Just two nights after Montreal Canadiens head coach Martin St. Louis called his team’s performance against the Vegas Golden Knights, “the best game they’ve played from start to finish since he took the job,” the Canadiens fell flat against the Arizona Coyotes on Nov. 2, losing 3-2. There are plenty of talking points about the loss, but here are the three biggest takeaways from Thursday night’s game.
Canadiens Fall Behind Early Again
For the fourth game in a row, Montreal found themselves down early. After Justin Barron covered the puck with his glove inside Jake Allen‘s crease, Coyotes forward Nick Schmaltz converted his penalty shot to give his team the lead just six minutes into the game. The lead did not last long before Sean Monahan leveled the game with a nice wrist shot from the slot – but the Habs continued to dig themselves into a hole early.
Fortunately, the Canadiens have been able to crawl out of these early deficits, just like how they did against the Columbus Blue Jackets and Winnipeg Jets last week. Eventually, however, poor starts will catch up to the team, and last night it did. If the Canadiens want to maximize the most of their opportunities, it is vital for them to have better, faster starts. Look out for that in their next game against the Blues.
Kent Hughes Has a Tough Decision to Make with Sean Monahan
Little was expected of Monahan entering the season. His first season in Montreal was largely ho-hum because of injury, but the 29-year-old center decided to stick around this summer, signing a 1-year, $2 million contract with the club. This season, he has arguably been the Canadiens’ best player.
According to Natural Stat Trick, Monahan is third on the team (among players who have played 10 games) in expected goals-for percentage at 5-on-5 (xGF%) with 53%. His 104.4 PDO (a possession metric that calculates a team’s shooting percentage plus save percentage at 5-on-5) this season is a career-best – all the more impressive given how valuable he was to the Calgary Flames earlier in his career.
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Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes will have his hands full with what to do with Monahan at the trade deadline. The Habs are unlikely to be in a playoff spot. Yes, they’ve had good results so far, but that’s largely thanks to the goaltending tandem of Allen and Sam Montembeault, who have bailed them out – Allen and Montembault are first and third in the NHL, respectively, in goals saved above average (GSAA).
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Make no mistake, the Habs are in the middle of a rebuild, and if Monahan continues to shine like this, Hughes will be able to get a good haul for him in March. However, if Hughes tries to re-sign him, Monahan will be due for a nice payday.
Second Line Must Be Broken Up
Today, teams and pundits rely on analytics, but the eye test can be a great evaluator as well. Since Kirby Dach’s injury, the new second line has played downright ugly. In six games, Juraj Slafkovsky, Alex Newhook, and Josh Anderson have an xGF% of 39%. Yeesh. Newhook has looked lost at center, and it’s clear he is much better on the wing. Anderson has not shown enough skill to warrant this much ice time. Slafkovsky, well, should be playing with Montreal’s American Hockey League affiliate, Laval Rocket.
Playing these three together has made them all look worse than they are. More importantly, it has put a major damper on what was supposed to be a breakout year for the team’s first-overall pick from 2022. St. Louis has to switch up that line.
With the return of Christian Dvorak looming, St. Louis would be wise to bump Monahan up to the second-line center role and put Dvorak in his place on the third line, which would allow Newhook to play his natural left-wing position. As for Slafkovsky, we’ll see what happens next for him, but again, the front office has their work cut out for them in ensuring his proper development.
The Canadiens will look to bounce back on Saturday, Nov. 4, against the Blues in St. Louis.