Hockey

Excellent performance by Kaiden Guhle: he saved the Habs from disaster
Mathis Therrien
Excellent performance by Kaiden Guhle: he saved the Habs from disaster
Credit: Twitter screenshot

With last night's 3-2 victory over the Blackhawks in Chicago, the Montreal Canadiens return home with a 2-1-0 record after their first road trip, which was a success, but things could have been very different last night if it hadn't been for Kaiden Guhle's clutch goal.

In all seriousness, I think the Habs were lucky to escape with not just two points, but a regulation-time win.

Martin St-Louis' troupe was very scrappy in this game, and looked completely disorganized in the third period, when you could sense a discouraging effect among the players.

Obviously, I won't dwell on the negative, given that the Habs were playing a third road game in four days, but the fact remains that a lack of opportunism and lack of concentration almost cost the Habs the win.

The Canadiens are fortunate that Kaiden Guhle was ready for this game, as he really put in an excellent performance last night, aside from his goal.

Obviously, that's what stood out this morning, when he saved the Habs from the disaster of losing to the Hawks after having TEN powerplay advantages. But in general, Guhle played a whole game of hockey, clearly his best since the start of the season.

In 16:32 of ice time, the CH's #21 got four shots, one blocked shot and three checks, including a very solid one on Frank Nazar, a check that actually triggered real chaos.

And what's all the more important with Guhle's robust play, but especially this particular check, is that it led to the Habs' second goal, Zachary Bolduc's powerplay goal. Guhle's big legal check frustrated the Blackhawks, leading to an instigator penalty for Louis Crevier.

Guhle was directly responsible for two of the Habs' goals last night, which makes his performance all the more interesting. #21 (when healthy) is a very important pillar of the Habs' defense, and he proved it last night

Now, here's what else I'll take away from this game:1. After two very difficult outings in the face-off circle (40.7% vs Toronto and 42.5% vs Detroit), the Habs were excellent last night with a 61.5% percentage.

Note that Oliver Kapanen took no face-offs last night, while Alex Newhook served as center in such situations. Jake Evans (71%), Nick Suzuki (66%), Kirby Dach (57%) and Alex Newhook (57%) were all excellent, so let's hope this trend continues.2. Zachary Bolduc is full of confidence, and it's great to see. The Québécois scored a goal in his third consecutive game, as well as picking up an assist and disturbing the opposition at several points. Bolduc is really making a big name for himself, both in the dressing room and throughout the National Hockey League. A real pest scoring goals like he does, that's really rare

3. Samuel Montembeault saved the game in the third period. The Blackhawks had only ten shots on goal after two periods, but they opened up in the third period with 12 shots, when the Habs seemed to be asleep at times. Montembeault stayed calm, and was able to repel several big threats, and especially avoid the worst when things were spinning for long minutes in the Habs' zone. Without him, the Habs don't come out of this game with a regular win.4. The powerplay really needs practice. Even though the Habs converted 2 of their ten chances (20%), it was clear that there's a problem, as there was almost never any rhythm or coordination. Everything was scrambled and executed pretty much to the point. And as soon as the Habs settled in, there was far too much looking for the perfect play, instead of simply going for a good shot to score a goal or give a throwback. What's more, on Patrik Laine's wave, i.e. the 2nd wave, everything was too predictable. You can see that the other players are just looking for Laine's catch-and-shoot
5. Arber Xhekaj only played 6:48, which can be explained by all the powerplays.6. Lane Hutson was good last night, but there's still something missing from his game that we saw last season. He's making more mistakes, hesitating more often, dropping the puck a lot, in short, his contract situation really seems to be playing on his mind. At least Hutson got his first point of the season on Guhle's late goal.7. Tough game for the Newhook – Kapanen – Demidov line. All three guys lacked execution at several points, and they'll need to get their act together at home, starting Tuesday against the Seattle Kraken.

'Overtime'

– To read.

– A real machine.

– What an incredible scenario at the Shanghai Masters 1000.

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