After 15 days on the road, the Montreal Canadiens are finally finished their Christmas travels. It was a successful trip with the Canadiens capturing ten out of a possible 14 points. It was the most difficult part of the 82-game schedule, and Montreal survived.
In the final game Sunday in Dallas, the Canadiens were exhausted against a well-rested club, yet they managed to turn in one of their best games this decade. Montreal beat the Stars 4-3 in overtime.
Wilde Horses
The last time the two teams met – in November in Montreal – the Stars won 7-0, so the only direction to go was up. The Canadiens had an eye on playing a much tighter game, and they did. The first goal was key and the Canadiens got it from Brendan Gallagher. Philip Danault earned his first point for the Canadiens on the tally for the 400th point of his career.
In the second period, Gallagher and Danault continued to find each other well. They were two-thirds of one of the best lines in hockey with Tomas Tatar before Danault left for Los Angeles. They seem to be finding that old chemistry with Zachary Bolduc.
What the Canadiens hoped from Danault when they acquired him in December is working well so far, doing what he is supposed to do defensively. He is making a massive difference in the face-off circle. Danault has at least a 58 percentage in the face-off circle in five of the six games he’s played so far.
Up by one, there’s nothing better than a player who wins the face-off, then plays great defence from the centre position. Danault was 67 per cent in the face-off circle against the Stars Sunday.
Credit to Martin St. Louis for valuing a won draw as he used Danault on a key face-off in overtime. Danault got the job done. He won the massive draw, and fed Lane Hutson. Hutson then won space to score his seventh of the season on a 15-foot wrist shot.
The first line cooled off on the road trip, but the second line has come of age. Juraj Slafkovsky is developing powerfully and his presence on the ice is undeniable. On the 2-2 goal, Slafkovsky did a spinarama to feed Ivan Demidov to win the blue line.
Demidov weaved his own magic after that with a feint that left the defender backing off respectfully. Demidov fed a wide open Oliver Kapanen who continues to understand how to get open when his line-mates are weaving through the offensive zone. Kapanen one-timed his 13th goal of the season to tie the rookie lead with Beckett Sennecke.
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Slafkovsky was the best forward on the seven game road trip. He took a Nick Suzuki pass for his 15th goal of the season. He one-timed it easily into the corner. Slafkovsky had 11 points to lead all Canadiens scorers, while Demidov and Hutson had 10 points on the road trip.
Wilde Goats
Excellent goaltending is needed to beat the Stars. No mistakes can be made, but in the first period, Sam Montembeault made a huge blunder. There’s no other way to describe it except that it was bad technical goaltending.
It was a wraparound from Mavrik Bourque. Montembeault slid across in time, but he didn’t keep his legs closed to take away the low half of the net. There is no chance that this wraparound can be a high shot, so any goalie knows to take away the low shot. Montembeault had his legs wide open on the shot. It was poor fundamental goaltending.
After that one banana, Montembeault recovered well to give the Canadiens a chance. Montembeault is a goat, but only on that one technical moment. He was stellar after that saving many quality shots.
The Stars were rested. The Canadiens were exhausted going back-to-back finishing 15 days on the road. It was a terrific effort from Montreal against a tremendous hockey club. The Canadiens are legitimate.
Wilde Cards
The record of Nick Bobrov as head scout for the Canadiens is nearly perfect.
With a star found at 62 overall in Lane Hutson, and expected stars at 21 in Michael Hage and the 34th pick in Alexander Zharovsky, Bobrov has overachieved tremendously.
Some might find a pick like Filip Mesar to be a miss, but a late first-round pick has a hit rate of only 50-50 to even be an NHL regular, so if Mesar becomes a rare miss there for Bobrov, that’s drafting – there are always expected misses outside of the top ten.
A knowledgeable assessment of drafting confirms that Bobrov has been extraordinary since taking over under the Kent Hughes and Jeff Gorton regime. However, he may, one day, have regrets with a certain five pick overall.
A drafting miss is defined as a player chosen in a number slot where success is almost always found. Top-five picks land as NHL regulars 85 per cent of the time. If a club chooses a player in the top-five who does not pan out, that’s a harmful organizational miss.
It is not out of the realm of possibility that David Reinbacher will not be a top-four NHL regular when he completes his development. Reinbacher is still young at 21 and he gets the benefit of the doubt for a couple more years, but he must start taking control in the AHL soon.
Reinbacher has played 25 games this season at right defence for the Laval Rocket. He has three goals and 12 points. He doesn’t control the contest as he should, and sometimes he gets beaten one-on-one rather significantly by players of minor league talent.
If everyone were as confident as his head coach, then it would all be carefree about his arrested development. Laval’s Pascal Vincent is ebullient every time he’s asked about Reinbacher. Vincent says, “I 100 per cent think that Reinbacher will have a beautiful and long career.” Vincent says Reinbacher has a great brain for the game and knows how to read the play at a high level.
It’s not as if other defenders from the same draft class are shining in the NHL either. Utah tried Dmitry Simashev, the sixth pick overall, for nearly a dozen games before sending him back down to the AHL because he wasn’t ready.
The Red Wings are pigheadedly continuing to use Axel Sandin-Pellika at the NHL level even though he is clearly not ready at minus 19 this season. They believe his best path is trial by fire, and, indeed, he is getting lit up.
The Canucks have 20-year-old Tom Willander on their blue line and he is doing a fine job so far as the best defender of the 2023 class.
Overall, the comparisons are made to reinforce that the seasons of tutelage are many for defenders and expectations are too high, too fast.
While it would be great to see Reinbacher ahead of pace for the NHL, the fact is he’s a bit behind. It is time now in the second half of the AHL season for Reinbacher to find another gear.
Brian Wilde, a Montreal-based sports writer, brings you Call of the Wilde on globalnews.ca after each Canadiens game.
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