Canadiens Instant Recap: Caufield Honours Johnny Gaudreau

The Montreal Canadiens hosted the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday night, marking the season-opening game for both original six teams.

The Bell Centre faithful were quick to recognize head coach Martin St-Louis during the pre-game ceremony, a rare situation for a bench boss that is yet to coach a winning game. It just goes to show how much faith the fans have in the long term game plan at this stage of the rebuild.

The warmest reception was reserved for Patrik Laine, who showed up to the Bell Centre with crutches due to a knee injury that will keep him out of the lineup for a few months. There’s no doubt Habs fans can be harsh at times, but those types of moments remind you the depth of love the city has for its players, regardless if they’re yet to lace up the skates in an NHL game.

Samuel Montembeault was the star of Game One, pitching an impressive 47-save shutout, the first time the Leafs were kept off the scoresheet in 227 games. It was also the record for saves in a shutout game to open an NHL season.

Let’s take a look at the highlights from the Canadiens’ 1-0 win.

For Johnny

The team’s lack of success on the powerplay in the preseason was a continuation of a declining man advantage from the previous year, a major concern for a team looking to take the next step in their rebuild. 5v5 play is important, but you simply can’t make the playoffs if your special teams are less effective than a catapult compared to the vastly superior trebuchet.

With that in mind, Cole Caufield’s powerplay goal to open the season was encouraging for a variety of reasons, and not just because of the emotion he could not contain while wearing his new jersey number, 13. Caufield switched his number in the offseason to honour the late Johnny Gaudreau, and you could tell he had his friend in mind during his goal celebration.

As for the play itself, it took place because of some great passing from Kirby Dach and Juraj Slafkovsky, with the latter making a beautiful one-touch pass to find his linemate. That type of movement should pay off if the Canadiens can continue to draw coverage to the player in the slot, as they did prior to the goal. Once the Leafs started to focus on Nick Suzuki, passing lanes started to appear, and the Habs were quick to exploit the open ice.

The Habs failed to repeat the experiment later in the game, but for now, we’ll consider the fact that they actually scored on the man-advantage to be a success.

That goal was for Johnny.

Caufield overflowing with emotion. pic.twitter.com/5ozNvOGD3y

— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) October 9, 2024

Montembeault Dialed In

It’s always important to remember goaltenders take a little longer than most to develop, as evidenced by both Montembeault (27 years old), and his backup, Cayden Primeau (25 years old). I’d also argue the Canadiens also took the right route by avoiding a significant investment in a ‘franchise’ goalie, though recent signings in the NHL seem to suggest I may be wrong. Regardless, by the end of the season the statistical difference between the highest-paid goaltenders and Montembeault will likely be negligible.

Samuel Montembeault looking sharp to start the season.

Of course, I just jinxed him, but such is life. #GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/BgxVbHNY78

— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) October 10, 2024

The Leafs did hit a series of posts, including a few in the second period, but in these situations I tend to quote Tom Barrasso, who famously responded to a question about posts by saying, “What, you want me to stop the ones that are going wide, too?”

Toronto flat-out dominated the shot clock, not to mention the high-danger count (82 percent), but Montembeault kept his team in it, a very familiar refrain for Habs fans.

Montreal Canadiens Miscellaneous Notes

– Lane Hutson looked good, as usual. I’m well aware fans want to see him play on the top powerplay unit from the very get-go, especially after the dismal 5-on-3 by the Canadiens midway through the game. It will happen, that much we know. And it’ll likely happen faster for Hutson than it has for most NHL defencemen. However, we also must remember this was just his third NHL game. Martin St-Louis deserves a little credit in this case. Not only was Mike Matheson one of the most productive defencemen on the powerplay last season, St-Louis is avoiding putting too much pressure on his star rookie, a wise approach for any head coach when dealing with a top talent.

– Joel Armia looked good on the second line, though it’s difficult to look bad alongside Kirby Dach. The 21-year-old centre completely changes the look of this team, as he provides St-Louis with another quality option down the middle of the ice that knows how to help a team in transition. With Alex Newhook’s speed, Armia’s penchant for winning puck battles, and Dach’s all-around excellence, the line certainly has potential.

That would have been quite the goal from Alex Newhook pic.twitter.com/chEV3XmQvw

— Matt Drake (@DrakeMT) October 10, 2024

– Speaking of playing well in transition, for the first time in a while, the Montreal Canadiens had more than just Suzuki driving the play. Slafkovsky had a few nice controlled entries, as did Hutson, Dach, Newhook, and a few others. It’s encouraging, but it’s just a start, as the team will have to control the neutral zone if they’re to qualify for the playoffs.

– Alex Barre-Boulet did not look out of place. He’s a hard worker with a certain amount of offensive skill that will likely come in handy should the first and second lines fail to produce. He’s also primed and ready to prove everyone in the Tampa Bay Lightning organization wrong, and we all know that can be the ultimate motivator.

Nice pass from ABB into the middle, better save from Stolarz on Dvorak. pic.twitter.com/h8EQXpmJYT

— Matt Drake (@DrakeMT) October 10, 2024

– The fourth line (Brendan Gallagher, Jake Evans, Emil Heineman) had the best possession numbers, though that may have more to do with the matchups they were given than their offensive prowess. That being said, it’s one of the most talented fourth lines the Canadiens have iced in years.

The Montreal Canadiens are back in action on Thursday. They will face the Bruins in Boston, with the puck drop scheduled for 7 pm ET. All statistics 5v5 unless otherwise noted, via Natural Stat Trick.