Browsing: Canadiens

Lane Hutsonâ€s first goal of the season, scored at 11:38 of the third period, proved to be the winner as the Montreal Canadiens defeated the Buffalo Sabres 4-2 at the Bell Centre on Tuesday.

Oliver Kapanen opened the scoring for Montreal (5-2-0) with his fourth goal of the season after a rush from Ivan Demidov. Kapanen leads all NHL rookies in goals, while Demidov is tied for the rookie points lead.

Juraj Slafkovsky and Jake Evans also scored for Montreal, while Alex Newhook and Nick Suzuki each had two assists. Jakub Dobes made 29 saves for the Canadiens, including 13 in the third period.

Jiri Kulich and Tyler Kozak scored for the Sabres (2-4-0), who lost for the first time in three games. The Sabres pulled their goaltender with over two minutes remaining. Alex Lyon made 27 saves.

Both teams went 0-1 on the power play.

Sabres: Zach Benson assisted on Kulichâ€s goal and now has six assists in three games after an injury kept him out to start the season.

Canadiens: With Kapanen and Demidov combining on the first goal of the game, the Canadiens lead all NHL teams with nine points from rookies this season.

After Montrealâ€s first power play of the game, Dobes made two big saves on Tage Thompson and Benson. Less than a minute later, Hutson scored the eventual winner to make it 3-1.

With his goal, Hutson has nine points in five career games against the Sabres.

Sabres: Host the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday.

Canadiens: Visit the Calgary Flames on Wednesday.

Source link

Itâ€s been quite some time since both the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Montreal Canadiens had strong teams at the same time. The Leafs have been the better squad in the regular season over the last few years, but Montreal got the best of them with an epic comeback series win when the two met in the 2021 playoffs.

Montreal has grown by leaps and bounds since then, though. The Canadiens have been one of the most exciting teams to watch this season and have already won a couple of thrilling games. But do they have enough to surpass their archrivals this season? Letâ€s dive into that and other potential overreactions from this week.

Canadiens poised to finish with more points than Leafs

An early glance at the Atlantic standings reveals Montreal in an unfamiliar spot, tied atop the division with the Maple Leafs one point behind. Thereâ€s a lot of hockey to be played and Toronto has beaten the Canadiens this year, but there is reason to believe the gap between the two teams has narrowed considerably. Montreal looks like one of the fastest teams in the league, playing an up-tempo style that the opposition is having a tough time dealing with. Cole Caufield looks to be developing into a great goal scorer and Nick Suzuki is tremendous at both ends of the ice. The Canadiens had to scratch and claw to get into the postseason a year ago, though this group looks ready to take a forward and potentially overtake a team like the Maple Leafs.

• 
• NHL on Sportsnet

  Livestream Hockey Night in Canada, Scotiabank Wednesday Night Hockey, the Oilers, Flames, Canucks, out-of-market matchups, the Stanley Cup Playoffs and the NHL Draft.

  Broadcast schedule

Overreaction? – No

First off, the Leafs have lost a superstar and 100-point player in Mitch Marner, making them less potent offensively and putting the forward depth between the two teams more on par. Toronto has added the likes of Nic Roy, Matias Maccelli and Dakota Joshua, who havenâ€t really clicked yet in any meaningful offensive way. Itâ€s fair to question how Toronto will replace Marnerâ€s offence.

Then thereâ€s the blue line, where the Leafs have a solid group but itâ€s much older than Montrealâ€s, and the Canadiens have better puck movers. Lane Hutson, Noah Dobson and Mike Matheson will all be able to drive offence from the back end to help the forward group generate more scoring.

When it comes to the goaltending, this is the area Iâ€d be most concerned about if I were the Maple Leafs. Joseph Woll has been away from the team and thereâ€s no word on when he might return, leaving the bulk of the work to Anthony Stolarz, who has never played more than 34 games in a season. Expecting Stolarz to replicate the incredible numbers he posted last season is a big ask under the circumstances. Toronto is playing 13 non-playoff teams from 2024-25 in its first 15 games this year, with 10 of those games coming at home, and so far, they are off to a mediocre start. If the Maple Leafs donâ€t pick it up soon, it could be an opportunity for Montreal to take advantage of.

