For the grand finale of the NHL preseason, the Maple Leafs sent their less-than-stellar team to the Bell Centre. Nylander was included, but it was young Alexander, not his more famous brother William. The Habs countered with a stronger lineup, including their expected season-opening top two lines, Caufield-Suzuki-Slafkovsky and Newhook-Dach-Laine.
The Habs fans’ hopes quickly started circling the drain as the curse of injuries extended itself to the upcoming season, with two key players injured in the first five minutes. In the face of that, the final 2-1 score makes little difference to the team or to its fans.
Starting Lines
Caufield – Suzuki – Slafkovsky
Newhook – Dach – Laine
Roy – Beck – Anderson
Farrell- Condotta – Davidson
Matheson – Reinbacher
Hutson – Savard
Xhekaj – Mailloux
Montembeault
Primeau
Ten Thoughts
#1: David Reinbacher, the Habs’ fifth-overall pick last year and their big hope on the right side, was hurt seconds after taking to the ice for his first shift. Hit by Marshall Rifai, he made it to the bench with just 13 seconds of TOI recorded, and was helped, limping, into the tunnel and the Habs’ dressing room, badly favouring his left ankle.
#2: The Habs got an early power play when Philippe Myers was called for tripping Kirby Dach at 02:07, but the joy was short-lived. The first power-play unit couldn’t get a shot and the second unit jumped on the ice, but as they were executing a controlled zone entry, Cedric Pare made knee-on-knee contact on Patrik Laine. Slow-motion replay showed Laine’s left knee turning unnaturally out. Laine collapsed immediately, doubled over in pain, but it took excruciating seconds before the referees stopped play. End of the season for Laine, before it even started?
#3: Given that Pare was not even penalized on the play, it was hardly surprising that Arber Xhekaj took it upon himself to dispense justice, beating Pare up in the Habs’ defensive zone. Bad timing to leave the game–the referees threw the book at Xhekaj, with a two, a five, a ten and the game–but if Xhekaj won’t stand up for the team’s star players, what signal does that send?
#4: With the Habs down to four defenders and ten forwards–Sean Farrell was in the box for Xhekaj–the seven-minute PK was very much a tall order. Samuel Montembeault stood tall but four and a half minutes into the man advantage, Nick Robertson found himself free to the right of Montembeault and sent the puck just off Montembeault’s right pad to give the Leafs a 1-0 lead.
#5: With seven power plays, the Habs certainly got substantial opportunities to practice their power play craft. The first unit, now featuring Dach in addition to Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Juraj Slafkovsky, and Mike Matheson, had improved zone entry and decent puck movement, but the players were unable to find open shooting lanes, recording only three shots on goal. The second unit, with Alex Newhook, Joshua Roy, Josh Anderson, Farrell, and the amazing Lane Hutson, was arguably more dangerous, but this lineup is far from what we’re likely to see in the regular season.
#6: Rifai continued to cause trouble in the second period, cross-checking Slafkovsky as the Habs were applying pressure. The big Slovak took exception to it, and showed the Leafs that he can stand up for himself, dropping his gloves to take on Rifai. Five minutes each, and arguably Slafkovsky is far more valuable, but the statement, too, has value.
#7: Easton Cowan sprinted off to a breakaway at the nine-minute mark, but was caught by Hutson and Newhook to neutralize the attack. Hutson is not viewed as a speedster but he demonstrated that he can indeed catch up to at least some of the breakaways.
#8: Three minutes into the final period, Robertson repeated his scoring trick, this time on Cayden Primeau, who had taken over from Montembeault halfway through the second. The shot was nearly an exact replica of the one he used to score on Montembeault, as he slid the puck between the post and Primeau’s right skate to extend the Toronto lead to 2-0.
#9: Halfway through that final frame the Habs looked to have finally solved Dennis Hildeby, Toronto’s rookie goaltender, as Jared Davidson tucked the puck in between his pads. The replays showed the puck rolling on the goal line, toward the back of the net, but the goalie’s pads covered the video after that. And the referees decided to disallow the goal, much to the frustration of the Bell Centre fans. Hildeby certainly played a strong game, but he had puck luck on his side as well.
#10: The Canadiens finally broke through with 104 seconds remaining, as Dach slammed in a Lane Hutson pass to get the home team on the board, with Primeau on the bench. Too little, too late, though, as the bleu, blanc, et rouge were unable to get another scoring opportunity in the remaining seconds.
HW Habs 3 Stars
First Star: Juraj Slafkovsky (0g, 0a, 1 shot, +1, 18:53 TOI) did not record a point in the game but showed that he was a force to be reckoned with. There is no question that Slafkovsky is starting his new season where he left off the last one, and the only direction is upward.
Second Star: Lane Hutson (0g, 1a, 3 shots, +0, 25:16 TOI) wasted no time fitting in with the Habs, and showed off his puck-handling skills time and again. A few defensive mistakes were seen but no worse than what we might see from a veteran like Mike Matheson. And 25+ minutes on the ice showed that he is in shape and ready for the NHL.
Third Star: Samuel Montembeault (12 shots, 11 saves, 0.917 save%, 0.13 GSAx) kept the Habs in the game through that seven-minute penalty kill, only conceding the single goal to Robertson.