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While last week saw the Habs lose a tough one after blowing a big early lead, they also picked up three victories to help keep pace in their surprisingly strong run to get back into the playoff discussion.

The Week That Was

Jan. 13: Canadiens 5, Utah 3 – Montreal couldn’t muster up much of anything in the opening period and for the longest time, they had one shot on goal (from Mike Matheson, who scored).  Eventually, the Habs found their skating legs in the second and started to push back, eventually taking the lead on a nice deke from Kirby Dach.  Utah tied it in the third but Lane Hutson set up Cole Caufield three minutes later for the eventual winner while Dach added one more for good measure.

Jan. 15: Canadiens 3, Stars 1 – Both teams scored within the first five minutes of the game and that was it for the longest time with Jakub Dobes and Jake Oettinger putting on a goaltending clinic.  But it was Montreal that broke through eventually with Alex Newhook tipping home a Hutson point shot midway through the third that served as the winner.

Jan. 17: Maple Leafs 7, Canadiens 3 – The Habs got off to a great start with three goals in the first period, including two in nine seconds with Josh Anderson potting the last of those.  But things went downhill from there.  Samuel Montembeault had a tough night and the defensive zone coverage was quite sloppy and Toronto took advantage and never looked back.

Jan. 18: Canadiens 5, Rangers 4 (OT) – This was a hard-fought win for Montreal who came back from four separate one-goal deficits (though it should be noted New York retook the lead twice within two minutes of it being tied).  Juraj Slafkovsky scored the fourth comeback goal that eventually forced overtime and in the extra session, Kaiden Guhle set up Patrik Laine for the winner.

StatPack

Skaters:

Goalies:

Team Leaders:

Goals: Cole Caufield (24)
Assists: Lane Hutson (35)
Points: Nick Suzuki (47)
+/-: Evans/Suzuki (+8)
PIMS: Arber Xhekaj (72)
Shots: Cole Caufield (142)

News And Notes

– Emil Heineman was hit by a car in Utah on Monday, causing him to suffer an upper-body injury.  He’s expected to miss three to four weeks.

– After Michael Pezzetta barely played for three straight games in Heineman’s absence, the Habs recalled Owen Beck from Laval.  He played his third game in as many nights against the Rangers.

– Lane Hutson has 35 assists on the season so far.  The other 28 rookie defencemen (including Logan Mailloux) league-wide have combined for 42.

Last Game’s Lines

Caufield – Suzuki – Slafkovsky
Newhook – Dach – Laine
Anderson – Dvorak – Gallagher
Beck – Evans – Armia

Hutson – Matheson
Guhle – Carrier
Xhekaj – Savard

The Week Ahead

Tuesday vs Tampa Bay – The Habs will catch the Lightning on the back end of a back-to-back after the roles were reversed late last month.  The Lightning are in the top five for goals scored and top five for fewest goals allowed heading into Monday’s action.  Nikita Kucherov leads the way once again while three other forwards are all over a point per game.  They’re currently down a pair of regular blueliners, however, with Erik Cernak and J-J Moser on the shelf.

Thursday at Detroit – This is not the same Red Wings team the Habs faced last month that eventually led to a coaching change.  Detroit had a seven-game winning streak snapped last week, one that got them back within striking distance of a Wild Card spot.  Patrick Kane has been red-hot since the coaching change, putting up 16 points in 12 games since then.  Former Hab Jeff Petry may be unavailable for this one as an injury that was believed to be relatively minor has kept him out for more than two weeks and counting.

Saturday vs New Jersey – It has been a rough road lately for the Devils who have lost four straight and eight of their last ten games.  Offence has been an issue for them lately as in those ten games, they’ve only scored more than two goals in three of them.  Jacob Markstrom has been particularly stingy this season; his 2.20 GAA ranks fifth league-wide.

Final Thought

The second line has shown signs of life in recent weeks which goes a long way toward explaining why Montreal has been on a good run as of late.  When you have two lines scoring, it makes a big difference.  Patrik Laine has gotten plenty of attention while Kirby Dach has been praised for his improved performance as of late. 

However, the third member of that line has flown a bit more under the spotlight.  Early in the season, Alex Newhook was barely noticeable some nights.  The adjustment back to the wing didn’t seem to suit him and he was shuffled around on a few different lines and never really got much going.  Even when he was placed with Laine and Dach, he felt like the outlier.

To his credit, Newhook has been much more noticeable the last couple of weeks.  It looks like he’s figured out the role of the speedster on a trio where he’s the only strong skater.  He seems to be handling the puck a bit more on zone entries and in recent games, he’s even shooting more often.  While the overall numbers are still not particularly impressive, it looks like Newhook is starting to find his way.  With the second line being a big key to what the Habs are trying to accomplish in terms of getting back into the playoff picture, getting him to be more of a contributor is certainly a nice step in the right direction.