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A first loss for the Canadiens in three preparatory games

 Michael Johnson
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A first loss for the Canadiens in three preparatory games
Credit: Getty Images
For the first time since the start of the preparatory schedule, the Canadiens played a road game. They visited the Maple Leafs in Toronto with a line-up featuring mainly support players or players of a very young age.

Here’s the Habs line-up for this game.

Once again, I’ve prepared 10 important points to remember from this preparatory meeting.

1. The Habs weren’t expected to perform well with such a young and untalented lineup. There was no Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Juraj Slafkovsky, Patrik Laine or Kirby Dach.

This was to be expected for this first road game. The regulars were given a game off.

It was a last chance for several young players to leave a good impression before the first cuts were announced.

The craziest part was that Arber Xhekaj was the “veteran” among the defensemen. He played the most NHL games of the six in the starting line-up.

2. Montreal conceded its first goal since the start of its preparatory schedule. John Tavares was well positioned in front of Jakub Dobes’ net and managed to redirect the puck into the back of the cage.

As RDS’s Marc Denis mentioned, this goal was a good lesson for defensive prospect David Reinbacher. The latter was out of position on the sequence and didn’t cover Tavares well in front of the net.

That’s what preparatory games are for: learning!

3. Lane Hutson is already attracting dirty hits from opposing players. At the very start of the game, Max Domi decided to go after Hutson in a very stupid way with a double-check in the back. All in front of an official’s eyes.

This gave the Canadiens a numerical advantage. Hutson will have to watch out for the potential injuries this could bring, but if he’s able to draw penalties against opposing teams, that’s another plus in his game.

He was once again the best defenseman on the ice, if not the best player overall. Even when he’s not collecting a point, the diminutive defenseman creates sparks that are very dangerous for other teams.

He makes opposing players’ heads spin!

4. Even though the Canadians let in their first opposing goal in three games, Jakub Dobes was sparkling in front of his net. He managed to repel 32 of the 34 shots directed at him.

What’s encouraging is that he did it against excellent Maple Leafs players like John Tavares, William Nylander and Mitch Marner.

Dobes should still be Laval’s number-one goalie this season, but he left an excellent impression in his pre-season start.

5. Speaking of Nylander, he had to leave the game in the first period with an injury. Teammate Nick Robertson pushed him and he fell to the ground. His head then struck the knee of Christian Dvorak, who was passing by.

Here’s the sequence.

The Maple Leafs pulled him completely from the game as a precautionary measure.

6. Christian Dvorak didn’t just hurt Nylander in this game. He also scored!

He took advantage of a superb pass from Alex Barré-Boulet to break away and completely strip Anthony Stolarz.

Dvorak had a good game, who needs to redeem himself after his disappointing last few in Montreal.

7. Montreal was sorely lacking forward in this game. After one period, the Habs had just three shots on Stolarz’s net. After two periods, the total was just 10.

The Canadiens finished the game with just 17 shots on goal.

This will be an issue for the next game.

8. Oliver Kapanen was again excellent. Unlike his first game, he didn’t collect a point, but he left his mark when he was on the ice.

He still has a lot to learn about the art of face-offs, but he’ll make it very difficult for Kent Hughes to cut him from camp.

9. Arber Xhekaj pulled out all the stops. Even though he was the “veteran” among defensemen during this match, Xhekaj wasn’t in the game.

He lacked attack in his game, and his defensive positioning left a lot to be desired.

The good news is that he showed some good flashes with his physical play.

10. And finally, we almost saw a Lane Hutson goal!

Hutson unfortunately hit the post hard in the third period, when he could have tied the game.

The Maple Leafs won 2-1. The Habs will have a chance to avenge themselves on Saturday, when the same Maple Leafs visit the Bell Centre.


Extended

– Wow!

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