I donâ€t think the Canadiens are going to completely leave the Leafs in their dust or anything like that, but the two teams feel closer than they have in a while. Toronto had 108 points last year and Montreal had 91, so could I see a scenario where Montreal ups its total by nine or 10 points? Sure. And would it shock me if the Leafs regress by eight points or so? Absolutely not. Either way, I still think both teams make the playoffs and maybe weâ€ll even be treated to another first-round matchup between the two.

Matvei Michkov is headed for a sophomore slump

Itâ€s been a very quiet start for Matvei Michkov. After dazzling with 26 goals and 63 points as a rookie, Michkov has just a single point this season and heâ€s only managed a total of seven shots on goal in five games. Whatâ€s more troubling? It seems Rick Tocchet isnâ€t leaning on Michkov too heavily just yet. The Philadelphia Flyers forward has played less than 15 minutes in four of his five games so far this year after averaging almost 17 minutes a night a year ago. He also played a season low 12:07 on Saturday night. If Michkov is getting less playing time under Tocchet than John Tortorella, you can understand why Flyers fans may be concerned about a sophomore slump.

Overreaction? – Yes

I wouldnâ€t be overly concerned about Michkov just yet. Letâ€s not discount the adjustment it takes to acclimate yourself to a new head coach and playing style, especially for a young player like Michkov. Heâ€s still on the top line and Iâ€d expect his minutes to increase as the season goes on and he earns more of Tocchetâ€s trust. If he managed 63 points under Tortorella, thereâ€s surely a path to eventually bettering that under a coach that wonâ€t have the offensive shackles on so tightly.

That isnâ€t to say Tocchet will have the Flyers playing pond hockey out there; far from it. But his Vancouver Canucks finished sixth overall in goals just two years ago, so I think Tocchet will allow Philly to be a little more creative offensively than Tortorella did. Thatâ€s not to say Michkov will finish near the top of the league in scoring or anything, but I donâ€t see his numbers plummeting drastically in year two either.

Jack Eichel making early MVP case

Donâ€t look now, but Jack Eichel is leading the league in scoring. Eichel has at least two points in every game but one and already has five goals. Heâ€s not going to score 80 times but it seems very realistic that Eichel could easily surpass his career high of 36 playing with Marner on a regular basis. Thereâ€s a long way to go in the season but if you were handing out the Hart Trophy today, it would probably go to Eichel.

Overreaction? – No

I donâ€t see any signs of Eichel slowing down. He had 94 points in 77 games a year ago, and as long as heâ€s healthy, Eichel seems destined to cross the century mark with ease in 2025-26. There are also a couple of things working in Eichelâ€s favour right now, like a healthy Mark Stone who has 11 assists and obviously Marner, who also has tremendous vision and an incredible skillset. Eichel has never skated with a playmaker as talented as Marner, so a career high in points could very well be in order. Marner is also very good defensively, meaning he can help take some of the pressure off Eichel in that department so he can focus a little more on offence.

There will obviously be others that are going to be in the Hart conversation, like Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon and Kirill Kaprizov, to name a few, but it very much feels like Eichel is going to be in the mix all season long with the way things are going.

Matt Boldy will hit 50 goals

He hasnâ€t even scored 30 goals since the 2022-23 season, but this year feels different for Matt Boldy. The Minnesota Wild forward is off to the races with a goal in the first four games he played to go along with five assists. Boldy has the luxury of playing on a stacked top line with Kirill Kaprizov and Marco Rossi and thatâ€s helping him find the scoresheet with regularity. The 24-year-old is starting to establish himself as an elite talent and it does seem like he has the ability to score 50 goals if all the stars align.

Overreaction? – No

Boldy managed just 27 goals last season, but that was with Kaprizov missing half the 2024-25 campaign. If Kaprizov can stay healthy this year and the duo are paired up as wingers for the majority of the season, thereâ€s no reason to believe Boldy canâ€t add another 20 goals or so to his total. Plus, Rossi is proving to be a real offensive threat as well, coming off a 60-point campaign himself. That trio could become one of the most formidable lines in all of hockey. Even if the Wild flip-flop Rossi and Joel Eriksson Ek at times as the top line centre, it still gives Boldy a solid pivot to play with.

