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Canadiens: among the league’s best special units

 Auteur: Emma Wilson
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Canadiens: among the league’s best special units
Credit: Getty Images
The Canadiens have had a difficult start to the season. While a number of players are off to good individual starts, such as Cole Caufield and Lane Hutson, collective results have yet to materialize, with just two wins in six games.

In particular, the Canadiens are struggling at five-on-five with a negative 5-goal output, tied for 26th in the NHL with two other teams. One of the reasons for the Habs’ difficulties at even strength is their problematic performance on face-offs.

Without possession of the puck, the Canadiens’ players have to waste time and energy chasing down the puck, which isn’t exactly ideal for a team that favors control and speed.

However, one collective aspect that has been working well since the start of the season is the special units. First of all, the Canadiens’ power play ranks a respectable 12th in the League, with an average of 21.6%.

Not worse, not worse! Especially when you remember that the team hadn’t scored a man-advantage goal in thirty chances during the preseason. Many fans and journalists wondered whether head coach Martin St-Louis was the right man for the job, having decided to take charge of the powerplay himself following the departure of Alex Burrows last July.

But wait, there’s more! The Canadiens have the second-best shorthanded penalty kill in the NHL, at 90.9%, second only to the Dallas Stars.

And when you consider that the team’s management wanted to have a combined powerplay and penalty kill output of around 100%, it’s safe to say that they’ve succeeded so far, with a combined average of 112.5%.

It’s refreshing and reassuring to see the special units performing well at the start of the season. Last year, the Canadiens ranked 27th in the League on the powerplay and 24th on the disadvantage, with 17.5% and 76.5% respectively.

In fact, these are two aspects with which the team has been struggling for several years, and which had to improve if it hoped to be competitive. Now all we can do is hope for better five-on-five results, and maybe the Canadiens can really get into the mix.


Overtime

– Ross Colton scores his sixth already!

– Big home run for Will Smith!

– Neck injury for Matthew Bergeron.

– Victory in Calgary for Rebecca Marino.

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