The start to December was a mixed bag for the Habs. They had a pair of strong games that led to wins but also had a rough one to start the week while some lapses cost them their last game as well.
The Week That Was
Dec. 2: Senators 5, Canadiens 2 – Well, it turned out returning home was not enough to get the Habs motivated for this one. They blew an early lead on the following shift and largely chased the game from there. Meanwhile, Linus Ullmark was the sharper of the two goalies as Samuel Montembeault wasn’t able to get on track. A rough effort against a division rival was not the type of start to the week the Canadiens were hoping for.
Dec. 3: Canadiens 3, Jets 2 (SO) – To Montreal’s credit, this was a much better performance and one that they frankly should have won in regulation had it not been for Eric Comrie doing his best Connor Hellebuyck impression. The Habs twice came back from a one-goal deficit in the second period and in the shootout, Cole Caufield was the only successful shooter for either side to give Montreal the split in their first back-to-back of the week.
Dec. 6: Canadiens 2, Maple Leafs 1 (SO) – This time, the Habs carried a lot of the game, including in the dreaded second period where they took the lead. However, Dennis Hildeby was quite sharp in goal for Toronto and he held Montreal at bay from there. Eventually, a turnover on the power play led to a Scott Laughton breakaway. He took the rare slapper in that situation, beating Jakub Dobes to tie the game. Eventually, the shootout was needed once again and after Caufield scored for the second game in a row, it was Alexandre Texier who potted the winner with a one-handed poke between Hildeby’s pads.
Dec. 7: Blues 4, Canadiens 3 – The Habs started out strong but their second period woes hurt them once again. That was especially frustrating considering St. Louis was the one team worse than them in goal differential in the middle stanza. But two defensive lapses led to a pair of goals in the first 69 seconds of the frame and Montreal was chasing it from there, including a third period where they struggled to get anything going in the first half before a comeback that was too little, too late.
StatPack
Skaters:
| # | Player | GP | G | A | +/- | PIMS | SOG | ATOI |
| 8 | Mike Matheson | 4 | 0 | 1 | -2 | 0 | 6 | 25:32 |
| 11 | Brendan Gallagher | 4 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 0 | 8 | 12:02 |
| 13 | Cole Caufield | 4 | 2 | 3 | -3 | 0 | 14 | 20:19 |
| 14 | Nick Suzuki | 4 | 1 | 3 | -2 | 0 | 9 | 21:12 |
| 17 | Josh Anderson | 4 | 0 | 0 | -2 | 4 | 7 | 13:21 |
| 20 | Juraj Slafkovsky | 4 | 2 | 1 | -3 | 2 | 10 | 21:15 |
| 45 | Alexandre Carrier | 4 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 0 | 2 | 17:49 |
| 47 | Jayden Struble | 4 | 0 | 0 | -3 | 2 | 0 | 16:36 |
| 48 | Lane Hutson | 4 | 1 | 1 | -3 | 0 | 10 | 25:36 |
| 49 | Jared Davidson | 3 | 0 | 1 | E | 0 | 1 | 9:15 |
| 53 | Noah Dobson | 4 | 1 | 1 | -3 | 4 | 11 | 21:26 |
| 63 | Florian Xhekaj | 1 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 7:43 |
| 71 | Jake Evans | 4 | 0 | 0 | -3 | 2 | 1 | 13:47 |
| 72 | Arber Xhekaj | 4 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 9 | 3 | 12:16 |
| 76 | Zachary Bolduc | 4 | 0 | 1 | -2 | 2 | 3 | 11:03 |
| 85 | Alexandre Texier | 4 | 0 | 1 | -2 | 0 | 5 | 15:10 |
| 90 | Joe Veleno | 4 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 0 | 5 | 11:51 |
| 91 | Oliver Kapanen | 4 | 1 | 0 | -1 | 0 | 9 | 17:12 |
| 93 | Ivan Demidov | 4 | 0 | 3 | E | 2 | 9 | 17:47 |
Goalies:
| # | Player | Record | GAA | SV% | SO |
| 35 | Samuel Montembeault | 0-1-0 | 5.01 | .828 | 0 |
| 75 | Jakub Dobes | 2-1-0 | 2.25 | .904 | 0 |
Shootout – Skaters:
| # | Player | G/ATT |
| 13 | Cole Caufield | 2/2 |
| 14 | Nick Suzuki | 0/1 |
| 85 | Alexandre Texier | 1/2 |
Shootout – Goalies:
| # | Player | SVS/SF |
| 75 | Jakub Dobes | 5/6 |
Team Leaders:
Goals: Cole Caufield (16)
Assists: Nick Suzuki (24)
Points: Nick Suzuki (32)
+/-: Nick Suzuki (+12)
PIMS: Arber Xhekaj (51)
Shots: Cole Caufield (79)
News And Notes
– Kaapo Kahkonen served as the backup against St. Louis with Samuel Montembeault being scratched due to illness. He was immediately sent back down after the game. Accordingly, with the rule that players sent down must play a game before being recalled, if Montembeault isn’t available on Tuesday, Jacob Fowler would need to be brought up.