There also seems to be an increased emphasis on Boldy shooting the puck more, as last season he set a career high in that department with 271 shots. This year, he is on pace to beat that mark, and thereâ€s a good chance that playing next to Kaprizov will give him more quality looks. Kaprizov is going to attract the majority of the attention in the offensive zone, which should free up more time and space for Boldy. It would not shock me, as long as everyone stays healthy, if Boldy doubles his goal total from a year ago.

Cam Talbot has overtaken John Gibson as the Red Wings’ number one goalie

John Gibson finally gets a change of scenery and lands in Detroit, only to watch Cam Talbot start three of the first four games of the season. Talbot has been excellent thus far, going 3-0-0 with a .932 save percentage, as the Red Wings are making some early noise in the Atlantic. His starts have also come against tough competition, as Talbot has beaten the Maple Leafs twice as well as the Florida Panthers. Meanwhile, Gibson had a rough first game, allowing five goals on 13 shots. He bounced back Friday with a quality start against the Tampa Bay Lightning but the Wings are desperate for results and Talbot could easily get the majority of the starts going forward if he keeps this up.

Overreaction? – Yes

Keep in mind, Talbot is 38 years old and heâ€s had hot starts in recent years but struggled to sustain them. Last season was a great example, as Talbot started with a .913 in October and a .919 in November, only to fade in December with a mark of .869. Then, from February onward, Talbot had a save percentage well below .900. At his age, heâ€ll have a tough time sustaining this level of play if heâ€s asked to take on a heavy workload. Talbotâ€s numbers are going to come back down to earth at some point.

Plus, Detroit gave up a pair of draft picks and Petr Mrazek to get Gibson, so they have a lot invested to make it work. Theyâ€re going to give him every chance to succeed because he has a higher ceiling than Talbot. If Gibsonâ€s injury woes continue, thatâ€s another matter altogether, but Iâ€d expect Gibson to end up with more playing time than Talbot as long as heâ€s healthy. The Red Wings have been looking for stability in goal for years, and Gibson ultimately gives them the best chance to make that happen if he can find consistency with his game.

• 
• 32 Thoughts: The Podcast

  Hockey fans already know the name, but this is not the blog. From Sportsnet, 32 Thoughts: The Podcast with NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman and Kyle Bukauskas is a weekly deep dive into the biggest news and interviews from the hockey world.

  Latest episode

The Hurricanes will finally get over the hump this season

Only one undefeated team remains, and itâ€s the Carolina Hurricanes. The Canes have looked great over the first two weeks, outscoring their opponents 23-11 in five victories with goals from 13 different players. Seth Jarvis has looked to have found another gear, already finding the back of the net six times, which included an overtime winner Saturday night. Carolina also has the benefit of playing in the Metropolitan Division, which is arguably the weakest in the league. It already looks like the Hurricanes are well set up for another deep playoff run.

Overreaction? – Yes

Letâ€s not get too ahead of ourselves here. Carolina has only beaten New Jersey, Philadelphia, San Jose, Anaheim and Los Angeles, not exactly a gauntlet of teams to run through there. Plus, there are already questions in goal again, as Pyotr Kochetkov is injured and you can only rely on Frederik Andersen for so long. Andersen played three of the first four games and that pace isn’t a recipe for success for keeping him healthy. What matters most for the Canes in the post-season, as they’ve had a hard time getting past the Florida Panthers (who haven’t?) in the Conference Finals. They can’t prove they’re more prepared to battle Florida after a handful of wins over mediocre teams in October. The jury is still out on whether things will be different for Carolina this spring.

Source link

MONTREAL — It wasnâ€t the outcome the Montreal Canadiens were looking for, but it might be the one that keeps them rolling through the start of their season.

Because despite playing a great first period, their last two periods against the New York Rangers Saturday didnâ€t merit a reward. They deserved to lose 4-3 in the end and staging another late comeback — after two last-second ones over the Seattle Kraken and Nashville Predators this week extended their win streak to three and improved their record to 4-1-0 — wouldâ€ve only masked issues that need to be immediately corrected.

Had Matthew Robertsonâ€s harmless-looking shot hit the post instead of beating Samuel Montembeault clean from 60 feet away in the 45th minute of play, it might have kept the Canadiens goaltender from working on a part of his game that needs work. According to NHL Edge data, he was well below NHL average on shots from long range last season, and his save percentage on those shots has dipped through the early part of this season.

