Habs Weekly: More Blown Leads

The Habs haven’t gotten off to a great start to the month of November and lost two of their three games this past week.  However, with both of those losses coming after regulation, they still managed a solid four points in the standings to stay atop the division.

The Week That Was

Nov. 4: Flyers 5, Canadiens 4 (SO) – Things couldn’t have gotten off to a worse start for the Habs as they were down 3-0 before the first TV timeout and allowed two power play goals.  However, Samuel Montembeault largely held the fort from there, paving the way for Montreal to have a big second period, one that saw them score four times, including twice with the man advantage themselves.  However, as has been the case a lot this year, they couldn’t hold the lead in the third and this time, there were no OT heroics as Trevor Zegras scored the only goal in the shootout to give Philadelphia the win.

Nov. 6: Devils 4, Canadiens 3 (OT) – The Habs trailed for a lot of this game and didn’t play all that well for extended stretches.  However, Jake Evans squeaked one through Jacob Markstrom to tie the game in the third and Oliver Kapanen scored just past the midway mark to give the Canadiens a chance at the win.  But again, they couldn’t hold it.  Despite some improved play with the lead, Timo Meier tied it with a little over a minute to go and Jesper Bratt beat Jakub Dobes on a breakaway in overtime to give New Jersey the extra point.

Nov. 8: Canadiens 6, Mammoth 2 – This game was much closer than the score might suggest.  Both teams are similar in style so there was a lot of skating and not a ton of Grade-A scoring chances early on.  Alex Newhook scored a highlight-reel goal midway through the second to give Montreal the lead and this time, they didn’t blow it.  Instead, they scored three unanswered in the third (two coming in the final two minutes) and at least ended the week on a high note.

StatPack

Skaters:

Goalies:

Shootout – Skaters:

Shootout – Goalies:

Team Leaders:

Goals: Cole Caufield (12)
Assists: Nick Suzuki (16)
Points: Nick Suzuki (20)
+/-: Matheson/Suzuki (+11)
PIMS: Arber Xhekaj (20)
Shots: Cole Caufield (39)

News And Notes

– Nick Suzuki’s 12-game point streak came to an end after he didn’t record one against New Jersey.  Still, it was the longest point streak the Habs have had since Pierre Turgeon had a 13-game streak back in April 1995.

– Through 15 games, the Habs have held the lead at some point in all of them.  However, they’ve lost the lead (either by the other team tying the game or taking the lead outright) in 11 of those.

– After putting up five points in his final ten games last season with Chicago, Joe Veleno is still looking for his first point as a Hab after being held off the scoresheet in his first ten outings with them.

– Marc Del Gaizo was recalled as injury insurance for the New Jersey game but was quickly sent back down when the team returned.

– Cole Caufield has five multi-goal games in the first 15 games of the season.  He’s the first Hab to do so since Guy Lafleur back in 1977.

Last Game’s Lines:

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

Matheson – Dobson
Struble – Hutson
Xhekaj – Carrier

The Week Ahead

Tuesday vs Los Angeles – The Kings got a lot older over the summer as GM Ken Holland brought in plenty of veterans, including a pair of former Habs in Joel Armia and Corey Perry (who leads the team in goals).  Outside of Perry and Adrian Kempe though, they’ve been pretty quiet offensively and are one of the lower-scoring teams in the NHL while only being in the middle of the pack defensively.  Still, they’ve benefited from a bunch of overtime games, meaning they’ve got a point in 11 of their first 16 games despite only winning seven times so far.

Thursday vs Dallas – For all the firepower the Stars have, they’re in the bottom half of the league offensively even with three forwards averaging at least a point per game.  Mikko Rantanen is off to a strong start in his first full season in Dallas but outside of his line, they’re not scoring much.  Meanwhile, their goaltending hasn’t been great with Jake Oettinger and Casey DeSmith playing to a combined save percentage of just .889.  By comparison, even with Samuel Montembeault’s struggles early on, the Habs are slightly higher at .891.

Saturday vs Boston – Considering the Bruins focused their efforts on getting tougher over the summer, it might surprise you to learn that they’re one of the top-scoring teams in the NHL.  Meanwhile, despite improving on paper defensively, they’re struggling to keep pucks out of the net.  Morgan Geekie picked up where he left off and is only one goal behind Cole Caufield for the league lead.  However, top centre Elias Lindholm is on injured reserve which is a blow to their offence.  Meanwhile, former Hab Jordan Harris is now with the Bruins but is out until probably the new year due to an ankle injury.

3 Stars Voting Results

In lieu of a Final Thought this week, let’s look at the voting results for our October 3 Stars as voted by our readers.

1st Star: Cole Caufield – While he wasn’t Montreal’s top point-getter last month, it’s hard to argue Caufield’s selection here as the NHL’s top goalscorer.  Oddly enough, it’s a step back from a year ago when he had ten tallies in the opening month but it would be fair to say that he was more impactful this October compared to last.  We’ll see how steep the inevitable fall-off is but once again, he’s off to a great start.

Stats: 11 GP, 9 goals, 4 assists, 13 points, +7 rating, 4 PIMS, 31 shots, 18:18 TOI

2nd Star: Nick Suzuki – After being one of the top point-getters in the league following the 4 Nations Face-Off last season, Suzuki picked up where he left off as he makes his case for a spot on Canada’s Olympic team.  He hasn’t been scoring much early on but when you’re racking up the assists, it doesn’t really matter.  He’s anchoring one of the top lines in the NHL in the early going.

Stats: 11 GP, 2 goals, 14 assists, 16 points, +9 rating, 2 PIMS, 26 shots, 20:18 TOI

3rd Star: Jakub Dobes – While he barely played in half of Montreal’s games, the rookie netminder played an instrumental role in their hot start, winning all six of his starts.  With Samuel Montembeault struggling once again in October, Dobes was able to take on a bigger workload, allowing Montembeault to try to work his way back into form without the pressure of having to play every night through his slump like he did last season.  Is it sustainable?  Of course not.  But he helped bank some key points early on.

Stats: 6 GP, 6-0-0 record, 1.97 GAA, .930 SV%

Honourable Mention: Lane Hutson – While he admitted that the weight of contract talks affected him early on, he still had a pretty solid month, chipping in as one of the NHL’s point leaders among defencemen while playing relatively well defensively as well.  Expectations are sky high for the sophomore and while he’s not exceeding them, the fact he’s meeting them is still quite impressive.  It’s hard to quibble about his start so far.

Stats: 11 GP, 1 goal, 9 assists, 10 points, +3 rating, 0 PIMS, 17 blocks, 22:32 TOI