Habs Depth Paying Dividends Already | Montreal Canadiens, Habs, Josh Anderson, Tyler Toffoli, Jake Allen, Corey Perry

ROCKET SPORTS MEDIA — Have you noticed? The current edition of the Montreal Canadiens is a team with depth. Even the players are talking about it.

“We know we don’t have the high end talent that other teams have with (Auston) Matthews, (Ellias) Pettersson, (Connor) McDavid and (Leon) Draisaitl, but we’re very solid as a team. We have four lines that can play against anyone every shift. That’s a huge advantage for us. Not every team has that kind of depth… We really like our team and we have to keep working to build chemistry,” said Paul Byron.

It’s an age old argument. What amount of high end talent do teams need to have to win a championship? How much does team commitment and belief in hard work every shift override the need to fill a roster with huge star power?

This year’s team has some huge markers of being able to succeed. The Canadiens have an elite star in Carey Price. They have four lines rolling offensively. They have six big defenders that stand up and make it difficult for other teams to play against.

Most importantly they seem to have the belief that they can achieve through hard work as a team.

Price was extremely sharp in the second game of the season against Edmonton and in the last game of the road trip in Vancouver. In both contests, Price was named the game’s first star. But it was important that the Canadiens didn’t rely solely on their goaltending every night as other players stepped up to chip in.

And this season, Montreal has more than one line to score goals.

Depth Through the Games

Game One: TOR 5  MTL 4 (OT)

Right out of the gate, Nick Suzuki and Josh Anderson showed that they were beginning a budding chemistry with a three goals combined versus the Toronto Maple Leafs. Despite the overtime loss, it was a huge relief watching the Canadiens put up a four goal effort without an even strength goal from last season’s top line for the Habs: Tomas Tatar, Phillip Danault and Brendan Gallagher. However, Tatar did pick up a power-play goal on this night.

Game Two: MTL 5  EDM 1

In game two of the season versus the Edmonton Oilers, Tatar and Jeff Petry stepped up adding two goals each in what was a 5-1 victory. Jake Evans added a short-handed goal to round out the night’s scoring for the Habs

Game Three: MTL 3  EDM 1

With a 3-1 win versus Edmonton, goal scoring wasn’t the only highlight.

Jake Allen stepped in for his first taste of action in the Bleu-Blanc-Rouge. Allen faced 26 shots and was only minutes away from pitching a shutout before letting in his only goal against on the power-play after a giveaway in the neutral zone by Jonathan Drouin.

Offensively, Alexander Romanov scored in the first period picking up his first NHL goal. In the second period, Shea Weber picked up his first goal of the season with a beauty off the mask of Mikko Koskinen for a power-play goal. Keeping the theme of picking up their first goals of the season, Artturi Lekhonen added his first in the third period short-handed.

The offence consisted of three goals in three ways and all added by a scorer picking up their first goal of the season. To me, it speaks to new depth for the Canadiens.

The View After Three

Three games into the season and the Canadiens showed multiple lines were connecting for offence, five-on-five, defensemen were able to step up and contribute because of a new found depth defensively, and the power-play had shown a spark.

The penalty-kill is an area that has not shown improvement early on. Discipline has been an issue and the Habs have found themselves short-handed far too often this season. The one positive is that Claude Julien has more players at his disposal who are capable of killing penalties.

Next up: three games in four nights. With three games already in the bag, Montreal lined up for three games in Vancouver versus the Canucks.

Game Four: VAN 6  MTL 5 (SO)

The first of the three games in Vancouver ended with a thrilling 6-5 loss in the shootout. It was a result that almost overshadowed a brilliant performance by the third line.

Tyler Toffoli led the way against his former club as he registered his fourth career hat trick. Jesperi Kotkaniemi also scored a goal for this line.

Gallagher added a goal, his first of the season.

Game Five: MTL 7  VAN 3

The second game in as many nights once again saw depth emerge in a way that hasn’t been seen in Montreal for quite some time. Toffoli continued his brilliant performance against his former squad registering another multi-goal effort with two markers on the night.

Anderson and Evans each added another goal, and Ben Chiarot, the last on the team to register a point, added a power-play goal of his own.

In his own right, Joel Armia had a monster game, scoring two goals, one short-handed and one at even strength. His performance was notably cut short by a dangerous hit from Tyler Myers at the end of a third period.

Armia was diagnosed with a concussion, and is expected to miss more time. The Habs were now faced with a chance to test the depth of their roster.

Game Six: MTL 5  VAN 2

With offense coming from all four lines and defence adding to the fun, it was Corey Perry’s turn to show the depth of the taxi squad this season.

Perry jumped in and immediately made an impact. He registered a goal in the second period and, perhaps more importantly, his presence was felt in how he controlled the puck and forced turnovers.

In addition to Perry, the Canadiens received goals from Suzuki, Gallagher, Drouin and Edmundson.

Will the Success Continue?

Only six games in, it’s still too early to tell for sure if this offensive output can sustain itself, but as a fan, I’m eager to stay excited for this season.

My colleague Mike Raschle is right “The Habs Are Better Without Pierre-Luc Dubois” with this new found depth. Check out his article for more information on the depth and drafting done by the Canadiens.

What keeps me most excited as a fan this season is the attitude and commitment this roster has to each other this season.

If you’re looking for more reasons to get excited check out “Habs Three Stars of the Week” by Joseph Whalen, and as always, check out this week’s episode of the Canadiens Connection podcast hosted by Joseph with Rick Stephens.

As we await the Habs next action versus the Calgary Flames, head to AHL Report where Amy Johnson will fill you in on the Laval Rocket training camp.

By Carly Prawdzik, Staff Writer
All Habs Hockey Magazine
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