Montembeault has also been off his angle on a few of the 13 goals that have gotten by him so far this season and Artemi Panarinâ€s game-winning goal, which took advantage of that weakness just 1:30 after Robertson played on the other one, will force the goalie to sharpen this part of his game as well.

At least he doesnâ€t need to practise taking accountability.

“I need to make those saves to give us a chance,†said Montembeault.

It was a good thing his teammates took accountability for putting him in a position where he needed to make some big saves in the third period.

Sure, they were missing Kirby Dach, Patrik Laine and Kaiden Guhle, which forced them to adjust their lines, defence pairings and special-teams units.

But coach Martin St. Louis said that had little to do with the Canadiens mismanaging the game and swinging momentum their opponentâ€s way.

They didnâ€t do nearly enough to gain it back, and that had as much to do with the result as Montembeaultâ€s faulty play did.

It was unforeseeable the Canadiens would falter as they did after pushing the Rangers so far back on their heels that a fall to their rear ends appeared inevitable. They came flying out of the gate, and their two goals through the first four minutes of play were just rewards for how they were playing.

The Canadiens were sharp, precise, connected, supporting each other up and down the ice and executing meticulously to seize full control and demoralize a fragile Rangers team that had scored one goal total over the course of a three-game losing streak.

But after the Canadiens carried momentum — and a 2-1 lead — through the end of the first, hubris kicked in.

“I think we got overconfident with our win streak and our lead,†said Nick Suzuki, “and they were able to get the lead.â€

He talked about forcing plays coming up the ice in the second period, about not managing the long change well, about how he and his teammates could sense in real time to what extent their game was slipping, and about how they didnâ€t adjust quickly enough and got caught in yet another situation where theyâ€d have to pull a rabbit out of the hat just to earn a point in the standings, let alone two.

The Canadiens wouldâ€ve taken them and ran.

But that might have had them running from their problems instead of focusing on them after the game so they could address them before the next one.

Thatâ€s what they need to do, because pulling off magic tricks is anything but a sustainable win strategy in a league that features as much parity as the NHL does.

Managing the puck efficiently, and supporting it is a sustainable win strategy. And doing it consistently on the way up the ice is a particular necessity, especially against teams that play as conservatively as the Kraken, Predators and Rangers did at Bell Centre this week.

The Canadiens paid for some of those errors against those first two teams, but they fought back to earn overtime wins.

The Canadiens made far too many of those errors against the Rangers and it cost them what it should and forced them to focus on fixing it.

“I donâ€t think we were too connected coming out of our zone and through the neutral zone, especially in the second period,†said Mike Matheson. “We were bringing pucks back a lot and not really being available for each other and not working to get open as well as we could, and so that created a lot of long shifts, a lot of turnovers and d-zone time.â€

As Suzuki said, itâ€s the type of bad stuff the Canadiens did religiously a few years ago. The type of bad stuff they worked hard on removing from their game over the last couple of seasons.

Now that itâ€s crept back in a bit, a momentum-sapping loss creates urgency to address it.

“Weâ€ve got to clean that up on Monday (against the Buffalo Sabres),†Suzuki concluded.

Another dramatic win wouldâ€ve had him talking about other things.

Source link

MONTREAL (AP) — Artemi Panarin had a goal and three assists as the New York Rangers rallied to beat the Montreal Canadiens 4-3 on Saturday night.

Mika Zibanejad had a goal and an assist, J.T. Miller also scored and Matthew Robertson got his first NHL goal for the Rangers. Adam Fox had two assists and Jonathan Quick finished with 21 saves to help New York improve to 3-0-1 on the road this season.

Juraj Slafkovsky and Nick Suzuki scored in the opening 3:42 of the game for Montreal, and Noah Dobson had a goal midway through the third period after the Rangers had taken a two-goal lead. Sam Montembeault had 18 saves as the Canadiens snapped a four-game win streak.

Zibanejad got the Rangers on the scoreboard with a power-play goal with 8:04 left in the opening period.

New York then scored three times in the first 5:51 of the third to take a 4-2 lead.

