10 Thoughts: Habs snatch 3-2 win to spoil Chicago’s celebrations

For their third game of the season, the Canadiens visited the Windy City on the final stop of their Tour of All the Original Six Cities not on the Atlantic Coast. The Blackhawks’ 100th-anniversary celebrations aside, the home team also features some of the league’s top talent, including Frank Nazar and the Calder Trophy-winning Connor Bedard. Of course, the Habs had their own Calder winner in Lane Hutson–and a 2026 Calder contender in Ivan Demidov.

Given all the power play opportunities the Canadiens had, one might have hoped for a blowout similar to the Thursday night outing in Detroit. However, Spencer Knight was outstanding in the Chicago crease and might not have allowed the winning goal, either, had his own defence not interfered with his play. In the end, the Habs leave town for their home opener with a 2-1 record, having played another solid game–even if it took 59:45 to finally secure the win.

Habs Starting Lines

Caufield – Suzuki – Slafkovsky
Newhook – Kapanen – Demidov
Bolduc – Dach – Gallagher
Laine – Evans – Anderson

Guhle – Hutson
Matheson – Dobson
Xhekaj – Carrier

Montembeault
Dobes

10 Thoughts

1) It was a matchup between two of the youngest teams in the league, and it showed early with the speed of the attacks and counterattacks. What was also visible, though, were the lessons from Martin St-Louis, as the Habs consistently applied strong pressure in the neutral zone, making it difficult for the Blackhawks players to make good passes or carve their way past the defence. And when they did strip the puck from the attackers, they transitioned rapidly to counterattack. Not easy to play against, according to St-Louis, and the Blackhawks would likely agree on that.

2) The Habs certainly got their power play reps in the first period as the Blackhawks were called for four minors, against a single one for the Canadiens. This time, the time was split fairly evenly between the first and second units, although the second unit outshot the first by a 3-1 margin. No one could put the puck in the net on the man advantage, though, and that surely will intensify the early-season calls from the fans to rearrange the power play units. However, the advanced stats showed 0.81 xG in a little over six minutes, which roughly equates to something like a 25% power play efficiency. That doesn’t indicate a need for panic moves: the goals will surely come.

3) As for fan complaints, Patrik Laine is surely the largest magnet for those, with his limited five-on-five production and now the assignment to the “fourth line”. And yet, the big Finn recorded three shots and eight shot attempts on the power play, with an xG of 0.33, numbers that are hard for anyone else to match. Five on five, no shots, but there were also only four shots against while he, Josh Anderson and Jake Evans were on the ice, with an xGA of only 0.2. Arguably, he is not a burden on that line at this point in time.

4) Demidov has been making good plays in the offensive zone in the first three games of the season, but with no points to show for that work. Tonight, though, we saw a highlight-reel defensive play on a Nick Foligno short-handed breakaway. Demidov accelerated quickly, caught up with Foligno and forced him to the outside and away from Sam Montembeault, enabling Noah Dobson to strip the puck from the Chicago forward and get the Canadiens back on the attack.

5) The power play finally produced results early in the second period, after Wyatt Kaiser triple-cross-checked Zach Bolduc in front of the Chicago net for the fifth–yes, fifth–Montreal man advantage in about 22 minutes of play. It took another minute, and it took some serious net-front action to beat Spencer Knight, but Cole Caufield was able to tip a high Bolduc shot past Knight. The league reviewed the play for a possible high stick, but eventually confirmed the on-ice referees’ decision to let the goal stand.

6) Bolduc has been all he was advertised to be in the early season, and he followed his assist up with his third goal wearing the Sainte-Flanelle. It was the Habs’ second power play marker of the night, and restored them to a one-goal lead after Sam Rinzel had tied it back up just a minute earlier. This time it was Bolduc in front of the net, and the young winger picked up a Caufield rebound in front of the net and lifted it over Knight to put the Habs in a 2-1 lead. Four points in three games is nothing if not a solid start on the new team.

7) Arber Xhekaj collared Colton Dach in front of Samuel Montembeault, but after the whistle had been blown. There didn’t seem to be any obvious rationale for that, and not the smartest penalty. He has surely heard the directive to avoid needless penalties many times from St-Louis, and this particular penalty–which enabled Bedard to even up the score on the ensuing power play–may well explain why Xhekaj was limited to less than seven minutes of ice time on the night.

8) C. Dach (that’s either “Colton Dach” or “Chicago Dach” depending on your preference) was called for tripping Josh Anderson near the end of the second period. While the Chicago bench might have thought it looked like diving, a stick in the opposing player’s skates is always a tripping call. And Anderson, with his power forward rushes along the boards, attracts these kinds of penalties like bees to a honeypot.

9) The Blackhawks’ approach to penalty kills was notably more aggressive than the Habs’ shorthanded plan. While the Chicago approach has higher risks, it also forced the Montreal power play units to rush many passes and made it difficult to get closer to the net. The bleu, blanc, et rouge, on the other hand, have a lower-risk approach and look more to prevent scoring chances or block passes.

10) As the clock wound down with a 2-2 showing on the scoreboard, the Habs took a cautious approach to the end of the game as well, seemingly wanting to ensure that they go home with at least a point from this game as well. Finally, as the minutes ticked down, they were able to set up and apply pressure in the Chicago zone. Caufield and Lane Hutson combined for four shots blocked by other players in the span of 11 seconds, and Knight lost his stick as Sam Rinzel fell backwards into his goaltender. Then Nick Suzuki got the puck back to the top of the circles, and Kaiden Guhle let go a shot that Knight was unable to respond to, his glove still held by Rinzel’s stick. Only 15 seconds to spare, but the Canadiens managed to take the second win of the season in only the third game.

HW Habs Three Stars

First Star: Zach Bolduc (1g, 1a, 3 shots, +0, 16:42 TOI) was a force on the ice, belying his very short tenure with the Habs and Martin St-Louis’ system. He is playing well with Brendan Gallagher and Kirby Dach, and looks to be consistently dangerous in front of the opposition’s net. Four points so far in the young season is surely an unsustainable pace but so far he looks to be an outstanding find by the Habs’ front office.

Second Star: Cole Caufield (1g, 1a, 3 shots, +1, 19:58 TOI) has changed his style of play, particularly so on the power play, and he is no longer just a one-timer threat. He mixes it up in front of the net, as attested by his goal tonight, and puts pucks on net. The three shots don’t tell the full story, as Caufield had a total of 10 shot attempts, including three blocked shots and four that missed the net. On another night, he might have scored two or even three.

Third Star: Juraj Slafkovsky (0g, 0a, 2 shots, +1, 20:37 TOI) ended up empty-handed on tonight’s scoresheet, as the final goal was changed from him to Guhle. However, Slafkovsky was everywhere, winning puck battles on the boards, causing trouble in front of the net, agitating opponents, and looking for opportunities to score. An xGF% of 93% validates the impact he (and teammates Suzuki and Caufield) had while on the ice. It doesn’t look like we need to wait for “Second Half Slaf” this year.