Habs Wrap: Dobes Stands Out, Demidov Shines, Hutson

MONTREAL — There’s always Montreal Canadiens content to absorb, but there are only so many hours in a day. On Sundays, we recap the most exciting and relevant NHL news stories that you may have missed throughout the week so that you can stay in the Canadiens loop.

We had to publish last week’s Habs Wrap a little later due to the holidays, which is why this week’s edition starts on Tuesday.

Tuesday

The Montreal Canadiens had an impressive performance against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Not only did they control the play at 5v5 for the majority of the game, the 5-2 win featured yet another Jake Evans goal. His 10th goal of the season placed him in a tie with Brendan Gallagher for the third most in the lineup. [Habs Highlights: Jake Evans Steals The Spotlight Again]

ICYMI: Even though the Canadiens won 4-0 versus the Florida Panthers on Saturday, Jakub Dobes still had to do his part, especially in the third period, when the Panthers took over from a momentum standpoint. Saturday’s game was also Kirby Dach’s best outing of the season thanks to a two-goal effort. As per tradition, Jake Evans scored a dramatic goal, and Juraj Slafkovsky looked good while playing on the first line. [Habs Highlights: Dream NHL Start For Dobes, Dach Finds Rhythm]

As an added benefit to the strong efforts in Florida, the Habs are heading to Las Vegas for New Year’s Eve with immaculate locker-room vibes. And unlike most of us who go to Nevada on December 31, they may actually remember the trip. The Habs are now just a few points out of a playoff spot thanks to the usual cast of Eastern Conference teams failing to meet expectations.

Las Vegas, nous voilà ✨

Vegas, here we come#GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/PpFBizRubp

— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) December 30, 2024

Unsurprisingly, goaltender Cayden Primeau was not claimed on waivers. He will now report to the Laval Rocket, where he’ll split starts with veteran netminder Connor Hughes. Primeau’s time with the Habs is likely to come to an end once his contract expires this summer, but a strong showing in the AHL to close out the season could renew his NHL aspirations. [Montreal Canadiens Place Primeau On NHL Waivers]

Wednesday

The Habs  closed out 2024 in style, mounting their first multi-goal comeback of the season to beat the Vegas Golden Knights 3-2. Samuel Montembeault was great, Emil Heineman scored again, Kirby Dach earned the GWG, and Cole Caufield scored the 100th goal of his NHL career. [Habs Highlights: Dach Is Back, Montembeault Holds Fort]

Speaking of Caufield, here he is with the puck used to reach 100 NHL goals.

100 #GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/0CSNy1tUrJ

— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) December 31, 2024

Martin St-Louis was rather pumped after Tuesday’s big win. It’s good to see him smiling, and not only because being a head coach in Montreal can be stressful. He’s the ultimate competitor, and if he’s smiling, it means the Canadiens are playing well.

Coach Marty St. Louis’ reaction after the Habs win vs Vegas.

He is HYPE 😤 pic.twitter.com/Zf700QUQEL

— /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) December 31, 2024

Former Hab Ilya Kovalchuk had some very nice things to say about his time in Montreal. As per usual, it was the fans who made the lasting impact. Kovalchuk went as far as saying his time in Montreal was among his career highlights, even if he only played 22 games for Les Glorieux at the tail-end of his time in the NHL.

«Montreal was one of the brightest periods in my career » – Ilya Kovalchuk about the times in Montreal pic.twitter.com/NTZmGNFEw8

— Милена (@D1VDsAGUJsk2iPk) January 1, 2025

Patrik Laine, noted good guy. Though I’d suggest buying tickets for a Leafs game is a little cruel, but the intention was great. Jokes aside, Laine is quickly becoming a fan favourite in Montreal, and we’re seeing a surge of good will and compliments from various NHL circles, which is fantastic. Sorry, Mr. Werenski.

Meet the Tappara Finland U15 AAA team, which will attend today’s Isles-Leafs game after winning the Wayne Gretzky International.

The best part? Patrik Laine covered the cost of tickets for the kids from his hometown who wouldn’t otherwise have had the budget to see an NHL game. pic.twitter.com/vHzowWQxub

— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) December 31, 2024

Prospect Tyler Thorpe, picked 130th overall in 2024, had another big game for the Vancouver Giants. He scored a goal and an assist versus the Victoria Royals, pushing his season totals to 14 goals and 17 assists in 34 games.

Oliver Kapanen quickly found his timing in the SHL, and continues to maintain close to a point-per-game pace. The decision to loan him to Timra is paying off.

Oliver Kapanen scores his fifth goal for the SHL season. His 12th point in 13 games. #Habs #GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/rUUjZfFgui

— Patrik Bexell (@Zeb_Habs) December 30, 2024

Thursday

Defenceman Lane Hutson continues to produce at an elite level, and now that the team has gotten used to anticipating his penchant for finding teammates in high-danger scoring areas with perfect passes, his numbers are at risk of improving further. Which, again, is impressive because he’s already registering his name on the scoresheet more often than most veteran defencemen.