– Speaking of players going down, the Habs sent Adam Engstrom and Florian Xhekaj back to Laval. Somewhat surprisingly, they opted not to recall any extra players, even with the back-to-back games including one on the road. If nothing else, that helps from the perspective of banking cap space.
– Cole Caufield is on an 11-game point streak. That matches his career best set back during the 2023-24 campaign.
Last Game’s Lines:
Caufield – Suzuki – Slafkovsky
Texier – Kapanen – Demidov
Anderson – Evans – Gallagher
Davidson – Veleno – Bolduc
Matheson – Dobson
Struble – Hutson
Xhekaj – Carrier
The Week Ahead
Tuesday vs Tampa Bay – The Lightning welcomed back two of their star players on Monday with the returns of Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point although they’ve already ruled out Andrei Vasilevskiy to start this one. (They also just got Victor Hedman back on the weekend.) That means the Habs will either get Jonas Johansson on a back-to-back or AHL starter Brandon Halverson. Despite an injury list that has been much more impactful than Montreal’s by comparison, Tampa Bay sits atop the Atlantic in large part thanks to Vasilevskiy who has helped overcome an injury-riddled back end.
Thursday vs Pittsburgh – Despite their best efforts to sell and rebuild, the Penguins find themselves right in the thick of the playoff hunt with veterans Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Erik Karlsson leading the way. The Habs might be able to avoid Malkin for this one as he’s listed as day-to-day. Despite a goalie tandem that isn’t overly intimidating on paper (Tristan Jarry and rookie Arturs Silovs), only three teams have allowed fewer goals this season which is the biggest reason for their early success.
Saturday at New York (R) – The Rangers have been quiet offensively this season, especially at home. However, they’ve won five of their last eight games despite being without top defenceman Adam Fox for a good chunk of that stretch as he’s on LTIR. Artemi Panarin, one of the top potential UFAs, keeps rolling along and is once again over a point per game while Igor Shesterkin has had the biggest usage of any goalie in the NHL so far.
Sunday vs Edmonton – The Oilers have no problems scoring goals. They have a lot of problems stopping them, however, which is why they’ve lost more than they’ve won this season. Stuart Skinner has struggled as the starter while Calvin Pickard’s performance this year has been extremely rocky. Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl keep doing their thing offensively while the recent returns of Zach Hyman and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins have deepened their attack.
Final Thought
It seemed like there was some disappointment from the fan base when Florian Xhekaj was sent back to Laval earlier this week. With some looking for Montreal’s roster to become tougher, removing him from the lineup certainly doesn’t help in that regard. But it was the right move to make.
Prospects need to be playing regularly and Xhekaj getting fewer than ten minutes a night on the fourth line isn’t an ideal spot for him. Considering that he has shown he can be a decent scorer both in junior and in the minors, it makes sense for him to continue honing those skills which is much easier to do with Laval where he was slotted back into a top-six role upon being sent down. I don’t think that was a coincidence. The Habs are hoping that Xhekaj can be more than a fourth liner in the NHL if all goes well. For him to be that, he needs to be playing more minutes with the Rocket compared to limited minutes with the Habs. If the development doesn’t go as planned, then in a couple of years from now, perhaps a spot on the fourth line with limited minutes is the right landing spot. But not today.
Xhekaj did an alright job in his first taste of NHL action and that’s not a shot at him. Doing alright isn’t bad at all given the circumstances. It’s something that can be said for a few of the young forwards who have had a taste (including Jared Davidson who might soon be sent down to get more ice time as well) and it should give management some confidence that if injuries strike, they at least have a few players who could hold their own. Xhekaj is now in that group which makes his recall a successful one in my books.