There has been a lot of panic in Montreal so far this season, yet the Canadiens had the opportunity Sunday night to move to .500 on the season.
The Philadelphia Canadiens rose to 4-4-1 on the year with a 4-3 win over the Flyers.
Wild horses
The dominance of Nick Suzuki’s line with Cole Caufield and Kirby Dutch will be an interesting trend to examine as the sample size increases. When Juraj Slafkovsky was on the line, the trio was falling apart. With Dach against the Flyers on the wing, the line had 83 expected goals after two to take control of the game. It was a dominant performance at the right time, although they held out in the third period.
This is the first time this season that any Canadiens line has been able to put together a strong number to pick up the win. It was a tough start for Montreal 5 on 5. In the first half, Dutch scored a short, sharp pass for Suzuki to score the goal.
Lots of a rough start to the year for Suzuki that has everyone worried. Suzuki has 11 points in nine games this season. One of these years, he’ll reach that elusive points-per-game level.
In the second period, Cole Caufield continued his scoring ways. He scored eight goals in nine matches for Caufield. It was another goal scored by the top scorer. One of those shots that feel like they won’t make their way through anyone else’s goalie equipment.
Lane Hutson is back to his more impressive ways in this one after showing more reserve on Saturday night against St. Louis. Lewis Hotson is very good at creating space for himself, then looking to his teammates for excellent chances.
However, imagine if he could make his shot a little heavier, what that would mean for defenders trying to neutralize him. Hutson watched as the defender raced to get a pass, then unleashed a powerful shot. It would create a whole new level of domination.
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Another big plot point was Kayden Primeau’s goaltending. He has struggled so far this season. He went into the Philadelphia contest with a save percentage of .880. That’s not high enough for the NHL. He needed to bounce back with an NHL-worthy game.
Primo has definitely found his form. Midway through the second period, the Flyers had a huge opportunity. Ryan Bohling fired the ball into the top corner. Primo has been coming down on these shots while the shot was going up, but this time he stayed high and strong. He pulled the glove out for the big save.
Primo gave up two late goals, and the young team showed that young teams don’t know how to make things boring well, but overall, Primo and the Canadiens did what they had to do. It’s in column W. That’s the point.
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Call of the Wilde: The Canadiens are rebuilding with a long road ahead of them after a 7-2 loss to the Rangers
Wild Goat
It was Montreal’s first dominant performance of the season despite falling behind. It shows what some training time can bring. After the defeat against the New York Rangers, Canadian coach Martin St. Louis said he would watch the film and find solutions.
They became tighter after three days of training. Sometimes, there are times when they play too many games, or only have time to switch between games, where bad habits can start. This is especially true for a young team who are taught a lot to develop their games.
St. Louis is credited with preparing players to correct mistakes and play better hockey. There is nothing discernible about this. All the best from Canadians. They won two matches. They are 0.500 per year. By the way, that’s good for third place and a playoff spot at this very early stage.
Wild cards
While the Canadiens are facing some growing pains with young players trying to make the jump to difficult heights at the NHL level, the AHL club is on fire to start the season. The Laval Rocket won five games and lost just one to start the season. Place Bell is absolutely filled with an atmosphere that is the envy of the league.
The club is spreading around the scoring so far this year. Alex Barré-Boulet is the team’s captain, but is far from the top of the league even with eight points in four games.
Signing Barré-Boulet was a smart move by general manager Kent Hughes. In fact, giving him a one-way contract was smarter because it meant that when Hughes tried to move the Quebec native to the minors, he knew no one would snatch him up from the waiver wire who would have to pay him NHL money to play AHL games.
Barré-Boulet has been quite a sure thing at the AHL level with strong scoring seasons for many years. The support staff also performed well with Joshua Roy picking up six points in six games to finish second in the team. He didn’t complain about not joining the big club, but he worked hard and played well to come back.
Perhaps the biggest reason for the success is the head coaching of Pascal Vincent. He has the young club playing an organized game. They give up very few opportunities. Vincent is solid on the defensive side of the ball, and given time, it’s easy to see the front office giving him a chance to work with defensemen at the NHL level.
Montreal-based sportswriter Brian Wilde brings you the Call of the Wilde on globalnews.ca after every Canadiens game.
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