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The Canadiens got back to winning ways yesterday at the Bell Centre. Despite trailing 1-0, then 2-1, the Habs were never really troubled by the poor Canucks.
The Montrealers dominated 41-23 in shots on goal… against a team that has just announced a rebuild. In short, the Habs couldn't lose last night. And they didn't lose either!
A thought for the Cage, which will be offering free chicken wings today. This is the second time in just four days that the Cage has had to give wings to fans. And that's seven times since the start of the season that the Habs have scored five goals or more! A far cry from the dark years of Réjean Houle, Bob Gainey, or Pierre Gauthier…
The only fly in the ointment: the Canadiens had four games in six nights at the Bell Centre, after their long holiday trip. They won three of them spectacularly, but collapsed last Saturday night against the Red Wings, first in the Atlantic Division. Basically, the Montrealers have (finally) found a way to cope with the pressure that comes with playing in front of over 21,000 fans and members of the media… except on Saturday night, when it's Hockey Night in Canada.
Never mind, the next home game on a Saturday night will be played after the Olympics; there's plenty of time to find solutions!
Too many forwards
The Habs players took off a little after midnight last night, bound for Washington. They set foot on the tarmac at Washington Dulles airport at around 1:30 a.m., before boarding the bus and checking into their hotel. In short, some players may have heavy legs tonight, especially in the third period.
As for the Caps, they had yesterday off in Washington.
No word yet on which injured players flew out and which stayed in the 514 (or 450).
Except that with three games in four days in three different cities, it's safe to assume that Martin St-Louis won't be holding a full regular practice. Or maybe only one.
So, if any injured players have made the trip, it's most likely because they have a chance to play during it.
Josh Anderson was an option for yesterday's game, we hear, so he's likely to be used somewhere during the trip. And Owen Beck is the most likely to be dropped from the lineup. The other options are Zack Bolduc, Joe Veleno, and Samuel Blais. And Brendan Gallagher, whose withdrawal from the lineup is starting to become a viral suggestion on social networks.
Kirby Dach, Patrik Laine, and Jake Evans will all return to action shortly, which will probably push the three Québécois players mentioned in the previous paragraph out of the lineup… and possibly even to Laval and/or waivers.
Evans in place of Veleno on four is fine, but for Dach and Laine, it's less obvious.
I hope that, contrary to what they did at the start of the season, Kent Hughes and Martin St-Louis will agree to keep 14 forwards with the big club, not 13. We all know that Dach and Laine are likely to get injured again once they're back in the game.
Be careful with Québécois players
Jean-Sébastien Dea and Brandon Gignac said out loud what many are thinking at the end of their time with the Rocket: you need Québécois to win in Montreal. Or in other words: having Québécois helps you win games with the Rocket and the Canadiens.
It's not just Serge Savard, Louis de Ville Mercier, and my great uncle who think this (and repeat it ad nauseam).
Of course, we're not talking about replacing the very talented Ivan Demidov, Lane Hutson, Cole Caufield, Juraj Slafkovsky, Noah Dobson, and Nick Suzuki with Jonathan Drouin, Anthony Mantha, and the Joseph brothers.
But as depth players, there's a certain logic to favoring the local guy, who knows the local culture and is always tempted to give his 100% for the local team. The people's team, as my buddy Gonzo would say!
This year, many Québécois have donned the blue, white, and red uniform: Mike Matheson, Zachary Bolduc, Alexandre Carrier, Samuel Blais, Phillip Danault, Joe Veleno, Samuel Montembeault, Joshua Roy…
If you've got a local guy who's getting the job done on the third pair or bottom six, why replace him with a guy from somewhere else who's getting the job done… or even worse, who might not even get the job done (Hello, Patrik!)?
When Laine, Dach, and Evans are fit to return to the game, I hope we'll evaluate the option of sitting Brendan Gallagher a bit. He's having all the trouble in the world keeping up. Maybe he's got a little injury to heal, right?
Because I don't want to see the Habs lose Blais or Veleno for nothing; they're good fourth-line players or guys who won't cry if they have to spend a few weeks on the bridge. As for Bolduc, as much as I think he could give the Habs (a lot) more, I don't think sending him back to Laval is a solution that will improve things.
Come on, Kent, it's up to you to make the right decisions… but before you lose Blais again in waivers, think twice. The guys who come back are the guys who can re-injure themselves the following week.
Or the same week!
