The Habs found their way into the record books once again this week, though not one they wanted to have. Despite that, it was still a very successful week on the ice, as they walked away with five of six points. Also, dreams of signing Nikita Kucherov will have an effect on how Kent Hughes approaches extension talks with his veterans in the next little while.
The Week That Was
Nov. 3:Jets 5, Canadiens 4 (OT) – For 57 minutes, the Habs were sitting pretty. While they weren’t playing great, they had a 4-0 lead thanks to goals from Cole Caufield (two), Owen Beck, and Josh Anderson. Jacob Fowler was standing tall and it looked like it was over. And then it wasn’t. Fresh off a fight with Arber Xhekaj, Tyrel Bauer picked up his first career NHL goal. Morgan Barron scored on the next shift. Kyle Connor one-timed one home a shift after that and after Alexandre Carrier took a bad tripping penalty in the final minute, Connor one-timed another one home, this time off Noah Dobson for the latest four-goal comeback in league history. Dylan Samberg scored with 1:30 left in overtime to complete the comeback that no one saw coming and end Winnipeg’s long losing streak.
Nov. 5: Canadiens 5, Mammoth 4 (OT) – After Montreal led for the majority of Tuesday’s game, the script was flipped for this one as they never led. Instead, they trailed on three separate occasions, coming back each time. A trio of Habs picked up their first goal of the season in this one: Xhekaj, Kirby Dach, and Adam Engstrom, whose goal was his first in the NHL. Engstrom’s goal squared things at four late in the third, paving the way for Caufield to pot yet another overtime winner to secure the extra point.
Nov. 7: Canadiens 4, Maple Leafs 2 – Alex Newhook got the Habs off to a nice start with a pair of goals, one Toronto kicked in themselves and one off a redirected shot. Chris Kreider added a breakaway goal in the second and with a three-goal lead going to the third, there was no way they’d blow this lead, right? Well, Toronto potted two in a span of 55 seconds early in the third to get the hearts pumping a little quicker. However, Zach Bolduc one-timed home a shot on the power play to give Montreal some breathing room and this time, they were able to hold on from there to cap the week on a high note.
StatPack
Skaters:
| # | Player | GP | G | A | +/- | PIMS | SOG | ATOI |
| 13 | Cole Caufield | 3 | 3 | 1 | +1 | 2 | 13 | 17:25 |
| 14 | Nick Suzuki | 3 | 1 | 2 | +3 | 0 | 5 | 19:14 |
| 15 | Alex Newhook | 3 | 2 | 1 | +3 | 2 | 3 | 15:24 |
| 17 | Josh Anderson | 2 | 1 | 0 | +2 | 2 | 3 | 15:04 |
| 20 | Juraj Slafkovsky | 3 | 0 | 3 | E | 6 | 7 | 17:33 |
| 21 | Kaiden Guhle | 3 | 0 | 2 | +2 | 2 | 3 | 24:54 |
| 22 | Chris Kreider | 3 | 1 | 1 | -1 | 2 | 4 | 12:14 |
| 24 | Phillip Danault | 3 | 0 | 0 | -2 | 0 | 1 | 17:14 |
| 42 | Adam Engstrom | 3 | 1 | 0 | +2 | 0 | 4 | 11:58 |
| 45 | Alexandre Carrier | 3 | 0 | 0 | E | 4 | 1 | 23:06 |
| 48 | Lane Hutson | 3 | 0 | 4 | E | 2 | 6 | 24:43 |
| 53 | Noah Dobson | 3 | 0 | 3 | +2 | 2 | 6 | 20:45 |
| 62 | Owen Beck | 2 | 1 | 0 | E | 0 | 1 | 9:54 |
| 63 | Florian Xhekaj | 3 | 0 | 1 | +1 | 9 | 3 | 8:54 |
| 71 | Jake Evans | 3 | 0 | 1 | -2 | 0 | 1 | 18:09 |
| 72 | Arber Xhekaj | 3 | 1 | 1 | E | 14 | 5 | 11:47 |
| 76 | Zachary Bolduc | 3 | 1 | 0 | -1 | 0 | 7 | 14:59 |
| 77 | Kirby Dach | 2 | 1 | 2 | +4 | 0 | 3 | 12:24 |
| 85 | Alexandre Texier | 3 | 0 | 0 | -2 | 2 | 7 | 14:02 |
| 91 | Oliver Kapanen | 3 | 0 | 1 | +3 | 0 | 2 | 10:25 |
Goalies:
| # | Player | Record | GAA | SV% | SO |
| 32 | Jacob Fowler | 1-0-1 | 3.40 | .907 | 0 |
| 75 | Jakub Dobes | 1-0-0 | 3.97 | .800 | 0 |
Team Leaders:
Goals: Cole Caufield (11)
Assists: Lane Hutson (14)
Points: Lane Hutson (17)
+/-: Nick Suzuki (+9)
PIMS: Arber Xhekaj (32)
Shots: Cole Caufield (57)
News And Notes
– Nick Suzuki was able to return to the lineup earlier than expected as he returned at the beginning of the week. Kirby Dach was also able to return from his illness after missing a couple of games.
