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Forget it: after all, the Canadiens won’t be #InTheMix this season

 Christopher Brown
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Forget it: after all, the Canadiens won’t be #InTheMix this season
Credit: Getty Images
Good.

Because I headlined (ironically) yesterday morning that the Habs were finally going to be #InTheMix following their win over the Maple Leafs, I had to revisit the game with a headline along the same lines.

I won’t be doing this all year, don’t worry.

But the fact remains that the contrast between the two games is striking. There are similarities, such as the fact that the defensive game needs to be tightened up, but there are also differences.

The biggest is, of course, the goalkeeper’s work. After seeing Samuel Montembeault be historically good in game #1 of the season, it’s fair to say that Cayden Primeau was particularly… ordinary in game #2 of the season.

Granted, he wasn’t the only reason for the Flanelle’s 6-4 loss in Boston last night, but it was still a big part – if not THE biggest part – of the reason for the setback.

And the man himself knows it. He would have liked to have made the right saves at the right time, including on the Bruins’ last goal, but it didn’t happen.

Of course, he didn’t get much help from his teammates (Martin St-Louis thought there were too many passengers tonight) on the ice, but the fact remains that there were some ugly goals.

And don’t forget that Samuel Montembeault took 48 shots on Wednesday… and stopped them all.

I don’t know why the guys didn’t show up properly. Is playing a second game in two days a factor in all this?

Did playing a home game for the first time this season whip the Bruins the way it did the Habs on Wednesday?

In any case, one thing is certain: to progress, the Habs need to win games in their division. But above all, it must win the famous “second game in two nights” more often.

It’s all very well to say that “the Habs just have to win more games that end by the margin of one goal” to make the playoffs, but we mustn’t forget that last year, the famous “back-to-back” games weren’t easy for the Flanelle. That needs to be corrected.

I can’t wait to see how both goalies’ workloads are affected by the first games. If Samuel Montembeault plays well Saturday night against Ottawa, how long will it be before we see Cayden Primeau again?

Remember that the Habs like Jakub Dobes. I’m not suggesting that Primeau is about to lose his job, I’m just saying that the goal of a young player is to steal a chair. And right now, for Dobes, Montembeault’s chair is relatively impossible to steal.

But hey. It wasn’t just Cayden Primeau who caught the eye during the game. We need to discuss the performance of several players in yesterday’s game.

What do I remember?

1. Throughout training camp, Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield and Juraj Slafkovsky were always together. It took just over a game before Slaf joined Kirby Dach.

It was Josh Anderson (who scored yesterday), in a formula that has never worked in the past, who finished the game on the first line. But in the light of the fact that he wasn’t playing badly and that it was short term (I hope, anyway), it’s not super bad either.

2. Defensively, it wasn’t long before the pairs were jumping. Arber Xhekaj and David Savard didn’t play much at the end of games, when the club needed to score goals. Why destroy everything? Because it’s hard to rely on an Arber Xhekaj / Justin Barron pairing, for one thing.

It’s worth noting that Mike Matheson, as sparkling as he was on Wednesday, struggled yesterday. He played too much, and that didn’t do the Habs any favors. He shouldn’t play too much

3. Lane Hutson, however, looked good.

The man who played in the city where he spent the last two years hasn’t yet experienced the effect of playing against a club that isn’t an original team… and he’s never done badly, either. One day, he’ll manage to get some playing time on the first power play.

4. If the Habs lost yesterday, it must be the Oliver Kapanen effect. This is obviously a joke.

In his first NHL game, the European didn’t do badly. He found a way to pick off a pass, which is an important moment for a rookie.

5. Things are going badly in the face-off circle.

As Anthony Marcotte points out, when it’s time to send in a left-hander, only Christian Dvorak is available. And since he hasn’t been dominant for the past two games, that’s affecting the club’s time of possession.

6. Cole Caufield, even though he’s playing on a line that’s not rolling at full speed right now, still found a way to score in a second straight game. That’s his #1 goal: to score.

And he does.

7. Brendan Gallagher found the back of the net twice yesterday. Once on the powerplay (you read that correctly) and once late in the game, reducing the gap to just one goal (5-4).

He’s been involved and getting the job done for the past two games. And he’s the fourth-highest scorer in the NHL right now…


Extension

The Canadiens have the day off today. That means the guys can sleep after traveling overnight, since they don’t have to go to Brossard.

No clue as to the line-up for Saturday night’s game. Remember that tomorrow, the Senators will be at the Bell Centre.

Aside from in net, we have to wonder whether Jayden Struble will be able to return to action. And offensively, will Michael Pezzetta or Emil Heineman return to action?

And most importantly, who will play with whom?

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