Canadiens: Immaturity Wasn’t The Big Issue Tonight

After all the drama created by Mike Matheson’s exit from Thursday’s game and Juraj Slafkovsky’s from Friday’s practice, all eyes were on the warmup to see who would be in the Montreal Canadiens’ lineup tonight.

In the end, all Matheson needed was a day of treatment, and Slafkovsky was just fine to go, meaning only Kaiden Guhle was unable to dress. As a result, Martin St-Louis inserted the recently recalled Logan Mailloux to fill in on the right side of defense but also scratched Arber Xhekaj to allow Jayden Struble to make his season debut. The writing was on the wall for the Sheriff, as you didn’t even need to read between the lines of the coach’s presser to know his spot was in jeopardy.

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The new additions led to Matheson forming the first pairing with Justin Barron, Lane Hutson lining up with Logan Mailloux, and Struble lining up with David Savard.

First Frame

In net, Cayden Primeau was finally in for a second game, and it didn’t exactly start well for him, as he surrendered two goals on five shots. It looked like the Habs were going to go back to the locker room down by two to lick their wounds, but when Maxim Tsyplakov was assessed a two-minute minor for high sticking with nine seconds to go to the frame, Cole “in the nick of time” Caufield said “hold my Gatorade”.

Related: Canadiens: What to Expect From Cole Caufield

With Suzuki cleanly winning the draw, Matheson sent the puck to the winger. While his one-timer was blocked, he unleashed another shot when the puck came back to him to beat Semyon Varlamov up high. This was Caufield’s fifth goal of the season and his fourth in the opening frame. Someone is ready when the puck drops.

The Hutson and Mailloux duo looked pretty good playing together, aside from one sequence resulting from a turnover, but seeing them together does feel like a glimpse into the future. Hutson was also found guilty of hooking after he was overtaken by an Isles player in the slot, which led to the New York outfit’s first goal, but desperate times call for desperate means.

Second Frame

Less than a minute into the middle period, Logan Mailloux joined the attack to score his first career goal and tie the score. Unlike at training camp, the right-shot defender didn’t hesitate to get in on the action, which paid off. At camp, at times, it looked like he played it safe and focused on defense, afraid of making a mistake.

With the score tied at 2-2, the Islanders tried to battle black and established a trench at the Canadiens’ blueline. For over three minutes, two-thirds of the fourth line, Christian Dvorak and Oliver Kapanen, along with Josh Anderson, were stuck in their own zone, along with the Hutson Mailloux tandem, but somehow, the Canadiens came out of it unscathed.

Kirby Dach got himself a couple of good looks over the first 40 minutes but couldn’t bury them. The fact that he is at least getting an opportunity is a good sign, but getting close doesn’t give you anything. This is hockey; it’s not curling.

Like Xhekaj, Struble wasn’t seeing that much action, and you can see who he replaces in the lineup. Savard was also seeing less ice time than he did last season. It’s almost as if St-Louis feels comfortable taking the training wheels off Hutson and Mailloux.

Primeau stopped all the shots received in the second twenty, which must have done wonders for his confidence, even though he didn’t need to make any insane save.

Third Frame

What should have been the final frame has got Primeau’s name written all over it? The Canadiens were under siege and could barely get out of their zone. Until the Islanders took the lead 3-2 on an Anders Lee goal…then Caufield decided the Canadiens wouldn’t lose like that. It took him five seconds to tie up the game at 3-3 with just over two minutes to go. Last year, the snipper needed 21 games to score six goals; he’s definitely ahead of schedule. He just seems to play without overthinking anything; he does his thing and delivers.

After New York took 14 shots in the third, while Montreal had three, Primeau managed to steal a point. Whatever happened in the first didn’t matter by then; the Habs had caught up, and the backup gave them a chance to win.

Overtime

The Canadiens looked dead in the water when Kirby Dach took his second penalty, but it wasn’t to be. Somehow, they managed to kill the two minutes. They were saves not only by Primeau but also by his posts. When a puck hits the post, though, it means the shooter ran out of space, not necessarily that the goalie was beaten—just ask Gordon Bombay. It wasn’t always pretty tonight, but Primeau did his job.

Related: Canadiens: What to Expect From Cayden Primeau

Shootout

If St-Louis threw caution to the wind tonight with his defensive pairings, he did the same in the duels. After Suzuki and Caufield were both frustrated by Varlamov, the coach sent a first rookie in Hutson, but he couldn’t beat the veteran netminder.

Then, with the pressure on, after Kyle Palmieri and Simon Holmstrom found twine, the coach sent out Emil Heineman and Kapanen, who both scored. Then the goalies stopped everyone in the next three rounds (Alex Newhook, Matheson and Slafkovsky for the Canadiens), before Noah Dobson beat Primeau for what would be the game-winner after Varlamov stood tall in front of Mailloux.

Nine rounds of shootout, and Dach didn’t get a turn. Sure, he has struggled to make an impact this season, but would that have been a confidence builder? Maybe, but perhaps St-Louis elected to go with meritocracy tonight.

After all, it’s not like he had a good game and just couldn’t score. He played less than 14 minutes and somehow managed to spend four minutes in the penalty box, including two of the five minutes of overtime. Has he got the talent to score in the shootout? He certainly does. Did he deserve to be there instead of Kapanen, Heineman, Slafkovsky, Matheson, Hutson, or Mailloux? No, he didn’t.

Related: Canadiens: Dach’s Slow Start Is No Big Deal

The coach did say there would be more accountability this season, and as St-Louis said himself after the game, “The youngsters scored, so let’s go!” The Canadiens will now be heading back to Montreal and getting ready to welcome the New York Rangers at the Bell Centre on Tuesday night.

It’s going to be interesting to see if he decides to mix things up with his attack for the next tilt. After all, the second line is struggling mightily, and it may be time to give someone else a turn.

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