– Kaiden Guhle has played over 25 minutes four times already this season in 13 games. He only reached that mark four times in the last two years combined, spanning 94 regular season contests.
– Both Arber and Florian Xhekaj assisted on Owen Beck’s goal against Winnipeg. It was the first time since December 30, 2007, that a pair of brothers assisted on a goal for the Habs. Those would be the Kostitsyn brothers, assisting on a Tomas Plekanec tally.
Last Game’s Lines:
Caufield — Suzuki — Slafkovsky
Bolduc — Danault — Texier
Kreider — Evans — Beck
Newhook — Kapanen — Dach
Hutson — Dobson
Guhle — Carrier
Xhekaj — Engstrom
The Week Ahead
Tuesday vs Minnesota – The Central Division has three elite teams in it and the Wild find themselves at the top in the early going. Kirill Kaprizov leads the league in goals with 16 while Quinn Hughes is on pace for a career year offensively in his walk year. Jesper Wallstedt has gotten a heavy workload with Filip Gustavsson out of the lineup and he has been stellar thus far. They score a lot and don’t allow many goals. This will be a tough one.
Thursday at Boston – This will be a tough one as well. The Bruins were a popular pick to perhaps take a step back in the standings (I was thinking that as well) but here they are leading the Atlantic Division. They’re even stingier in the goals allowed department than the Wild and have scored one more goal to boot. David Pastrnak once again is pacing them offensively while they have a balanced attack with seven forwards already at 11 points or higher. One of those is James Hagens, who was recently sidelined with a back injury.
Saturday vs Colorado – This game, well, isn’t any easier than the other two. The Avs are one of the highest scoring teams in the league, led by Nathan MacKinnon in terms of points and Artturi Lehkonen in goals, a nice start to his contract year. However, Scott Wedgewood, a breakout performer in goal last year, has struggled mightily out of the gate with Mackenzie Blackwood playing closer to league average in goal. That has them third in the division but with their firepower, they’re always dangerous on any given night.
Final Thought
With the news that Nikita Kucherov won’t re-sign in Tampa Bay and the speculation that he’d be open to signing in Montreal, there has been plenty of talk about if the Habs should try to trade for him (even though Tampa isn’t likely to deal him) or just wait for free agency. While I agree that he’s worth pursuing on the open market, if Kent Hughes feels the same way, that’s going to impact things now.
The Canadiens have a little under $30 million in cap space for next season,per PuckPedia. That number will go down by any bonus carryover penalty so spending big to try to win now would make it harder to afford to sign Kucherov in the summer if he wanted to come to Montreal. That’s one thing to keep in mind.
The other is extension talks. It’s believed they’re already underway with Josh Anderson. Phillip Danault probably wants to stick around. Alexandre Carrier wants to stick around. And if those three sign early, they’ll take themselves right out of the Kucherov market in the process as they won’t have enough cap room to meet his asking price and re-sign their other players (including Oliver Kapanen, Adam Engstrom, and Arber Xhekaj).
If the Habs are serious about pursuing Kucherov, those talks probably have to be put on hold while making a move to open up cap space this season becomes a lot more important while needing to be more selective on what they try to add. It’s not impossible, but this is going to be a fine line to walk for Hughes and company if they want to help today’s group and leave enough flexibility to try to pursue Kucherov on the open market. Let’s see how they try to pull this off.