Habs Highlights: Heineman Rewarded For Strong Start To Season

The Montreal Canadiens were hoping to push their win streak to three games for the first time in 2024-25, but to do so they’d have to beat one of the best Western Conference teams, the Vegas Golden Knights.

A solid start gave way to a second period that would rival the Bay Of Pigs when it comes to poor planning and execution, and though the team responded with two goals to close out the game, it was all for naught, as the Golden Knights emerged with a 6-2 win.

Let’s dive into those highlights!

Starting Strong

The first period favoured the Golden Knights, not a particularly surprising result given the disparity in the standings between both teams, however, we once again saw the Habs play a much tighter defensive game at 5v5. It led to an even share of the high-danger scoring chances (3-3) heading into the first intermission, a continuation of the strong play the Canadiens displayed against Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers on Monday night.

There were a few noteworthy players despite the lack of goals, and shockingly, Lane Hutson featured in two of them.

We all know he’s not the biggest player on the ice, and there’s no denying that he’s at a disadvantage when he can’t use his fantastic skating to disrupt the opposition. This means he has to get created when defending near the crease, one of the greatest hurdles he’ll face while playing in the NHL. In the first stretch of the year he had a hard time outmuscling bigger forwards, which was to be expected, but he’s done a much better job in the last five games when it comes to using his brain to overcome brawn. Part of that is positioning, maintaining the inside track from the get-go is a necessity for a defenceman of his size. The other factor once again ties into his anticipation, which he combines with an active stick to focus his energy on tying up the opposing player’s stick.

A noted improvement from Lane Hutson when it comes to defending the crease. It’s probably his greatest weakness, but he’s compensating with an active stick in the last stretch, and it’s working out nicely. #GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/ABs6yBjYFk

— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) November 24, 2024

Speaking of Hutson, we’re starting to see him throw his weight around a little more, a good reminder that the youngest defenceman in the lineup is clearly improving aspects of his game that are considered to be a weakness.

Might be the strongest guy on the ice. pic.twitter.com/bMA10o4YHJ

— Matt Drake (@DrakeMT) November 24, 2024

And Then?

If the first period was encouraging, the second period was anything but.

Vegas capitalized on a steady stream of unforced errors from the Canadiens, including an incredibly poor pass by Kirby Dach which quickly found turned into a Golden Knights goal. I realize many are losing patience, but it’s clear that Dach will need more time to get up to speed. That being said, his puck management skills have been lacking, and that isn’t necessarily a rust issue. He knows better than to blindly toss pucks into the slot while trying to leave the defensive zone.

Dach was not the only player to make a bad call in the second period. Few, if any Canadiens came out of it with a clean sheet, and yes, that includes Hutson, who made a handful of poor reads in the second and third period.

Rather than showing you footage of the Canadiens getting scored on five times in 13 minutes, I will defer to one of the all-time classics of sports cinema, the 1945 masterpiece ‘Hockey Homicide’, to paint the scene.

Coaching Decisions

I’ve been highly critical when it comes to Martin St-Louis’ overall impact.

Wait, let me clear that up a little.

Relative to the popular perception of the team’s head coach, I have had the gall to suggest that he may not be perfect. To be perfectly blunt, there’s little to no evidence of tangible improvements from a team-wide perspective.

That’s why I was quick to point out the team actually took a significant step forward in November, because it was the first time I could point to statistical proof that a team coached by St-Louis did better than average.

That’s not to say I think the Canadiens should fire him, but like every other coach in the league, there are clear areas of weakness when it comes to his approach, particularly his game management. Against Vegas, he had the opportunity to pull Samuel Montembeault, or call a timeout on several occasions before the Golden Knights mounted an unsurmountable 5-0 lead.

Admittedly, it’s  incredibly easy for me to propose a more active approach to game management would have changed anything, and to his credit, he did toss the lines into the blender after Vegas failed their two-point conversion.

Results Catching Up With The Process

There have been a few silver linings in the lineup this season, but no player has made a bigger impact with the minutes he’s been given than Emil Heineman.

Simply put, when Heineman is on the ice, the Canadiens control 51.7 percent of the shots at 5v5, which may not seem like a significant impact.

Without Heineman on the ice, the Canadiens control roughly 44 percent of the shots.

Of course, context is always king, and there’s no doubt he faces a lower quality of competition, but there is value to a fourth-line player who can drive the play into the offensive zone with regularity. In the spirit of fairness, St-Louis shifted Heineman to a line that featured better linemates in Brendan Gallagher and Jake Evans following the goal, which was the right call, and falls within the realm of game management.

A well-deserved goal for Heineman. His underlying numbers are fantastic (esp since the Habs do poorly in that regard).

The hockey gods owe him a few more points. #GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/CzlEML887K

— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) November 24, 2024

Heineman’s goal seem to reinvigorate the Montreal Canadiens, though it’s probably underselling Brendan Gallagher’s elite compete level to suggest he needs motivation. Either way, the veteran did all the work before Jayden Struble scored his first goal of the season, as is Gallagherian tradition.

Another strong play by Brendan Gallagher leads to Jayden Struble’s first goal of the year.

5-2 #GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/Mol4uzPpCM

— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) November 24, 2024

The Montreal Canadiens are back in action on Tuesday. They will host the Utah Hockey Club at the Bell Centre, with the puck drop scheduled for 7pm ET.

All Montreal Canadiens statistics are 5v5 unless otherwise noted, via Natural Stat Trick.