It turns out that the Habs could do just fine without their captain for another week. Montreal capped off their road trip with two more wins, then returned home for a strange but successful victory over Pittsburgh
The Week That Was
Oct. 27: Canadiens 2, Blues 0 – For 40 minutes, this was a relatively even game. Zach Bolduc opened the scoring in the second against his former team just after a power play ended but it would have been hard to rely on that standing as the winner. Florian Xhekaj helped that early in the third, tipping home his first NHL goal. And the Habs were content to call it a game after that. That is, aside from Jacob Fowler. He stole the show in the final frame, ultimately winding up with 46 saves while Montreal’s defensive structure struggled under pressure.
Oct. 29: Canadiens 5, Stars 2 – Jake Oettinger came into this game as the top goalie in the league this season. Few should have been expecting the Habs to score three goals on him, let alone potting three in the first period as they did with two from Cole Caufield and another from Alex Newhook. Newhook added another in the second to give Jakub Dobes more than ample goal support as he looks to get back on track. This game was a step in the right direction for him although there is still some work to be done to get him back into form.
Oct. 31: Canadiens 5, Penguins 4 – This one was a little scary out of the gate as both goalies were struggling early on, leading to four goals in eight minutes to start the game. The Canadiens were the better team for the first two periods and were able to get a two-goal advantage heading to the third period, which appears to be their new nemesis. Montreal was asleep at the switch for most of the third but Fowler saved his best period for last, allowing the Habs to hold on and extend their winning streak to five straight.
StatPack
Skaters:
| # | Player | GP | G | A | +/- | PIMS | SOG | ATOI |
| 8 | Mike Matheson | 1 | 0 | 2 | +2 | 0 | 3 | 23:25 |
| 13 | Cole Caufield | 3 | 2 | 0 | E | 0 | 8 | 17:53 |
| 15 | Alex Newhook | 3 | 2 | 0 | +1 | 0 | 3 | 18:29 |
| 17 | Josh Anderson | 3 | 2 | 1 | +4 | 2 | 5 | 15:55 |
| 20 | Juraj Slafkovsky | 3 | 0 | 1 | E | 0 | 4 | 17:46 |
| 21 | Kaiden Guhle | 3 | 0 | 0 | +1 | 4 | 3 | 23:58 |
| 22 | Chris Kreider | 3 | 1 | 2 | +6 | 0 | 7 | 12:27 |
| 24 | Phillip Danault | 3 | 1 | 2 | +1 | 0 | 3 | 19:35 |
| 42 | Adam Engstrom | 3 | 0 | 1 | +2 | 0 | 2 | 10:41 |
| 45 | Alexandre Carrier | 3 | 0 | 1 | E | 2 | 1 | 21:45 |
| 48 | Lane Hutson | 3 | 0 | 3 | +4 | 0 | 3 | 22:35 |
| 53 | Noah Dobson | 3 | 0 | 2 | +3 | 2 | 7 | 20:16 |
| 62 | Owen Beck | 1 | 0 | 1 | +1 | 5 | 1 | 8:51 |
| 63 | Florian Xhekaj | 3 | 1 | 1 | +2 | 4 | 3 | 6:56 |
| 71 | Jake Evans | 3 | 0 | 2 | +6 | 0 | 2 | 16:40 |
| 72 | Arber Xhekaj | 2 | 0 | 1 | +2 | 2 | 1 | 12:21 |
| 76 | Zachary Bolduc | 3 | 1 | 0 | E | 0 | 4 | 14:45 |
| 77 | Kirby Dach | 2 | 0 | 1 | +1 | 0 | 2 | 13:20 |
| 85 | Alexandre Texier | 3 | 1 | 1 | +2 | 0 | 4 | 13:41 |
| 91 | Oliver Kapanen | 3 | 1 | 0 | +2 | 4 | 3 | 12:57 |
Goalies:
| # | Player | Record | GAA | SV% | SO |
| 32 | Jacob Fowler | 2-0-0 | 2.01 | .947 | 1 |
| 75 | Jakub Dobes | 1-0-0 | 2.00 | .895 | 0 |
Team Leaders:
Goals: Cole Caufield (8)
Assists: Lane Hutson (10)
Points: Lane Hutson (13)
+/-: Lane Hutson (+8)
PIMS: Arber Xhekaj (16)
Shots: Cole Caufield (36)
News And Notes
– Mike Matheson’s return to the lineup was short-lived. He’s now set to miss the next two weeks with another lower-body injury sustained in the St. Louis game. With Laval on the road this past weekend, there wasn’t an immediate recall but it wouldn’t be shocking to see one somewhat quickly to get back to seven defenders.
