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The Habs kicked off their week by welcoming the Calgary Flames to the Bell Centre. This was an excellent opportunity to start the week on a positive as the Flames have been a rather poor team on the road. However, the Habs have had their own troubles at the Bell Centre, so would they really be able to take advantage?

In terms of style of play, this was very much a battle of styles as the Flames identify as a more defensive team whereas the Habs prefer a speed and skill game with an abundance of pace. On the ice, it was a game where the Canadiens clearly dictated the pace of play for most of the 60 minutes. The shots in the game ended with a 35-29 advantage for Montreal, who dominated the night and left with a 4-1 victory.

Habs Lineup

Cole Caufield — Nick Suzuki — Alexandre Texier
Juraj Slafkovsky – Oliver Kapanen – Ivan Demidov
Zach Bolduc – Phillip Danault — Brendan Gallagher
Sammy Blais — Joe Veleno — Owen Beck

Mike Matheson – Noah Dobson
Lane Hutson — Alexandre Carrier
Arber Xhekaj – Jayden Struble

Jacob Fowler

10 Thoughts

1) The story of the first period was, without a doubt, Dustin Wolf. The Habs were all over the Flames for the first 18 minutes of the period as they were clearly in control. While Dustin Wolf made excellent saves on Bolduc, Caufield, and Slafkovsky, he also got lucky when Beck had him beat, only to be stopped by the crossbar.

2) A stoppage of play with just over two minutes to play saw Bolduc finish a hit late. This understandably drew a crowd and for some reason, Struble decided to charge into the pile with way too much enthusiasm. He was easily picked out of the crowd for a penalty, giving Calgary an excellent chance to finish the period with a lead. The Habs killed the penalty, but not without some strong play by Fowler on the two shots the Flames managed to generate as the period finished with a 14-7 shot advantage for the home side.

3) The Flames came out stronger for the first few moments of the second period. That ended abruptly when Caufield caught the Flames anticipating a dump-in and cheating to their retrieval positions. Instead, Caufield carried the puck into the offensive zone. He found Carrier who quickly sent the puck down low to Texier. Wolf mimicked his teammates’ wrongful anticipation as he got himself out of position anticipating a cross-ice pass by Texier. Texier spotted the mistake and quickly shot it high short side, surprising Wolf and scoring the game’s first goal.

4) Not long after the goal, Danault took a hooking penalty but as he exited the penalty box, he found the puck and attacked the offensive zone, drawing a penalty of his own. On the delayed penalty, Texier won a puck battle and found Danault who put it on a tee for Hutson who one-timed it home for a 2-0 lead. A little over a minute later, Nazem Kadri went down a little easy with Kapanen at his heels. Slafkovsky jumped on the puck and Kapanen was all over the rebound as the game was suddenly 3-0 at the game’s median.

5) The Canadiens kept coming as they started the second half of the game on a power play thanks to Calgary being caught with too many men on the ice. The Habs’ advantage was very dangerous, but they ultimately failed to extend the lead. The Flames then got a third advantage as Xhekaj got unlucky with his stick coming up high at the end of a hit. It was another excellent kill for the Habs, notably by Veleno, Kapanen, and Texier. With the Habs in full control and two minutes to go in the period, a shot from far by Joel Farabee fooled Fowler. The Flames had life to start the third on a shot Fowler could not have been happy to see behind him.

6) After a sloppy start to the period by both teams, the Habs resumed their dominance. This was started by an excellent shift by the fourth line that created momentum in the offensive zone. On the next shift, Texier won a puck battle just inside the offensive blue line, fired a puck across the ice to Caufield who unleashed an absolute laser that rocketed by Wolf. From there, Montreal was in complete control, dominating the half period with a 9-3 shot advantage.

7) The Flames got a chance to fight back when Gallagher got careless with a slash in the neutral zone. This would only require a minute of penalty killing because the Habs were so aggressive on their kill that Veleno got a breakaway after fighting through a blatant attempt to trip. The resulting 4-on-4 started with Calgary attacking, but after two solid stops by Fowler, the Habs got on their shortened advantage that really wasn’t very effective.

8) Montreal was guilty of a little lack of discipline with four minutes to play. With the fourth line on the ice, Hutson attempted a pinch in the offensive zone. While the timing was ill-advised, the read by the three members of the forward line was also absent. The result was a 2-on-1 that Kadri put home on a nice shot to beat Fowler. Luckily for the Habs, Kadri had put the play offside moments earlier. The Canadiens challenged and the goal came back.

9) The rest of the game appeared to be but a mere formality as both teams played it out with the party clearly having started inside what was a raucous Bell Centre during a Wednesday night game. The Habs took care of business on this night with what was ultimately a 4-1 thumping.

10) A note on Fowler’s effort on this night. He started the game strong, made some good saves when needed in the first, and controlled the pace of the game on a few shifts where Calgary was clearly trying to push back. He was really not busy in the second period and then gave up a bad goal near the end of the period. This is where I feel Fowler has been able to create separation with the other two netminders. Mental strength. Bad goal, no worries. No panic, no getting loud in the net. Right back to controlling the pace of the game, making a few basic saves and getting ready for the next time his teammates really need a bailout. Much like Dobson on the blue line and Kapanen up front, it’s the repeated presence of completing the mundane tasks with regularity that makes them so remarkable to watch and it only gets more impressive with each passing game watched.

HabsWorld Habs 3 Stars

1st Star – Alexandre Texier

What an acquisition this has turned out to be. Much like Paul Byron during the Bergevin era, along comes a player that teams had given up on, only to find his home in Montreal and thrive on the NHL’s biggest stage. What Texier has done since signing with the Habs has been awesome, that he’ll eventually be able to do it in the bottom six and create that much more depth to this lineup is even better. A strong night for him and he got rewarded for winning more than his fair share of puck battles along the board against the Flames. And let’s not forget some excellent efforts on the penalty kill that preserved the lead for the Habs on many occasions.

Stats: 1 goal, 2 assists, +3, 3 shots, 13:57 T.O.I.

2nd Star – Cole Caufield

That goal he scored in the third period… there aren’t many players in the NHL who can rocket a puck that amount of simultaneous force and precision. What a goal! That it put this game on ice is that much sweeter. However, Caufield was also responsible for the goal that got the Habs going. After a first period where they dominated, the Flames came out strong in the second, but Caufield showed off some professional reads to open the ice for teammates and get his team on the board. Two points while showing off two very different positive aspects of his game.

Stats: 1 goal, 1 assist, +2, 4 shots, 14:43 T.O.I.

3rd Star – Arber Xhekaj

In what was perhaps his best period ever in the NHL, Xhekaj established his presence in the first period of this game. Big hits in the defensive zone, proper reads to get out of the defensive zone, assertive decisions with the puck that allowed the Habs to stay in the offensive zone. Heck, there was even a forecheck where he rocked Joel Hanley; a quick summary of just his first period. Xhekaj settled down while keeping his game simple and effective in the second and third periods because he didn’t need to do more. He had shifted momentum and the Habs were in complete control. An excellent game by him in what has been a rather excellent stretch of late.

Stats: +1, 2 shots, 6 hits, 16:01 T.O.I.