The Montreal Canadiens caught a break facing the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday night without Connor Bedard. Bedard was having a breakout season, but suffered a shoulder injury that will keep him out until at least the start of the new year.
The Canadiens need help like that at the Bell Centre, where they are vastly inferior to their road record at under .500 on the season heading in to the contest.
Montreal put on a show, dominating Chicago 4-1.
Wilde Horses
Early in the first period, it felt like the Zachary Bolduc experiment as the first-line winger to complement Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield was nearing its conclusion. They have had poor underlying numbers, and the obvious ones were suspect as well.
Two periods later, the line was the catalyst for the victory. Bolduc had seven goals on the season with every single one scored on the road. He hadn’t heard the roar of the Bell Centre crowd, then suddenly he heard it twice.
The difference was where he was standing. On the first tally, it was an excellent shot from the slot. The second he was also in a scorer’s position for a deflection. The line will stay together. That makes the point for a head coach that chemistry needs to be developed.
Martin St. Louis wants to stick with that line because he is watching Juraj Slafkovsky be dominant on the second line, feeling more and more comfortable to carry the puck and be physical. He also has strong chemistry with Ivan Demidov who also sparkled in this one.
While Bolduc’s two goals stood out, they paled in comparison to the absolute dominance of Lane Hutson again. He is near the top of the league in time with the puck. Never has a small player created so much space for himself. Hutson has a motor that simply does not stop.
He’s now getting time shorthanded, and he is excelling at that as well always making the strong decision when to be aggressive so the opposition can’t get established in the Canadiens zone.
He’s a marvel. It was a three-assist night for Hutson.
He moved to 62 assists in the calendar year. It’s the highest total in a calendar year in the long history of the Canadiens. He easily eclipsed J. C. Tremblay’s mark of 57 assists in 1971. The Canadiens have five more games left before 2026 begins. He’s an absolute marvel to behold.
The final shots on goal were 35-15. It was a complete game. The coaching staff will be most pleased about the 15 shots allowed. It’s the 15 that wins big games. It’s the 35 that wins fun games.
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It’s three games in a row that they have played tight hockey allowing few odd man rushes. That’s the blueprint. Credit to Jakub Dobes for doing a solid job keeping his concentration considering there were large swaths of the game that he didn’t see a shot.
Wilde Goats
Any assessment on a player’s ceiling in the NHL has to meet certain criteria. It’s either an age of around 25, or 250 games played. When either of those two standards are met, the maximum level that a player is going to reach in his career is fairly close to known.
General managers have learned that if they give up on a player too soon, they can get burnt. At a certain point, though, they do have to make a final assessment. If they’re extremely wise, they realize their player has plateaued before the rest of the league has realized it.
The Canadiens are close to decision time on a couple of rearguards that are likely close to their NHL ceiling. For Jayden Struble and Arber Xhekaj, it is unlikely that they will rise to second pair status at this point. Both are 24 years of age. Xhekaj is around 200 career games. Struble at 150.
Thursday night was a difficult night for Struble. The other night it was difficult for Xhekaj. Long term, it is more likely that Xjekaj sticks because of the other elements to his game that the Canadiens lack. His ability to fight is needed.
David Reinbacher is arriving soon from Laval. He is playing outstanding hockey with 25 minutes per night. Adam Engstrom is only in his seventh game, and often looks better in terms of decision making and handling the puck than the others. Engstrom may leap on the depth chart and find himself as the first reserve when the team is healthy.
Noah Dobson, Mike Matheson, Lane Hutson, Kaiden Guhle, David Reinbacher, and Alexandre Carrier might be the six that stick. Adam Engstrom could be the first alternate with Xhekaj playing in the games against bigger teams.
Watching the Dobson-Struble pair against the Blackhawks, it was difficult to not get the sense that if Engstrom looks like this in his seventh game, there’s a changing of the guard coming to the Canadiens blue line.
Wilde Cards
Though the final rosters have not yet been set, it is likely that there will be four Canadiens prospects at the upcoming World Junior Championships.
The most excitement will surround Michael Hage as he finally gets a serious look from Canada after constantly being passed over. Hage on Tuesday played on the first line at centre with Gavin McKenna and Brady Martin on the wings. If that line holds, Hage is going to get a lot of ice time. Hage is second in U.S. college scoring with 28 points in 20 games.
There is a good chance, though, that Hage will not play with those wingers in the event starting on Boxing Day as Michael Misa has been released by the San Jose Sharks to play in the World Juniors. It is highly likely that Hage drops down to the second line on Misa’s arrival.
On the American team, L. J. Mooney is a small but exciting forward. Mooney will have a difficult time with his size at five feet, seven inches tall to make it to the NHL, but a world junior tournament should be a place that he can shine. He has two years of eligibility left at the junior level for this tournament.
Mooney has already excelled at the u18 for the United States, with 15 points in 19 games at the University of Minnesota. He’s a fantastic player to watch with many exciting moves in his arsenal. He’s hoping he has a career path like Cole Caufield — small but a skill set that can’t be denied.
The third Canadiens player likely to be at the WJC is Aatos Koivu of Finland. Koivu is another one of those players that Nick Bobrov targets because the improvements in his game are significant. Bobrov loves a player who has not plateaued in improvement. Koivu had six goals in five games at the Summer Showcase. He has struggled to score and get ice time at Turku this season.
The final prospect is Carlos Handel of Germany. He’s a sixth rounder playing in Halifax. The likelihood that he makes the NHL is low, but he is another player to enjoy watching in the always exciting event. Best on best is an important way to evaluate junior players. It’s why this event is so popular and draws every important scout in the NHL.
Brian Wilde, a Montreal-based sports writer, brings you Call of the Wilde on globalnews.ca after each Canadiens game.
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