It was fitting that Alex Newhookâ€s last impactful play of Saturdayâ€s game came from within 30 feet of his own net.
There he stood in the left faceoff circle of Montrealâ€s end, pulling back another puck from John Tavares with 17 seconds remaining to help the Canadiens fight off a late Toronto surge and seal a 4-2 win at Scotiabank Arena. The won draw would be Newhookâ€s third of three in the defensive zone, where a dominant night for him started and ended.
At four-on-four, in the 12th minute of play, he charged back to break up a dangerous Maple Leafs rush before hustling down the ice to finish the play between Alex Carrier and Zachary Bolduc that gave the Canadiens a 1-0 lead. And then, in the 11th minute of the second period, with Montreal on the power play, Newhook sprinted on the backcheck to steal away a great scoring chance from William Nylander before turning the puck back up ice and hustling to the bench to gain his seat just in time to watch fellow Maritimer Riley Kidney put the Canadiens up 2-0.
Five minutes later, Newhook made a great touch pass to Tyler Thorpe coming over the offensive blue line and then celebrated his second point of the game after Lane Hutson gave the Canadiens a 3-1 lead.
But that was just the cherry on top.
The sundae was Newhook showing on Saturday that he could not only fill Christian Dvorakâ€s skates but also prove to be an upgrade on the 29-year-old centre who drove Montrealâ€s third line last season before departing to Philadelphia via free agency.
Oh, we get it. It was a pre-season game, featuring a mishmash of veterans and rookies on both sides.
The thing is, Newhook matched up against bona fide NHLers for most of his night. He saw a heavy dose of Stanley Cup winner Nic Roy, and healthy ones of Tavares and Calle Jarnkrok up the middle, and the way he handled all that suggested he was made to play the role thatâ€s been designated to him this season.
Itâ€s not the role Newhook hoped to fill when he was picked 16th overall in 2019 by Colorado. Itâ€s not even the role the Canadiens originally envisioned him filling when they traded a first- and second-round pick and scooped him up one year after he lifted the Cup with the Avalanche.
But Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis said in the middle of last season — when Newhook was in the process of struggling to produce from the second line — that his speed should enable him to be a dominant defensive player, and now heâ€s counting on Newhook to show that this season.
Dvorak did it with smarts last season. He pulled back 56 per cent of his faceoffs and played in straight lines between Brendan Gallagher and Josh Anderson, and the Canadiens benefited greatly from his contribution.
When Dvorak signed with the Flyers this summer, it left holes up the middle and on the penalty kill.
But the Canadiens let the Chicago native go because they felt those holes could be filled by the 24-year-old Newfoundlander.
“I think (Newhook) is built to be a good penalty killer,†said St. Louis when training camp started. “I think Newy can do a lot of things on the ice. He can play the power play, I feel heâ€s a guy who can play the PK, he can play centre, he can play wing…â€
Yes, Newhook can do all those things, and he did them all particularly well on Saturday night.
It helped that linemate Bolduc was flying next to him. It also helped that Oliver Kapanen gained an edge in the race to complete the trio with his play on Saturday.
But it was Newhook controlling much of what happened when he, Bolduc and Kapanen were on the ice.
They got tough matchups all night and survived them on the road. And Newhook was especially in the dot, where he won 50 per cent of his faceoffs.
Itâ€s the area of Newhookâ€s game that needs the most work—he comes into the season having won just 41.8 per cent of the 1982 faceoffs heâ€s taken in the NHL—but winning the most important ones he took in this game was a step in the right direction.
That last one against Tavares capped a strong defensive night for Newhook. And he turned his strong defence into offence that helped the Canadiens improve their pre-season record to 3-1-0.
If Newhook can replicate that type of effort with consistency, itâ€ll go a long way towards helping the Canadiens have a winning record in the regular season.
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