well in the first couple of weeks but have largely struggled since then.  Other than John Tavares, their other ‘core four’ forwards are all scoring at a lower per-game rate compared to a year ago while William Nylander recently grumbled about his playing time.  Max Pacioretty has done well with his new team, however, with six points in nine games so far.  Joseph Woll recently returned from his injury to start the year while they may also have Jani Hakanpaa and Connor Dewar back by Saturday as well.

Final Thought

Not surprisingly, Martin St. Louis has worked the line blender more than usual in recent games as he looks to try to find a couple of combinations that can give Montreal a spark.  What is surprising is that out of all the combinations he’s tried (including some with a history of not working very well), he hasn’t gone back to one that has had success.

Down the stretch last season, the Habs deployed a bit of an odd combination of Joel Armia, Alex Newhook, and Brendan Gallagher.  Stylistically, it wasn’t a great fit but with the injuries they had, that wound up being the second line.  You might recall that all three finished that season well.  Newhook had nine points in his last ten games, Armia had six (including four goals), and Gallagher was at a point per game over that stretch.  Sure, it was a lot of meaningless action but there was no denying those players somehow fit as a trio over that stretch.

So at a time of trying just about everything else, why haven’t those three had a look together yet?  Yes, it means one of Kirby Dach, Christian Dvorak, or Jake Evans has to go to the wing.  Is that really that much of a problem right now?  Dach could benefit from being on the wing at this point while if they don’t want to do that, shifting Dvorak over and having him with Evans and Josh Anderson would have some similarities to the Anderson-Evans-Gallagher group that did better than expected early on.  It’s a ‘problem’ that’s rather easy to get around.

Do I think reuniting those three is going to re-spark what happened late last season?  Not really.  But as it feels like we’re in the stage of trying a bunch of stuff and see if one sticks, I think that combo is at least worth a look to see how they might fare.  And if Newhook going back down the middle helps get him a bit more involved in the play, all the better.  At this point, what’s there to lose?  It’s time to give them a shot again.