Welcome to the first edition of the Montreal Canadiens 3 Up, 3 Down for the 2022-23 season. This will be a weekly column released on Mondays chronicling the highs and lows of the previous seven days.
The Montreal Canadiens had a very rough preseason, going 0-6-2 and losing four games to the Ottawa Senators. They never put a whole NHL team on the ice and constantly changed line combinations. Going into the regular season, things looked bleak for the Habs, especially since they were facing Stanley Cup favourite, the Toronto Maple Leafs, in the first game of the season.
In that first game, however, the Canadiens fought back from being down by two goals twice and scored with less than 19 seconds left to pull away with a 4-3 victory. Hopes started high for the fans then quickly crashed as the Habs lost the next two games of the season, scoring only one goal between them.
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Here is a review of some of the good and bad from the week for the Canadiens and their fans.
Plus One: The Young Defence
The Canadiens had two significant injuries on their blue line to start the season: Joel Edmundson and Mike Matheson. This forced the team to start with four rookie defencemen: Arber Xhekaj, Kaiden Guhle, Jordan Harris, and newly acquired Johnathan Kovacevic. With only 14 career NHL games between Harris and Kovacevic, and Ghule and Xhekaj playing their first game ever against the Leafs, there was going to be a lot of inexperience hitting the ice in front of starting goalie Jake Allen.
Related: Johnathan Kovacevic: Get to Know the Canadiens’ Defenceman
That inexperience, however, seemed a myth as the young guns played a complete game against Toronto, not only holding their own but playing as though they belonged. Even in the next two games they lost, the young defensemen still played pretty good games with minimal mistakes. Ghule and Kovacevic are standing out more than the other two, but Xhekaj and Harris each have their first NHL point, and all four are going to make it hard for management to send any of them to Laval when Edmundson and Matheson return from their injuries.
Minus One: Injuries
The Canadiens had a rash of injuries last season – let me correct myself: they had a plague of injuries last season. They broke an NHL record with 730-man games lost last season, which was more than 100 over the previous record held by the 2003-04 Los Angeles Kings of 629. This season started no different, with two of their top defencemen Matheson, Edmundson, and forward Joel Armia beginning the season on the injury reserve (IR) as well as their star goalie Carey Price and forward Paul Byron starting the season on long-term injury reserve (LTIR).
These injuries forced the Canadiens to start the season with five rookies: forward Juraj Slafkovsky, and four defencemen, Guhle, Xhekaj, Harris and Kovacevic. Edmundson’s back injury isn’t as severe as last season, and he could return as early as next week; Matheson will be out eight weeks with an abdominal strain. Armia has an upper-body injury and will be back next week, while Byron is out until at least Christmas. On the other hand, Price is out for the season and may not return to playing hockey again.
Plus Two: Caufield & Suzuki
Two players many fans are excited to see this season are Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki. Both players improved their game last season under head coach Martin St-Louis and are expected to be better this season. Caufield benefited the most as he scored 22 goals in 37 games to finish second amongst rookies in goals with 23; both players played on the top line last season and started there this season alongside Josh Anderson. In game one against the Maple Leafs, the trio combined for five points, two goals from Caufield, two assists from Suzuki and the game-winner from Anderson.
Suzuki and Caufield combined again to score the only goal against Washington, giving them three points in three games. If you’re good at math, you can easily see that both players are on pace for 82 points; no Canadien player has scored more than 80 points since Alexi Kovalev in 2007-08 with 84. Caufield has two goals in three games, putting him on pace for 55; no Hab has scored 50 or more goals since 1987-88 when Stephane Richer scored 50.
I know what you’re thinking. It’s only three games and yes, you’re right, but if they can maintain this pace, they can do things that have not happened in Montreal in a very long time.
Minus Two: Scoring Woes & Power Play
After the Canadiens’ first game against the Leafs, they looked like they wouldn’t have any issues in the scoring department. The top line was clicking, and they looked like they could keep up with any team in the league. Then games two and three happened, and the high-powered offence from the first game was nowhere to be seen; the Habs had trouble in both games through the first two periods just generating chances, let alone scoring. They were shut out by the Detroit Red Wings in game two and scored only once in game three against the Washington Capitals.
Related: Canadiens Season Opener Gives Glimpse of Future
A huge reason the offence has been lacking is the poor power play (PP). The Canadiens have had issues with their PP for years now, and it doesn’t seem like it is getting much better. In three games this season, the Habs have yet to score a PP goal, going 0 for 10 to start the season. Even with high-scoring Caufield on the first unit, Montreal can’t seem to generate any offence with the man advantage and once they lose the zone, they have issues getting the puck back in and setting up. Changes need to be made with the execution of the PP or the team will suffer through many games with little to no offensive help with the man advantage.
Plus Three: Jake Allen
Jake Allen will be the Canadiens’ number-one goalie in the absence of Price, which is not a small task at all. Allen has some pretty big skates to fill, and the Canadiens will want him to do it for at least two more seasons, as they signed him to an extension before the season started. Allen was humble in his new position, saying he would never be Price but would do what he could to help this team grow and compete, and he was looking forward to the direction the team was going in.
So far, Allen has held the fort for the Canadiens and played very well, winning the season opener against the Leafs and holding the Canadiens in the game against Detroit, where he allowed only one goal while facing 38 shots – 25 of them in the first period. He is 1-1 with a goals-against average (GAA) of 2.03 and save percentage (SV%) of .943; if he can keep up these numbers, the team should do quite well if they can improve their scoring, but it’s a long season and a young defence so we won’t hold our breaths.
Minus Three: Slafkovsky’s Ice Time
The Canadiens chose Slafkovsky first overall in this summer’s draft, and at the time general manager (GM) Kent Hughes stated they were not picking the best 18-year-old but the best draft player for the future. Due to some injuries, Slafkovsky is on the Habs and playing wing on the third line. He isn’t getting any PP time or killing penalties, so the only ice time he gets is when they are playing five on five, which gives him some of the least playing time on the team. He averages only 10:57 of ice time per game, almost 40 seconds less than the next player Jake Evans, who plays on the fourth line.
The Canadiens always stated they want what’s best for their young players’ development; for a first-overall pick, it should be full minutes and time in situations you want him to be in when he is fully developed. Playing minimal minutes on the third line with no special teams isn’t doing Slafkovsky any favours; with only five games left before the Habs will need to decide to keep him or send him to Laval before his contract is not able to slide, Hughes will have to make a decision quickly on what is best for his future star player.
That does for the first edition of the Canadiens’ 3 Up, 3 Down. Hopefully, next week, we’ll discuss some wins in the “plus” section as the regular season chugs on. Until then, stay optimistic, Habs fans. It will be a long season, but rebuilds are how championship teams are made.