Habs News: Montreal Canadiens, Habs, Week In Review, 2020-21 Montreal Canadiens Season Predictions, Offensive Leaders, MVP, Outstanding Rookie, Disappointment, Playoffs

ROCKET SPORTS MEDIA | LAVAL, QC. — The Canadiens began their six-game road trip with a pair of matches against the Canucks. On Monday night, Adam Gaudette tied the game with 41 seconds remaining in regulation, and Vancouver got the advantage in the shootout to win 2-1.

“They scored on a perfect shot. It was the only way they could beat us. I think we deserved a better result. But, if we keep playing this way, we’ll give ourselves a chance to win every night,” Philip Danault said.

On Wednesday, Montreal rewarded fans that stayed up to watch a 11:00 pm Eastern start time with a dominating 5-1 victory against Vancouver. It was the first time since 1992-93, that any team has had six outings with at least five goals against one opponent in a single season.

“I said that we wanted to be more dynamic. I think we were at times in previous games, but we wanted to be more consistent. That’s what we did tonight,” Dominique Ducharme said.

Disappointment In Alberta

The Habs headed to Alberta to face the Flames for a pair of games. On Thursday, Calgary came on top with 2-1 win, allowing Darryl Sutter to get his first win in his second stint as coach with the Flames.

“It wasn’t our best game. They started strong and we didn’t. We had a good third period, but we didn’t have our legs and we lacked conviction. We can’t just put the blame on fatigue, but it definitely played a role, we just didn’t play our best game tonight,” Jonathan Drouin said.

On Saturday, the Canadiens weren’t able to bounce back after allowing the Flames to take a 3 goal lead. Jeff Petry scored the only goal for the visiting team.

“There’s no reason to have a start like that. I felt that our guys were ready, but we weren’t moving when we hit the ice. When you aren’t moving your feet, you can’t execute and you can’t be in the right spots. You also can’t take away time and space from the other team. We weren’t moving our legs. It was better in the second half of the game, but we’re capable of doing a lot better,” Ducharme said.

The Canadiens conclude their six-game road trip with a pair of games against the Jets on Monday and Wednesday, before returning home to face the Canucks on Friday and Saturday.

As the Canadiens hit the mid-point of their season, it’s time to take a look at the team predictions that I made at the start of the year, and review if they’re on track.

Leading Goal Scorer

My selection in this category was Brendan Gallagher. He’s currently tied with Josh Anderson for third on the team with 10 goals scored. Tyler Toffoli leads with 15 goals, and Jeff Petry is second with 11. I must give a mea culpa as I hadn’t considered in January, the number of times that the Canadiens would face the Canucks in 2020-21.

Gallagher has been scoring at the same pace that he has since the 2017-18 season. His 10 goals through 27 games prorates to 30 in a 82-game season.

Ducharme split Gallagher from Tomas Tatar, and Philip Danault last week. That trio wasn’t able to reproduce the offensive success that they’ve had in previous seasons.

“Maybe we haven’t been as consistent as we had in the past. There’s been nights where we’ve been playing fine and pucks don’t go in,” Gallagher spoke about the line’s production.

The coach moved Gallagher on a line with Toffoli and Jesperi Kotkaniemi. “I know what types of players those two guys are. I think everyone’s learned quickly how dangerous [Toffoli] is. And with [Kotkaniemi], I think everyone’s been pretty impressed with how he’s grown as a player all over the ice,” Gallagher said on his new linemates.

“For me, my job is simple. Work hard, make their lives easier, try and put the puck on their stick, get to the net, and hopefully, as a line, we should be able to have some success.”

Offensive Leader

I was anticipating that Nick Suzuki would continue where he left off from the post season, where he collected seven points in 10 games. Suzuki had a tremendous start to the season collecting 12 points in 12 games. Since then, he has five points in 15 games.

For the most part, Suzuki has played on a line with Jonathan Drouin and Josh Anderson, and currently leads the club with ice time on the power play.

“I want to be a good player in this league. It’s going to take going up against tough matchups, other teams top lines, other teams top defensive pairs,” Suzuki said on Saturday. “I had a good start to the season, and I got to find that confidence back.”

Jeff Petry currently leads the team with 25 points in 27 games. His 11 goals in 27 games prorates to 33 goals in a full season. I don’t think anyone saw that coming.

Outstanding Rookie

I have a 50-percent chance of getting this category right, and I don’t think there’s any debate that Alexander Romanov has been the team’s outstanding rookie. Jake Evans is the runner-up.

Romanov has had ups and downs since the start of the year. It’s expected for any rookie, especially for someone that also needs to adapt to the North American rink. He has shown his mobility and his physical presence consistently since his debut.

Romanov played most of the season on the third pairing with Brett Kulak or Victor Mete. Following Ben Chiarot‘s injury on Wednesday night, Romanov was tasked to play with Shea Weber on the top pairing. That assignment means that the rookie will obtain more ice time and face the opposition’s top forwards.

“I want to improve everything in my game because I’m never happy with how I’m playing. Every single moment, every single game, I want to upgrade everything I have a little bit,” Romanov said when asked about what he’d like to improve.

“There isn’t just one particular aspect of his game [that needs improvement]. It might sound cliché, but he’s just starting out in the NHL. He has things to learn. He’ll get more and more experience, both offensively and defensively. You can’t buy experience. He’s heading in the right direction. He just has to keep on playing the way he’s been playing,” the coach said.

Most Likely to Disappoint

In January, I had projected that Joel Edmundson was the most likely to disappoint in 2020-21. So far, he’s been proving me wrong. I’m glad that Edmundson used my prediction as motivation to perform.

Edmundson has been paired up with Petry for the entire season. He’s been solid defensively in his own zone, and currently leads the National Hockey League with plus-25.

“When you’re that far ahead, it’s obviously a good sign,” Ducharme said. “To see a guy being in the pluses like he is, and being first in the league, it shows that he’s playing some pretty solid hockey.”

Will they make the playoffs?

With the acquisitions that Marc Bergevin made in the offseason, the expectations for the team were high. Clinching a playoff spot isn’t sufficient.

“We have high expectations internally, we won’t hide that, we have to perform,” Bergevin said prior to start of season.

The expectations were being met through the 10 games, as Montreal had won seven, and collected 16 of 20 possible points in the standings. They were first in the Scotia North Division.

Then, the results weren’t in the Canadiens favour. They won two of their next eight games, and dipped to fourth place in the division, eight points behind first place. It cost Claude Julien, Kirk Muller, and Stephane Waite their jobs.

Since Ducharme took over, the team has won three of nine games, adding nine points to their record. They’re currently fourth place in the division, with only a two-point lead on fifth place.

I projected in January that the team will make the playoffs, and even win a series. I’m still confident that they can clinch play a spot, but I’m no longer convinced that they can get past the first round.

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By Chris G., Senior Writer
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