Canadiens Postgame
Canadiens Instant Recap: Something’s Gotta Give
The Montreal Canadiens were in Toronto to face the Maple Leafs in a classic Saturday-night rivalry game. It was a rematch of the opening game of the season in which the Habs took home a 1-0 win thanks to Samuel Montembeault’s excellent goaltending.
This time around, Montembeault was far from perfect, though the same can be said about most of the skaters on Saturday night. Consequently, the Leafs emerged with a 4-1 win.
Let’s dive into those highlights!
This Is A Rerun
It’s easy to be sarcastic when writing recaps for Habs games this season. It’s gotten to the point that you don’t even need to watch most games to predict what will happen. Without straying too far from reality, you could easily suggest they’ll be trailing by a few goals early in the game, which will usually evoke a response from veteran Brendan Gallagher, one of the few Canadiens players surpassing expectations this season.
After Gallagher finds the back of the net, expect the opponents to quickly destroy any semblance of momentum for the Canadiens by scoring a quick goal.
Of course, that wouldn’t always be entirely accurate.
But most nights, it will be.
Anyhow, the Toronto Maple Leafs quickly earned a 3-0 lead on Saturday night, before Gallagher responded with his sixth goal of the season, midway through the second period.
The goal was top-notch, but it was far from the first time he’s displayed his baseball skills on the ice. It was also his 225th career goal, which means he’s now 19th in goal scoring in franchise history, quite the feat for a player who was ignored by most teams at the 2010 NHL Entry Draft. To give you an idea of how undervalued Gallagher was at the time of the draft, the Vancouver Canucks didn’t even both sending a scout to watch him play, despite the fact that he put together a 40-goal season for the Giants, who happen to play in the Canucks’ backyard.
This is not the first time Brendan Gallagher has hit a puck in midair to score a goal.
He’s now 19th all time in Canadiens scoring with 225 goals. #GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/0JHBkIPjXW
— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) November 10, 2024
Shockingly, the Maple Leafs immediately scored a quick goal to destroy any semblance of momentum for the Habs.
You Can’t Do That
Timmins leaves Anderson in the dust to open the scoring for the Leafs. pic.twitter.com/Ih72Auk7rl
— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) November 10, 2024
Brass Tacks
The reason it would be unfair to spend much time complaining about Anderson’s misread is that almost everyone in the lineup made a series of errors, many of them of the minor-league variety. William Nylander cut through the team like a hot knife through butter in the first period, a play that made Lane Hutson, one of the top players on the team, look out of sorts.
The top line was flat, and the second line was invisible, a recipe for disaster in the NHL. While there’s some logic behind St-Louis’ decision to place Kirby Dach on the top line, it’s simply not working this year. That’s not to say Dach is the only player underperforming, as both Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield have struggled in November. Full marks to the fourth line, which had a respectable game.
There aren’t many internal solutions to be had, beyond perhaps recalling players like Joshua Roy, Logan Mailloux, and Owen Beck, who are off to a great start to the season for the Laval Rocket. But destroying the chemistry in the AHL won’t solve the problems in the NHL, nor would a single trade.
If we do want to pretend this is a meritocracy, a promotion for Gallagher will surely be in the cards. And with all due respect to Montembeault, it’s probably time to see what Cayden Primeau can do with the benefit of having a few consecutive starts under his belt.
But until St-Louis decides to switch things up from a strategic standpoint, the Canadiens will not only continue to lose games, but they will also be painful to watch in the process, the worst possible combination for fans and players alike.
The Montreal Canadiens are back in action on Monday. They will face the Sabres in Buffalo, with the puck drop scheduled for 12:30 pm ET. All Montreal Canadiens statistics are 5v5 unless otherwise noted, via Natural Stat Trick.
