The Montreal Canadiens came painstakingly close to entering the Christmas break riding a four-game winning streak. Alas, a stunning winning goal by the Columbus Blue Jackets in the dying minutes of regulation on Monday (Dec. 23) spoiled the plan. Nevertheless, there was a lot to like about the performance despite leaving Nationwide Arena empty-handed.
Savard, Evans, Armia Shine
We made a similar point when extracting positives from Montreal’s weekend series versus the Detroit Red Wings, but the club’s less popular players are putting on a show these days.
The pleasant surprises began in the middle frame when Montreal stared at a 2-0 deficit. Lo and behold, defenceman David Savard – perpetually the subject of trade chatter – notched his first goal of the season. He displayed his IQ upon recognizing the benefit of driving to the net when Cole Caufield’s shot missed the target and bounced off the backboard. Savard deftly slotted the rubber past a helpless Jet Greaves.
Jake Evans, who tallied a trio of points over the weekend against the Red Wings, continued his impressive run. For that matter, his eighth goal of the campaign which levelled the terms 3-3 in the second period resembled his marker in Detroit. It was a breakaway produced in part by a fine neutral zone pass by Emil Heineman that set Evans on his way to light the goal lamp. Truth be told, the Torontonian has looked very good in recent games. Whatever the future holds for him, he’s reminding everyone of what he’s capable of.
Don’t look now, but Joel Armia’s 2024-25 resume is starting to look impressive. His sixth marker of the season came moments into the final frame when he batted in a pass from Evans (a spin-o-rama pass, no less) that went into the slot. That provided Montreal with a 4-3 advantage they would eventually relinquish but overall the performances from these players were mighty fine. In fact, looking at the stat lines from the match, the players who ended the evening with negative ratings were stars like Caufield and Nick Suzuki!
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This is extremely encouraging as head coach Martin St. Louis can now breathe a little easier knowing that he doesn’t have to rely on the same two or three players all the time. This is especially reassuring in light of Patrik Laine’s upper-body injury which took him out of the game in the first period.
Kirby Dach and Murphy’s Law
Kirby Dach, how many times does the public write and talk unfavourably of thee? Let me count the ways…
He’s trying. He’s really trying. As per MoneyPuck’s data from the match, Dach led the Canadiens in expected goals for (xG) with an enviable .706. Furthermore, he registered four shots on target, five attempts overall, had a Corsi of 54.5% and a Fenwick of 59.3%.
Those numbers tell anyone who knows anything about hockey that the 23-year-old Albertan was unquestionably in the thick of things. He wants to help, he’s active, and he’s getting in the mix.
But then he falls victim to robbery in the third period. With the score tied 4-4 and Montreal pressing, Suzuki mailed Dach a pass as the latter settled himself in front of the crease. Columbus defender Dante Fabbro tried to make Dach’s life difficult, but not enough to prevent him from shooting. Greaves’ outstretched right pad repelled the beleaguered Habs attacker not once but twice.
One has to call a spade a spade. The stops were marvellous. Heroic. The kind of saves that provide a team with a lifeline, which they did since the Blue Jackets went on to win 5-4. That it happened to Dach, who could use a bit of luck these days, made it all the more heartbreaking. One begins to wonder what St. Louis is supposed to do with the 2019 third-overall draft pick. The Chicago Blackhawks dealt him in the summer of 2022, a mere three years after thinking he was part of the answer. It looks as though he can’t catch a break.
Is it time for some action with the Laval Rocket? Does he need to be traded? A healthy scratch for a few games? Just keep plugging away?
Any one of those sounds like a plausible step these days. Everybody thinks he has it in him to turn his fortunes around, but this is devolving into a comically mediocre campaign. Hopefully, a few days off for Christmas will allow him to forget these rocky waters and come back better than ever.
Montembeault Can’t Stop Them All
With the good comes the bad. Cap space issues aside, there is a reason why Samuel Montembeault’s contract extension is for $3.15 million per year and only three seasons. He’s a good goalie who occasionally gets hot, but he’s not great.
Monday was an example of why he’s not always the solution. The Quebec native coughed up a quintet of goals on only 27 shots. A couple were not his fault, such as the opening marker that went through traffic in the crease. Others were awful. Kent Johnson’s first period marker that doubled Columbus’ lead to 2-0 was a shot that any netminder should shield away. It was the type of goal that could make the other team think “Uh-oh, we might need to score a lot tonight to give ourselves a chance.”
Make no mistake about it: Kirill Marchenko’s game-winner at 17:48 of the third period had juice. It was a case of a high-quality shot besting a goalie who was in position to make the save. Montembeault could and, maybe, should have blocked that one, however strong it was.
Conversely, not long before conceding the fifth goal, he made a sensational stop on a one-timer to prevent Cole Sillinger from giving his side the lead. As it turns out, it only delayed the pain for a few minutes.
At the risk of using the most basic English-language argument imaginable, Montembeaut is who he is. He’s a solid keeper who will put in fine work, just as he did over the weekend in two games against the Red Wings. He’ll also have nights like on Monday versus the Blue Jackets. That’s just part of the deal the team gets with him. Even his save percentage of .900 on the season is, well, perfectly fine. Good enough to help Montreal win some games but not good enough to win all of them.
With that, the Canadiens enter the Christmas break with a 6-4-0 record in their last 10. Baby steps towards respectability, but at least things are looking somewhat better these days. Up next is the traditional winter pit stop in Florida where it sometimes sounds like the Canadiens are at home judging by crowd reactions (we salute thee, snowbirds). The Habs commence their stay in the Sunshine State on Saturday (Dec. 28) against the Florida Panthers.