10 Thoughts: Habs break the slump with 5-2 win over Leafs

It may have been a traditional Hockey Night in Canada on Saturday, with the Canadiens hosting the Maple Leafs, but it was also a matchup of two struggling teams, both dealing with multiple injuries and both trying to extricate themselves from their current slumps.

As it turned out, the Habs wanted it more than the Leafs did, and they built what turned out to be an unassailable 4-0 lead through the first two periods. They nearly gave it away in the final period, but they played well enough and got good enough goaltending to hold on to a two-goal lead, and then seal it with an empty-netter with two minutes left on the clock.

Habs Starting Lines

Caufield – Suzuki – Bolduc
Slafkovsky – Kapanen – Demidov
F. Xhekaj – Evans – Anderson
Davidson – Veleno – Gallagher

Matheson – Dobson
Struble – Hutson
A. Xhekaj – Carrier

Dobes
Montembeault

Ten Thoughts

1) After the Habs’ recent goaltending woes, it was good to see that the Leafs were not able to score on their first shot on Jakub Dobes; far too many of those had gone in recently. The rookie goaltender didn’t exactly look like he was fully in control early, but he made the saves the team needed, avoiding an early deficit before the attack got sorted out. The save on a Dakota Joshua wraparound shot looked good, but it would be even better to control the puck and avoid giving up those chances.

2) And the offence needed some time, indeed: it took seven minutes for the Canadiens to get their first shot on net, a fairly harmless wrister by Joe Veleno. The fourth line had the most energy early, and Florian Xhekaj wasted no time in getting his first hit in his first NHL game, slamming Troy Stecher into the end boards just a couple of minutes into the game. Still, the early scoring chances were scarce.

3) The game was chippy early on, but the referees seemed to be in playoff mode already, letting multiple infractions (on both sides) go unpenalized. The first power play had to wait for Jayden Struble to cross the line in the tussling, attracting an additional (and totally unnecessary) two minutes in the box. The penalty kill unit worked well, though, and Dobes got an assist from one of his goalposts to keep the puck out.

4) On the Habs’ opening goal, at 12:51 of the first, all credit was due to Cole Caufield. The diminutive sniper stole the puck just inside the Montreal blue line, carried it through and across the neutral ice, and into the Toronto end. A pass to Nick Suzuki, skating to the side of the net, and all the Leafs defenders were attracted to the honeypot, enabling Suzuki to throw the puck to Lane Hutson on the opposite side. With Stecher knocking Brendan Gallagher into Joseph Woll and no defenders in sight, Hutson had the table set perfectly for the go-ahead goal.

5) Just 40 seconds later, the Montreal defence corps was at it again: Noah Dobson carried the puck behind and around the Toronto net, and found Ivan Demidov with a pass. Demidov handed it to Mike Matheson, who eventually spotted an open Dobson and passed it back to his defence partner for a scoring chance, a hard shot, and an insurance goal.

6) The second period was far stronger for the home team, and it took them only four minutes to extend the lead. Demidov and Juraj Slafkovsky carried the play into the offensive zone, and Demidov’s pretty pass to Dobson gave the PEI native the chance to make it the first two-goal game in his career, and Dobson took full advantage, one-timing the puck over Woll’s blocker for a 3-0 lead.

7) The Habs had an extended man advantage soon after that, with delayed calls to John Tavares for hooking Matheson, and then, during the penalty, Jake McCabe for hooking Demidov. In total, it was four minutes of penalties, and nearly two minutes of six-on-five play with the referee’s arm in the air for the delayed penalties. The power play looked good. The passes were crisp, the puck movement quick, but the players were still not able to find the scoring chances they were looking for, as the Habs went zero-for for the night, and dropped their power play percentage that much more.

8) Josh Anderson made up for that, though, lifting a Florian Xhekaj pass over Woll’s glove to make it 4-0 shortly after the end of the McCabe penalty. After a slow start to the season, Anderson now has four goals and an assist in his last six games, including his empty-netter tonight.

9) The Habs seemed to get a little bit too comfortable with their 4-0 lead, though, and that was bound to backfire on them. With less than three minutes left in the second period, Oliver Ekman-Larsson took a shot from near the blue line that found its way through traffic and past Dobes to get Toronto on the board, albeit still three goals adrift.

10) The Leafs were energized by that late-second-period goal, as was shown by the 9-3 shots edge in the final period, and William Nylander got them close with five minutes remaining, scoring another one through heavy traffic, with Florian Xhekaj sitting in the sin bin for slashing Dennis Hildeby, who stepped in for Woll after Anderson’s goal. However, the Canadiens held them off in the dying minutes, and Anderson finally put paid on the Leafs’ hopes three minutes later with a calm shot from the centre ice into the centre of the empty Toronto net.

HW Habs Three Stars

First Star: Noah Dobson (2g, 0a, 3 shots, +1, 20:44 TOI) scored a double for the first time in his career, and he is clearly thriving in his role next to Matheson on the Habs’ blue line. The duo is playing outstanding hockey and managing to balance offence and defence.

Second Star: Jakub Dobes (26 shots, 24 saves, .923 save %, -0.65 GSAx) didn’t play a career game or steal one for the Habs, but what he did was play well enough to allow the offence to win the game, which is exactly what the Canadiens need right now. He was solid in the second and third periods when the Leafs pressed hard, giving up just two goals through heavy traffic. It was exactly the kind of confidence-builder the young goalie needs right now.

Third Star: Ivan Demidov (0g, 2a, 1 shot, +1, 14:39 TOI) made great passing plays as he is wont to do, setting up two of the Montreal goals, and making a great breakaway attempt during the second-period power play sequence. One does wish for him to shoot more often, though!