– Jacob Fowler’s 46 saves were a franchise record by a rookie. His overall performance for the month was enough to earn him the NHL’s Rookie of the Month for October, while also sneaking in a Third Star of the Week nod last week.
– With his assist against the Blues, Lane Hutson passed Henri Richard for the most assists by a Hab before the age of 23. Juraj Slafkovsky, Petr Svoboda, and Mario Tremblay round out the rest of the top five in that category.
Last Game’s Lines
Caufield – Newhook – Slafkovsky
Bolduc – Danault – Texier
Kreider – Evans – Anderson
F. Xhekaj – Kapanen – Beck
Hutson – Dobson
Guhle – Carrier
A. Xhekaj – Engstrom
The Week Ahead
Tuesday vs Winnipeg – No team is in more disarray than the Jets right now. WSThey’ve lost nine straight games after getting walloped by Carolina on Sunday and there is speculation about a possible coaching change on the horizon. As expected, their goaltending has been shaky after a hot start while their top line continues to carry their offence without much support. Dawson Mercer, acquired in the Connor Hellebuyck trade, is still looking for his first goal while Winnipeg remains without their top defenceman, Josh Morrissey.
Thursday vs Utah – The Mammoth have won nine of 15 so far, a solid start at first glance. Their offence is rather strong. Their goaltending…not so much. Karel Vejmelka is off to a rough start and Sebastian Cossa, their new backup after being acquired from Detroit, hasn’t been any better. But Utah can outscore their deficiencies with no fewer than four players at a point per game or higher, led by former Hab defenceman Mikhail Sergachev. They added veterans Anders Lee and Vincent Trocheck over the summer to lengthen their attack, moves that have worked relatively well so far.
Saturday at Toronto – The Maple Leafs have been a mixed bag in the early going. There are games where they have dominated the play against tough opponents and others where they haven’t mustered up much. Sergei Bobrovsky has been a mixed bag between the pipes as well. However, Auston Matthews looks like he’s back in top form as one of the top goalscorers league-wide while Jack Roslovic is averaging a point per game while playing on Toronto’s top line. They just got Chris Tanev back as well to help stabilize their back end.
Final Thought
With Samuel Montembeault returning to practice, it’s only a matter of time Wbefore he’s ready to be activated back onto the active roster. At that time, things will start to get interesting roster-wise for the Habs.
For starters, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Habs go to him and ask him to take a conditioning stint in Laval. It could last as short as one start but it would give them a chance to assess his readiness and kick the can down the road a little roster-wise.
But Jacob Fowler clearly isn’t going back to the Rocket, at least not right now. If he falters later on, that could change, but he has earned a spot. But so has Montembeault, based on his training camp performance and general track record. He’s earned an opportunity to try to bounce back from last year. It’s a contract year for him and him bouncing back would give the Habs a trade chip, if nothing else. But he needs to play to be one.
That means the return of carrying three goalies. In doing so, the Canadiens won’t be able to carry 14 forwards as they were at the beginning of the year. That’s probably not good news for Florian Xhekaj, whose waiver exemption makes him the candidate to be cut (assuming Owen Beck is already sent down when Nick Suzuki and Ivan Demidov are back). And if they want to keep Xhekaj, then they can only carry six defencemen, a strategy that isn’t ideal for any extended stretch.
With the Habs not having a fully healthy group basically all season long, they haven’t had a roster crunch yet. But it’s coming soon and it will be interesting to see how they handle it.