The Canadiens won their first game of the season against the Leafs in Toronto in front of a more-than-timid crowd, while Nick Suzuki, Ivan Demidov, Cole Caufield, Chris Kreider, Alex Newhook and Juraj Slafkovsky were the worst forwards and Lane Hutson and Noah Dobson were the worst defensemen in this game. That’s not good news for the other 31 teams in the NHL.
In my preview, I mentioned having doubts about the top line, and I have to admit I wasn’t wrong. I had concerns about the penalty kill, but the Leafs finished the game 0-for-3. Mike Matheson (4:30), Alexandre Carrier (3:21), Noah Dobson (2:39) and Arber Xhekaj (1:29) did a good job on the back end, while Jake Evans (2:57), Phillip Danault (2:48), Alex Newhook (2:31) and Josh Anderson (2:30) got the job done up front! People often say the penalty kill starts with the goaltender, and Jakub Dobes certainly didn’t disappoint — he was the key piece in this Habs win, in my humble opinion!
It wasn’t a pretty game, but there’s a lot of good to take from this Bleu-Blanc-Rouge win. Josh Anderson, who now wears the A on his jersey, played like this was Game 7 of the Stanley Cup. He was by far the Canadiens’ best forward in this one. That said, credit where credit is due: Kirby Dach played a strong game. On the goal that tied it back up, Dach went for a second and even a third effort to strip the puck from Darren Raddysh, which led to Josh Anderson’s goal. Anderson batted the puck out of mid-air after Carrier’s shot was partially blocked by Bobrovsky to tie the game. Dach finished the night with 11:07 of ice time, two hits, one assist and a +1. Not bad for a guy we all had as the 13th forward!
A lot of you don’t like Alexandre Carrier and have asked more than once to see him traded or even waived. I should point out I’m not part of that group. For Carrier’s critics, he played a hell of a game, finishing with 21:54 of ice time, 1 goal, 1 assist, 3 shots and 1 blocked shot. Carrier is in the last year of his contract, and if he performs like this all season, you can bet a little $2 he’ll get an extension — like it or not!
For those who thought the Sheriff would play under 10 minutes, he ended up with 12:20 total, including 1:29 on the penalty kill, and he wasn’t the least-used defenseman. Jayden Struble, who had a good game overall, finished with 11:02 — the lowest total of the 18 skaters in this game.
The Canadiens’ next game isn’t until Saturday, when they visit the Penguins in Pittsburgh. If the trend holds, we most likely see the same lineup next game, since Martin St-Louis rarely makes changes to a winning lineup.
That’s it from me. Have a good day, everyone!
Go Habs Go!