The 115th season of the Montreal Canadiens opened with high hopes at the Bell Centre on Wednesday night. It was the best matchup possible as two old rivals — the Canadiens and the Toronto Maple Leafs — met to begin this transition season for Montreal.
This is the year that the Canadiens need to rise up in the standings to show that the rebuild is on course. Test one saw a trend change: After 27 one-goal losses last season, the Habs took a one-goal win to start year in a 1-0 decision.
Wilde Horses
There’s many reasons for fans to be optimistic after game one. The Maple Leafs are expected to contend for the Atlantic Division title, yet the Canadiens did not look inferior at all. In the first period, the Canadiens went stride-for-stride with Toronto.
The scenario looks even better when looking at Montreal with an eye to the future. The players who the Canadiens want to excel when the rebuild is finished were excellent. The good vibes started with Kirby Dach who did not look rusty at all, despite not playing a competitive game in 365 days. Dach was flying. It’s hard to believe how confidently he played considering he had reconstructive knee surgery on his ACL.
On the blue line, it was the same scenario of optimism. If the Canadiens are to be a force in the future, Lane Hutson has to be everything that we have seen so far. Hutson was dangling all night. He was making outstanding plays leaving the Leafs defenders second guessing. He also had no difficulty as a defender handling the Leafs’ best forwards.
Also strong on the blue line was Kaiden Guhle, who the organization needs to become a true first-pair defender. For a player who is just recovering from an appendectomy and saw only minimal time in the pre-season, that was a tour de force by Guhle. He rode the second-most ice time on the club behind only Matheson He had the toughest matchups all night against the Leafs’ best. Despite those obvious challenges, Guhle was stellar.
For Montreal to shine in the future, they also needed their top line to show its skills and be competitive against difficult matchups like the Leafs presented. Nick Suzuki, Juraj Slafkovsky and Cole Caufield need to compete well. The analytics were unkind, but the line did score.
It was Slafkovsky with the beautiful cross-ice pass to Caufield. It was a power-play goal. After a 0-for-30 power play run of futility in the pre-season, they finally counted. Dach got the second assist.
Even some of the lesser lights shone brightly. Emil Heineman looked strong in his role. He was physical when he needed to be. He led rushes. He had chances to score with high-quality looks. Heineman was a surprising positive after winning a spot out of camp against the odds.
Samuel Montembeault was also strong, turning away 47 shots. There’s a cynicism over the Canadiens goaltending this year, but nothing in the numbers says that there should be. Montembeault thought he would be nervous for game one, but he looked just fine.
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The organization is looking for improvement from 76 points last season. With all of the players who weren’t there last year like Dach, Hutson and Heineman shining, and improvements from Guhle, Caufield and Slafkovsky, there is your logical hope.
Wilde Goats
In the entirety of the 2023-24 season, the Canadiens did not score one 5-on-3 power play goal. On night one, they had a chance to take control in the second period with a two-man advantage for 1:34. They mounted only one quality shot from Suzuki.
Not being negative at all to Mike Matheson, who had an outstanding season last year and has been strong on the power play, but the formula for this power play to break through has Lane Hutson on it.
It’s Hutson’s ability to weaken defending that will create a much better scenario for Montreal to finally not have one of the worst power play units year after year. While Matheson is a classic point man on the power play, taking big shots from the point and distributing to wingers, Hutson takes defenders on.
Hutson can break down the lanes that defenders need to stay in to do the job well. He can alter pathways on passes that break down defensive schemes. Hutson just doesn’t get the puck at the point and shoot or simply pass it off to the sidewalls. Hutson takes players on and then beats them.
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Hutson forces hard decisions. He can make a 5-on-3 turn into a 5-on-2 after he has left a defender in his wake.
Hierarchy being what it is, it will take a while before the change is made. Hutson will have to gain the confidence of the coaching staff, while the power play numbers will have to remain low for the first unit before the hierarchy is finally broken.
This is the way it has always been. However, eventually, we all know it is coming. This kid is the real deal, and to win games, they’re going to need him to be quarterbacking the man-advantage with the best forwards on the team finishing his exciting beginnings.
Wilde Cards
When Patrik Laine was acquired from the Blue Jackets, the excitement in Montreal jumped. It was difficult to find a Montreal fan who wasn’t hopeful that this was the deal that was going to make all the difference.
The biggest fear imaginable then struck as Laine suffered a serious left knee injury before the season even began. He is gone for about 10 weeks. Hearts sunk.
The Canadiens had one of the worst second lines in the league last year. This year, the success of the second line hinged on Laine’s return to greatness. He predicted for himself a 40-goal season, though bookies set his goal total at 27.
With Laine out, the second line again becomes the biggest question mark. A total of 70 goals is outstanding for a second line. With Kirby Dach, Alex Newhook, and Laine, the hope was they could each do between 20 and 25 to near that total to change the dynamic of the club.
Now, the pressure is on Dach to somehow return from major knee surgery while carrying the line with two players who have not proven to belong in that lofty role. Newhook has the potential, but has not proven it. Joel Armia has never been a second line player.
Success depends on Dach carrying the puck up ice, then creating offence. It’s a tall order, because he will naturally be somewhat tentative after blowing out his knee last season.
Watch for the totals of the second line this season. That’s your key. The first line is close to a sure thing with 53 goals in the second half of the season in 2023-24. They will perform.
The third and fourth lines are only asked to do 30 goals, so they should be able to attain that. Third lines and fourth lines only have to contribute a little, while holding off the opponent as well from scoring. That seems doable as well.
If Dach can get comfortable quickly and Laine returns in December with confidence, Montreal will find they are in the mix for a playoff spot if they can get 65-70 goals from that line. If it is only 35 goals again from the second line, the club will have another difficult season.
Watch what Kirby Dach brings. He is the lynchpin.
Brian Wilde, a Montreal-based sports writer, brings you Call of the Wilde on globalnews.ca after each Canadiens game.
