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Canadiens Analysis

Canadiens Game Report 2: The Good, The Bad And The Ugly

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7 months ago

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Montreal Canadiens vs. Blackhawks

On Saturday night, Connor Bedard, the Fresh Prince of the National Hockey League, was in town for the Montreal Canadiens’ home opener.

The opening ceremonies were a somewhat drab affair, but at least the game itself (especially the first period) was a much more colourful event, with a nail-biting finish.

With game #2 now officially in the books, let’s look back at what went right against the Chicago Blackhawks, and not-so-right.

The Good: The Former Glory Line (?!)

Meritorious of the “ugly” tag after game #1 for their painfully slow showing, Gallagher, Pearson, and Monahan had a much stronger outing.

Although they ended up being separated after the Kirby Dach injury, all three players had a positive impact on the game, with the two latter scoring important goals.

Obviously, there is a huge difference in the quality of competition between the Toronto Maple Leafs, a Stanley Cup contender, and the Chicago Blackhawks, a team that could be mistaken for an American Hockey League team (save a few players), likely a bottom-feeder in the standings by season’s end.

So, maybe playing weaker opponents doesn’t make them stand out in a bad way. Or maybe they just needed to shake some rust – as some veterans often do – before they get into regular season form.

Joel Edmundson’s first few games in 2020-2021 come to mind, where he was simply awful before became a stalwart piece of the Stanley Cup Finals-bound Montreal Canadiens defense corps.

Perhaps the truth lies somewhere in the middle as to what we can realistically expect from these three musketeers.

Honourable mention: Samuel Montembeault had a nice, decent game. He wasn’t extensively tested but he certainly boosted the team’s confidence in him, after a lacklustre camp. Baby steps.

The Bad: Lower Dach Pain

No one had a better pre-season (and game #1) than Kirby Dach.

Seeing him leave for the dressing room and not returning simply doesn’t bode well. It could be only a minor ailment, hockey gods willing, but this is a key player for this team, who missed significant time due to injuries, in prior years.

Martin St-Louis can only hope he doesn’t have a player who will be labelled as fragile in his hands, as he relies heavily on him at 5v5 and on the powerplay.

Juraj Slafkovsky was also less noticeable without #77 centering him – although, to be fair, still had a great game. The two players seemed to have palpable chemistry in recent games, and it would be a shame if the 2023 first-overall pick’s newfound confident play were to falter in Dach’s absence. Subtraction by … subtraction?

Why can’t we have nice things?!

The Ugly: Booing Bedard

This is not something that happened on the ice, per se, but it warrants a mention: Montreal Canadiens fans copiously booed Bedard, anytime he touched the puck.

For a fanbase that identifies itself as being legitimate hockey connoisseurs and the best fans of the game, it felt off.

This city never booed Gretzky or Lemieux, and would often be seen as examples of commendable sportsmanship, by celebrating other team players, whenever they’d reach significant personal milestones.

Montreal Canadiens fans cheering for Marc-André Fleury’s 500th career win was one of the latest examples of that.

Look, I get booing a former Bleu-Blanc-Rouge player who badmouths the team after a trade, or an opponent for being a thorn in the team’s side whenever they meet, but booing a teenager, who never played your team before, on primetime Hockey Night in Canada, with the hockey world watching, was just unwarranted.

This is somewhat inconsequential, but I just wished they’d warmly welcomed him to the hockey mecca – even if only for his first game in La Belle Province.

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Were Montreal Canadiens fans right to boo Connor Bedard in his Bell Centre debut? Let us know in the comments below.

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