A marker that you’ve improved as a hockey club is when you finally succeed at a challenge at which you had constantly failed. The Montreal Canadiens had lost eight straight to Los Angeles heading into the Kings visit to the Bell Centre.
Make that nine. The Kings have the formula to beat the Canadiens, playing a heavy game and slowing down Montreal’s speed.
It was not close. The Kings won 5-1.
Wilde Horses
Apart from a laser beam from Josh Anderson into the top corner in the first period, little was impressive from the Canadiens. It’s a long season, and a fast skating team isn’t always going to have good legs. We know that the Canadiens are fast, but they didn’t appear it.
The Canadiens had almost no high-danger scoring chances. They were kept to the outside. No reason to fill this category during the worst contest of the season for the Canadiens. It’s been argued here that the back half of the roster needs to get bigger. This was a night that the argument looked valid.
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Wilde Goats
With 12 saves on 12 shots in the first period, it was easy to be under the impression that Samuel Montembeault was building on a strong Saturday when he picked up the win against Utah with 25 saves on 27 shots. However, that shutout of a first period against the Kings was a mirage.
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The Kings hit the post twice in the opening 20 minutes. Both occasions were one-on-one looks for the shooter that Montembeault was not close to stopping. Montembeault was cleanly beaten. He escaped thanks to a game of inches.
In the second period, he was not as fortunate. The issue that has plagued him all season continued as long shots that should not go in are going in regularly. It wasn’t just a weak moment from the goalie on a 55-footer, though. Joe Veleno did not make a solid attempt to block the Joel Edmundson shot.
With that said, a 55-footer that is not screened, except for Veleno, can’t go in. Montembeault had plenty of time to react to the shot after it cleared Veleno, yet he didn’t seem to even see it. No part of his body made a move on the puck as it coasted past him.
The second goal was a series of pinball bounces that left Montembeault with no chance, but the third goal against him in a horrendous stretch of five minutes was just as embarrassing as the first goal.
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There was no action in front of him. It was a weak shot that came from 25 feet that couldn’t have been moving more than 20 miles per hour. Montembeault had an easy opportunity to put a glove on the puck, or sweep it into the corner. However, he directed it with his stick to the other side of the net where Kevin Fiala was waiting for it. It was an easy one for Fiala.
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A 1-0 Montreal lead had quickly become a 3-1 Kings lead, and that was the game. Momentum can change quickly. It changes with more of a heavy feeling when it’s easy goals being let in. They have more gravity on the outcome. Players feel the pain of an easy goal against.
That’s not to suggest that the players weren’t also responsible for this poor result. Most weren’t ready to work in this one. The Canadiens were second on pucks all night, and they won few puck battles.
Montreal better be careful at this moment. While the results have been strong overall, under the surface, there are cracks that are being hidden by high shooting percentage accuracy and talented players taking advantage of fewer chances than the opposition.
Overall, more hockey needs to be played in the opposition’s zone as evidenced by some of the Corsi numbers that run through the lineup. It won’t get any easier with Dallas in town Thursday. They also play a heavy game like the Kings. Heavy teams are still not Montreal’s best opposition, if that heaviness slows down the Canadiens’ speed as it did Tuesday night.
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The bottom line, though, remains four goals allowed on 26 shots. Montembeault’s season-long save percentage of .864 drops further. The number one team priority is Montembeault finding his better self.
5:11
Call of the Wilde: The Canadiens on the road
Wilde Cards
It was a miracle that the Canadiens made the playoffs last season, considering they had the worst second line in the league. The numbers were spectacularly bad. The centre was Kirby Dach who was a league worst minus-29 when his knee finally succumbed.
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One winger was Alex Newhook, who finished the year at minus-21. Newhook also played centre on the second line after the Dach injury. In a remarkable turnaround, Newhook is an impressive plus-eight this season.
The other winger was Patrik Laine, who finished minus-14 despite making a big difference, scoring often on the power play. All in all, when the second line was on the ice, the puck ended up behind the Canadiens goaltender a destructive amount.
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One of the reasons that the Canadiens are a much better team now is the work of this season’s second line. Oliver Kapanen is showing solid skills at being a 200-foot centre, and he is adding offensive talent with six goals. Ivan Demidov is a talented new addition learning quickly under Martin St. Louis
The trio is a plus five in goal differential, and all three are plus-players. Dach is a plus-two this year when he was a minus-15 already at this time last year.
Dach is playing so well that it would be a deserved promotion if he got a look at a second line role. All three lines have a positive goal differential with only Jake Evans’ line struggling to keep up.
In fact, the leading line in the league is Nathan MacKinnon centring Artturi Lehkonen and Sebastian Aho. They are a plus-nine. Right behind them at plus-eight is Nick Suzuki with Cole Caufield and Juraj Slafkovsky. The Canadiens have the second best line in the league. They led the league in this goal differential category last year.
Kapanen’s line and Dach’s line are also top 10 in the league at plus-five. Dach’s numbers are particularly impressive considering the line was just put together. This success through the top three lines was absolutely not a part of the script last season.
They’re building something impressive here in Montreal.
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Brian Wilde, a Montreal-based sports writer, brings you Call of the Wilde on globalnews.ca after each Canadiens game.
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Call of the Wilde: Habs off to thrilling start
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