Miller tied it 34 seconds into the period and Robertson put the Rangers ahead for good at 4:11 in the young defenseman’s sixth career game. Panarin made it a two-goal lead 1:40 later.

Montreal recalled Owen Beck on an emergency basis before the game and fellow center Joe Veleno also made his season debut after the team announced injuries to Kaiden Guhle, Patrik Laine and Kirby Dach earlier in the day.

Panarin now has 33 points (eight goals, 25 assists) in 24 career games against the Canadiens.

Up next

Rangers: Host Minnesota on Monday to open a two-game homestand.

Canadiens: Host Buffalo on Monday to finish a four-game homestand.

Source link

Robertsonâ€s goal came at 4:11 of the third period, and was the second of three third-period goals for the Rangers (3-3-1). It was the defencemanâ€s sixth career game.

Mika Zibanejad, J.T. Miller and Artemi Panarin also scored for New York, who moved to 3-0-1 on the road this season. Adam Fox had two assists, and Panarin added three helpers. Jonathan Quick made 20 saves.

The Rangers comeback came after the Canadiens (4-2-0) scored twice in the first 3:42 with goals from Juraj Slafkovsky and Nick Suzuki. Both goals came before the Rangers registered their first shot on goal. Noah Dobson added his first goal as a Canadien in the third period. Samuel Montembeault made 18 saves.

The loss was Montrealâ€s first in five games, including their first three games at home.

Montreal had to recall Owen Beck on an emergency basis before the game and Joe Veleno also made his season debut after the team announced injuries to Kaiden Guhle, Patrik Laine and Kirby Dach earlier in the day.

Rangers: Despite not scoring a single goal at home in three games to start the season, New York moved to 3-0-1 with 15 goals scored on the road.

Canadiens: Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield both extended their point streaks to five games with Montrealâ€s two first-period goals. Both have eight points in that span.

The Rangers scored three goals in 5:51 of the third period to turn a 2-1 deficit into a 4-2 lead they wouldnâ€t relinquish.

With one goal and two assists, Artemi Panarin now has 32 points (8G, 24A) in 24 games against the Canadiens in his career, including 10 straight games in Montreal dating back to the 2017-18 season.

Rangers: Host the Minnesota Wild on Monday.

Canadiens: Host the Buffalo Sabres on Monday.

Source link

MONTREAL — The official play-by-play record from Thursdayâ€s overtime thriller at the Bell Centre reveals two of the biggest plays Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield made on the night, though “block, snap, def. zone†doesnâ€t quite capture what made them so big.

The NHL doesnâ€t even reveal that those blocks came 160 feet away from where they connected on the winning goal seconds later, but at least the timestamp indicates the relevance of those plays.

First, it was Caufield, with 49 seconds to go, stepping in front of Steven Stamkos†shot, deflecting the puck out of play to save Canadiens teammate Mike Matheson from the most vulnerable position one can be in at three-on-three — stickless in your own zone. And then, on the ensuing play, Suzuki lost the faceoff, but not his man. The Canadiens†captain stood his ground and then perfectly timed his flash out to the slot to block another Stamkos shot that sprung Matheson on the rush up ice that sparked the winning goal with three seconds remaining.Â

Suzuki drove the goal line and pushed a backhand pass to Caufield in the slot, and then he watched as Caufield tied the franchise record for most overtime goals with his 10th.

“What impresses me the most is how complete they are, on top of being dangerous offensively,†said Martin St. Louis.

The whole overtime sequence encapsulated that, and hopefully Team Canada and Team USA architects got a chance to see it — and not just the highlight-reel goal that came of it.

If they didnâ€t already feel how St. Louis did after watching Suzuki and Caufield carry the Canadiens to an unexpected playoff berth last season with a post-4 Nations FaceOff performance that was otherworldly, they should be feeling it through the first five games of this season.

You know theyâ€re watching closely with roster submissions for the Olympics due by Dec. 31.

The Canadiens are 4-1-0, and those executives have seen Suzuki and Caufield play leading roles — at both ends of the ice — in them establishing that record.Â

Itâ€s the start this team wanted to have, and itâ€s the start both Suzuki and Caufield needed to have in their quests to ensure they arenâ€t passed over again for best-on-best competition. They had to watch the last overtime between their respective national teams from the sidelines, but they could both be facing off in the next one if they keep going like this.

