After playing the New York Islanders on the road on Saturday night, the Montreal Canadiens now return home to face the other New York-based squad, the Rangers, on Tuesday at the Bell Centre. After three-straight losses, head coach Martin St. Louis’ side must reckon with one of the league’s top teams. Here are some of the major storylines heading into the game.
Canadiens Need Some Magic Versus Shesterkin
The early-season story, at least as far as the offence is concerned, has been Cole Caufield. With six goals in six games, it seems like good things happen every time he touches the puck. He was the main reason the Habs earned a point on Saturday against the Islanders. Down 3-2 late in the third period and looking toothless on the attack, Caufield wristed a shot from – where else? – the left side that fooled netminder Semyon Varlamov. He raised his arms and looked upwards into the rafters as if to celebrate his own greatness. Of note, his expected goals figure is currently 3.7, more than half of his six markers, as per MoneyPuck.
Despite Caufield’s success, there are questions about where the rest of the team’s offence will come from against arguably the best netminder in the league, Igor Shesterkin, with his 1.97 goals-against average (GAA) and a beguiling .935 save percentage (SV%). He flustered a well-oiled Toronto Maple Leafs group on Saturday night in a 4-1 Rangers win. You’d think that when Auston Matthews and William Nylander register nine and eight shots on goal, respectively, the puck would go in more than once.
Fellow The Hockey Writers Canadiens writer Blain Potvin suggested playing young stud Emil Heineman in the top six. He’s looked good this season, although he was largely invisible on Saturday night with 10:36 of ice time. Then again, it was a game where almost nobody showed attacking grit or inventiveness. Brendan Gallagher had a very clever but failed deflection attempt sail just over the post. Those pucks need to find the back of the net against the Rangers.
Montembeault Needs to Be a Hero
With Cayden Primeau getting the call on Saturday – and playing well, to his credit – all eyes will be on Samuel Montembeault on Tuesday. There has been a lot of hoopla about his performance so far, and it’s been merited for the most part, although his last two outings were not as sensational (a 6-3 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins and a 4-1 loss to the Los Angeles Kings).
A lot is going against the Canadiens in this game, including that Montembeault is not a better goalie than Shesterkin. For one, the Rangers have the best offence in the NHL through five contests, averaging 4.80 goals per game, and they aren’t even close to the top of the league in shots on goal. They’ve fired 165 shots, good for 12th.
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Not only is their shooting efficiency an impressive 14.6% (ranked fifth), but they also launch an incredible number of high-danger attempts. The Rangers are tied for second with the New Jersey Devils at 19.
Speaking of high-danger chances, the Rangers are third league-wide in rebound shots with 21 and tied for third with a trio of rebound goals. Montreal is already third-worst in rebound goals against (three) and seventh-worst in the percentage of goals against from rebounds (18.75%). The most lugubrious figure is the 24 high-danger shots against, which puts the Habs in the NHL basement.
Will Arber Xhekaj Return to the Lineup?
23-year-old defenceman Arber Xhekaj was left out of the lineup against the Islanders. There is no word on any possible injury that kept him from playing. It appears to have been a coach’s decision.
Xhekaj’s game has not been up to par. His preseason was eventful, but the numbers haven’t looked great in the regular season. He is the blueliner with the second-worst plus-minus on the team at minus-4 (David Savard is minus-7), and his 9.75 high-danger shot attempts per 60 minutes are by far the worst on the club.
That’s a matter of positioning and reading the play. It’s easy to forget that the Hamilton, Ontario, native is only playing in his third NHL season. He played 51 matches in 2022-23 and 44 in 2023-24 because of injuries. In other words, he’s played in just over the equivalent of a full 82-game campaign. There is time for him to learn from his mistakes.
The Rangers are big and tactically sound. They know how to play well and are not easy to shove around. Having Xhekaj would be better than not having him. If he is healthy, then Tuesday night would be a heck of a test. St. Louis surely sees him as part of the Canadiens’ defensive future.
Montreal has a strange schedule this week, which makes a victory over the Rangers on Tuesday all the more important. By puck drop, 72 hours will have elapsed since the disappointment versus the Islanders. After the Rangers, they don’t play again until Saturday at home versus the St. Louis Blues and on Sunday evening against the Flyers in Philadelphia. It will be difficult to find any rhythm this week, but two points in their pocket would feel good when they go to bed on Tuesday night before another few days off.
