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Montreal’s exhibition season got underway on Saturday with the team playing two games against Toronto, one home and one away. Their stronger lineup played at home and in a see-saw affair, Cole Caufield’s overtime goal gave the Habs a 4-3 victory.
Instead of covering both games in detail (we’ll get to the other one briefly at the end), this article will focus on the game in Montreal. The lineup for the home team was as follows:
Caufield – Suzuki – Kreider
Slafkovsky – Kapanen – Demidov
Davidson – Beck – Pastujov
Thorpe – Condotta – Belzile
Hutson – Carrier
Struble – A. Xhekaj
Mittelstadt – Samson
Dobes/Fowler
10 Thoughts
1) One of the things we’ve seen early in practice is some attention being paid to getting tips in front of the net. Chris Kreider – arguably the best in the league at that – is getting the bulk of the attention but Juraj Slafkovsky executed a perfect tip on a Luke Mittelstadt shot less than five minutes in to open up the scoring. There’s an important on-ice element that Kreider will bring but if he can show Slafkovsky some of the subtleties to his game (such as refining his net-front game), that could unlock a more well-rounded version of Slafkovsky this season.
2) Message-sending is always a theme of the preseason, not so much to the other team but to your own. To that end, the Leafs didn’t have any qualms about taking extra penalties to avenge hits from Lucas Condotta on Marc Johnstone and Ethan Samson on Vinni Lettieri. Former Hab Michael Pezzetta got rightfully dinged for an instigator and one of Toronto’s many summer signings, Teddy Blueger, got an extra roughing minor instead of an instigator of his own. Both Habs held their own in the scraps.
3) Toronto took a too-many-men call while the Habs were on the power play for the Blueger minor. The top unit got some time toward the end of it and, unlike most of their attempts last season, they actually scored on it. Ivan Demidov and Lane Hutson played a quick two-man game with the latter setting up the former for a one-timer. Demidov was on the far edge of the faceoff circle down near the goal line, basically channeling his inner Cole Caufield. It was far from an ideal shooting angle but Artur Akhtyamov couldn’t get enough of it, allowing the home side to double the lead. Demidov had a bit of a shooting mindset in the first but passed up a breakaway to pass to Juraj Slafkovsky soon after. Slafkovsky wasn’t ready and no shot was to be had. That’s still a work in progress, evidently.
4) After dominating the first period, the second was a disaster for the home side. Toronto scored twice on power plays, including one where Jakub Dobes was without his stick for an extended period of time with no one going and grabbing it for him. (And yes, they’re allowed to do that, as long as they don’t make a play on the puck with two sticks. That’s a situational awareness issue.) Then, Jacob Fowler was beaten by a tap-in from Johnstone with Arber Xhekaj and Jayden Struble not having a particularly good shift in defensive coverage.
5) The third period saw the Habs rebound nicely. Early on, the Canadiens got away with some contact on goalie Samuel Hlavaj and only a few seconds later, Lane Hutson was able to beat Hlavaj to tie the game. That seemed to stabilize the home side as they were able to settle in and carry the play for most of the third period. They weren’t able to score, but they were largely in control.
6) The overtime featured a lot for a less-than-five-minute session. The Habs were able to play keep-away in the first segment with Toronto barely touching the puck. Montreal had multiple good chances (and Nick Suzuki passed up what might have been their best one) but at the end of the sequence, Juraj Slafkovsky took a penalty, creating a rare four-on-three situation. Something tells me the coaches weren’t too upset about getting a bit of game practice for that one as that probably hasn’t been covered in practice yet. The Canadiens were much better on this kill than the ones in the second period and the overtime continued.
7) With play at four-on-four following the penalty kill, Montreal took control again. The Maple Leafs tried to get a change in and picked a terrible time to do it, springing the Habs in on a two-on-none with Cole Caufield and Hutson. It went Caufield to Hutson back to Caufield for an easy winner that Hlavaj had no chance on. A fun ending for sure but chances are, the Habs won’t be getting a two-on-none in overtime when the regular season starts.
8) With this being a preseason game, let’s talk about some prospects. Luke Mittelstadt has been turning some heads in his limited time since turning pro. He went from a late-season add in Laval to a highly valued defender by the playoffs. He was their best player in the rookie tournament. And for someone playing his first NHL preseason game, he looked like a poised veteran. He’s probably not in contention for a roster spot even with Kaiden Guhle’s injury but this showing in front of the NHL coaching staff will only help him.
9) Sasha Pastujov was as advertised. He is a legitimate shooting threat with an NHL-calibre shot. But skating is not his strong suit. He took a bad penalty that led to Toronto’s first goal with a high-stick off the faceoff but he also provided a bit of grit. There isn’t a real spot for him to push for as long as the forward group stays healthy but he looks like he can be a nice contributor in Laval, as long as he clears waivers.
10) A general thought on the second line, they were by far Montreal’s best unit in this one. Demidov was the most noticeable, Slafkovsky had some good moments, and Oliver Kapanen was steady and set up a couple of chances. If Kreider can fit on the first line (and he had a quiet game in this one), having that second line as a regular group would be a huge lift in their efforts to get some extra scoring depth.
Meanwhile, in Toronto, the rest of Montreal’s lineup (headlined by a Mike Matheson-Noah Dobson pairing and lines three through five on the depth chart) played against the stronger Maple Leafs lineup. Phillip Danault opened up the scoring in the second period, cashing in on a two-on-one with Zach Bolduc. Darren Raddysh tied it up on the power play before the frame ended, however.
But in the third, they got the eventual winner from an unexpected source as Maksymilian Szuber blasted home a point shot a little before the five-minute mark. Danault added an empty-netter with 1:01 remaining before another newcomer in Laval hit the scoresheet as well with Samuel Poulin tipping home a Filip Mesar shot to give the Habs the 4-1 victory there, taking both ends of the split-squad games.
