10 Thoughts: Dobes Shines Versus Sabres

After losing a close game to the Rangers on Saturday, the Habs looked to end their home stand on a winning note on Monday against Buffalo.  It took three goals in an eventful third period but they were able to do just that, doubling up the Sabres 4-2.

Neither Patrik Laine nor Kirby Dach could return for this one and the Habs elected not to recall anyone from Laval.  As a result, there were no changes to the skaters but Martin St. Louis opted to make a change in goal with Jakub Dobes getting his third start of the season.  The team lined up as follows:

Caufield – Suzuki – Slafkovsky
Anderson – Evans – Gallagher
Newhook – Kapanen – Demidov
Bolduc – Veleno – Beck

Matheson – Dobson
Struble – Hutson
Xhekaj – Carrier

10 Thoughts

1) The Jake Evans line has been relatively quiet this season.  Part of it is the checking role and part of it was not necessarily meshing with Laine.  But with that trio now being the second line, expectations are going to be higher.  They’re going to need to do more than just playing good defence.  They didn’t score in the first but they had the puck in Buffalo’s zone a lot and generated some decent chances.  That was probably their best period of the year.

2) It’s fair to say that Oliver Kapanen has had a bit of good luck this season.  He came into the night with a shooting percentage of 37.5 and a PDO of 110.2.  Those numbers scream unsustainable.  But he added to it early on after Ivan Demidov drove the net and drawing a defender away, leaving Kapanen free to slip the puck through Alex Lyon’s five-hole.  Nothing wrong with those numbers staying high for another game.  Alexandre Carrier deserves a lot of praise on the play too.  He didn’t get an assist on the play but he won a battle with a double-team to keep the puck in the zone, leading to the goal seconds later.

3) One issue the Habs have had this season is that they’ve been too pass-happy at times instead of getting some pucks on net.  Aside from a late shift where Demidov and Lane Hutson were playing a game of how many passes they could complete without shooting, Montreal did a much better job of trying to get some shots on goal and even got some traffic in front of Lyon.  They weren’t really rewarded for it beyond Kapanen’s tally but it was still a promising first period.

4) Unfortunately, they failed to carry that approach over to the second.  Instead, they went back to the over-pass, under-shoot strategy.  Hutson and Demidov were guilty of another shift where shooting was not on their minds with Hutson opting to pass up shooting from a prime position in the slot to instead send a low percentage pass to Demidov.  It didn’t work.

5) This time, that came back to bite them.  Later in the shift when Hutson didn’t shoot, they got caught in the defensive zone on a failed clearing attempt.  Joe Veleno wasn’t able to chip the puck out and then got beat to the front of the net by Jiri Kulich who beat Dobes with a backhander.  Meanwhile, after putting up 14 shots in the first, the Habs only managed four in the second period and spent a lot of the second period chasing the play.

6) Rather than dwell on that further, I want to mention Kapanen again.  No, he didn’t do much in the second period as the puck wasn’t on his stick much.  But when Montreal had the puck in the offensive zone, he was driving the net or standing in front as the screener.  That doesn’t seem like something worth highlighting but it’s rare to see a young player willing to do that.  Fundamental play like that will earn him a long leash with the coaching staff.

7) It was nice to see the Canadiens come out firing in the third; just two minutes in, they had already matched their shot total from the second.  And they were rewarded for their efforts not even three minutes in when Noah Dobson threw a pass toward the net from the side.  It squeaked through to Juraj Slafkovsky and he had a wide-open net to tap it into to restore Montreal’s lead.

8) After Hutson was in pass-first mode for the first two periods, he finally decided to put a shot on net in the third.  Alex Newhook forced a turnover behind the net and sent a quick feed to Hutson in the slot.  It really wasn’t much of a shot – Lyon would certainly love to have it back – but it wound up squeaking over the pad.  The Habs needed some breathing room and they got it.  Well, for almost a minute, at least.

9) Sometimes, you get a little lucky in the offensive zone.  I think Jack Quinn was thinking that on the shift following the Hutson goal.  At the side of the net, he tried to shoot but flubbed it.  Fortunately for him, it became the perfect pass to Tyson Kozak at the other side of the net and it was a wide-open tap-in that Dobes had no chance on.  So much for that breathing room.

10) Buffalo, for all the injury trouble they have (and do they ever have a lot of injuries), really put on the pressure from there.  Montreal bent but they didn’t break.  Then, with a little over 30 seconds left, Nick Suzuki blocked a point shot and the Habs were off to the races with Evans potting the empty-netter for his first of the season to secure the win.  Given how much the coaching staff leaned on him in this one, it’s fitting that he was the one who got it.

HW Habs 3 Stars

1st Star: Jakub Dobes – It was interesting that he got this start.  With Samuel Montembeault struggling, it would have been defensible to put him right back in there to try to get him going.  Instead, they went to the hot hand in Dobes and St. Louis was rewarded for that move.  He made several big stops and played with some poise that we don’t always see from him.  No, it’s not a goalie controversy yet (Montembeault has earned some rope with his play last season), but Dobes is making a case for more playing time.

Stats: 29 saves on 31 shots, 2.00 GAA, .931 SV%

2nd Star: Jake Evans – I know some of the advanced stats don’t show particularly favourably for Evans but I liked his line’s game, especially early on.  They had some good forechecking moments, something we haven’t seen.  Meanwhile, Evans took the short-first mentality to heart, setting a new career-high in that department with the last being the goal to seal the win.  I’ll take more games like that from him.

Stats: 1 goal, +1 rating, 8 shots, 2 hits, 2 blocks, 10/17 faceoffs, 18:16 TOI

3rd Star: Juraj Slafkovsky – He showed some feistiness in this one, getting into a couple of post-whistle scrums.  He also scored a big goal in the third to give the Habs the lead.  He hasn’t been as noticeable as his linemates in the early going this season but a game like this could give him some confidence.

Stats: 1 goal, +1 rating, 4 PIMS, 3 shots, 3 hits, 17:17 TOI