Lane Hutson of the @CanadiensMTL, who shared the rookie lead with 13 points in 14 games, has been named the NHL’s “Rookie of the Month” for December.#NHLStats: https://t.co/o3HZ7H5MIi pic.twitter.com/PNiMxZ08M2

— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) January 1, 2025

The good news didn’t stop there, as top prospect Ivan Demidov was also given RoTM honours by the KHL. After a frustrating stretch in which his coach essentially rewarded strong play with constant reductions of ice time, Demidov is now being given the bare minimum TOI necessary to properly develop as a hockey player.

This has led to an unsurprising uptick in scoring, to the tune of four goals and two assists in six games. Of course, there’s still a lot of room for improvement when it comes to his usage.

Congrats to Ivan Demidov on being named the KHL Rookie of the Month 🔥

He scored 4G & 2A for 6P in 7GP, while only averaging 12:20 mins in December.

He was previously named the KHL Rookie of the Month back in September. pic.twitter.com/0brSE54Lwf

— /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) January 1, 2025

Sniper Cole Caufield is in good company when it comes to how quickly he reached 100 goals with the Montreal Canadiens. It took him nine additional games to score 100 than one of my childhood favourites, Mats Naslund.

Starting his team’s comeback from down 2-0 en route to defeating VGK 3-2 yesterday, Cole Caufield got his 100th NHL goal in the process. With it, he became the 9th fastest player from the start of a career to reach that mark with the @CanadiensMTL franchise (and 6th fastest here) pic.twitter.com/c3a2Zt58ro

— StatsCentre (@StatsCentre) January 1, 2025

Friday

Michael Hage had another big night for the University of Michigan. He scored the opening goal of the game versus Ohio State, closing down his opponent and forcing a turnover before quickly scoring. It was classic Hage, who has a penchant for doing everything at full speed.

He also assisted on Will Horcoff’s go-ahead goal in the third period, but his two-point effort wasn’t enough to save the Wolverines from losing 5-4 to the Buckeyes. Hage continues to lead Michigan in scoring with 10 goals and eight assists in 15 games, and it’s only fair to say the rest of the lineup has been rather underwhelming from an offensive standpoint.

ICYMI: Jake Evans is going to receive a well-deserved raise this summer, but it’s too early to tell whether it will come from the Canadiens, or a team looking to bolster their lineup via free agency. There are legitimate arguments to be made for keeping Evans in the fold, however, the same can be said about trading him at the deadline. [Canadiens Analysis: The Jake Evans Trade and Contract Situation]

Saturday

Top prospect Ivan Demidov enjoyed a two-goal night as SKA shut down CSKA 6-3. The 19-year-old forward has been given upwards of 15 time-on-ice in the last five games, and coincidentally, he’s scored five goals in that stretch. Demidov now has 12 goals and 17 assists in 39 games.

The first goal, in particular, was impressive, as it showed off Demidov’s hand-eye coordination and agility.

The Montreal Canadiens played well enough to win, but a lack of discipline and a great performance by Chicago Blackhawks goaltender Arvid Soderblom led to a frustrating 4-2 loss. On the bright side, Emil Heineman scored his 10th goal of the year, joining Matvei Michkov and Macklin Celebrini as the only rookies to reach the 10-goal mark.  [Habs Highlights: Heineman and Caufield Score, Soderblom Shines]

Sometimes the numbers align perfectly with our impression of a player’s performance, other times, they paint a completely different story. Mike Matheson seemed to have a difficult night against the Blackhawks, but he also generated a lot of chances with an impressive eight shots on net.

It’s also worth pointing out Michael Pezzetta had a decent game considering he hadn’t played since October. We don’t want to lean too much on small sample sizes, but Pezzetta has produced good numbers in his very limited time on ice this season.

NHL GameScore Impact Card for Montreal Canadiens on 2025-01-03: pic.twitter.com/m6GIAh6nmL

— HockeyStatCards (@hockeystatcards) January 4, 2025

Lost in Friday’s game was a rather nice moment between Kirby and Colton Dach. According to TSN it was the first time the brothers faced each other in a game.

not everyday you make your NHL debut playing against your brother🥹 pic.twitter.com/i3rwTSEPKS

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) January 4, 2025

Jakub Dobes once again stole the show against a top NHL team. The 23-year-old rookie allowed just one goal as the Habs put together another solid effort to beat the Colorado Avalanche 2-1 in a shootout. Dobes has only played two games, but it must be mentioned that he’s currently sporting a .982 save percentage. [Habs Highlights: Dobes Great, Caufield Goal, Slafkovsky Benched]