About that last one, it was settled by Connor McDavid, the worldâ€s best player.

Canadiens defenceman Lane Hutson, and fellow USA hopeful, thinks the next one could be settled by Caufield, who tied Thursdayâ€s game by beating a red-hot Juuse Saros with 20 seconds to go in regulation before winning it as time was expiring.

“They need someone to score and, in those big moments, thatâ€s something he can bring,†said Hutson about Caufield. “Not only that; I think he generates so much at five-on-five, and heâ€s a threat on the power play.

“I think when you give him some good players to play with, he makes them even better and he shines through. Just the skill, and the work ethic, and the scoring threat that he is, I think he should be on that team.â€

With respect to those who pulled off the 1980 Miracle on Ice in Lake Placid, N.Y., the team going to the Milano-Cortina Games is shaping up to be the greatest American one ever assembled for Olympic ice hockey. Caufield knows heâ€s got an outside chance of cracking it, but heâ€s been making a break towards the inside since hockey resumed post-4 Nations.

With 16 goals, heâ€s the fourth-highest American scorer since then. Heâ€s No. 1 in game-winners with six. And Hutson (plus-21), who saved a goal before setting up Caufieldâ€s game-winner Thursday, is the only American whoâ€s put up a better plus-minus rating than Caufieldâ€s plus-16.

How has Suzuki done over the same period? Heâ€s tied for the eighth-most goals amongst Canadians (15) and leads the NHL in points (44) and his countrymen in plus-minus (plus-19).

Forget the play-by-play record of Thursdayâ€s game. If you had watched Suzuki in isolation through three periods and then watched what he did through that entire overtime — over which he had three shot attempts and a block before registering his NHL-leading seventh assist this season — youâ€d have seen exactly whatâ€s made him one of Canadaâ€s best players over the last number of months.

Heâ€s been unquestionably Montrealâ€s best.

“Thatâ€s our driver,†said Caufield. “Heâ€s a special player that lives for those moments and leads the way by example…

“He does it all. Not many people can play both sides of the puck so well, and his game is pretty special right now, and we see it every day in practice and his detail on the D-side of the puck. Everybody knows how well he does with the puck and stuff, but his play away from the puck — heâ€s definitely pretty annoying to play against in practice and I know most teams donâ€t like playing against him.â€

Caufield has been carving out the same niche, and both he and Suzuki have proven to be two of the most clutch players in hockey.

Theyâ€re two players with incredibly high baselines of performance, and they always seem to rise above that when the stakes get higher.

St. Louis did that to become a Hall of Famer. It earned him a spot on Canadaâ€s 2014 gold medal-winning team. He knows what goes into it.

“The major thing is confidence,†he said, “and wanting to be the guy that makes the difference.â€

Suzuki and Caufield are showing thatâ€s the stuff theyâ€re made of.

Itâ€s propelling both the Canadiens and their Olympic dreams forward.

Source link

MONTREAL — Cole Caufield finished a dizzying overtime sequence with a highly skilled shot that beat Joey Daccord and stamped a dramatic 5-4 win over the Seattle Kraken in the Montreal Canadiens’ home opener at Bell Centre on Tuesday.

He had rifled home the goal that made it 2-1 Canadiens in the eighth minute of the second period, too. The puck came to him and was off his stick in a millisecond, uncorked in a way few in the NHL could replicate.

That was 30 minutes of game action before Ivan Demidov produced his second highlight-of-the-night-candidate — a gorgeous move that froze Daccord and tied the game 4-4.

The fifth pick in the 2024 NHL Draft produced his first with a high-speed, pull-up-and-pass play to Alex Newhook for a tap-in that opened the scoring.

Yes, fans in attendance were treated to Caufield and Demidov making game-altering plays and tapping into their natural talents to remind everyone how fortunate the Canadiens are to have them.

Nick Suzuki has done that, too, since the start of the season, producing a league-high six assists through four games. And Lane Hutson, fresh off signing his eight-year, $70.8-million contract extension Monday, came with his best on Tuesday.

But the Canadiens know they wouldnâ€t be 3-1 on their season without the ordinary plays Mike Matheson has made in the background.

Yes, it is the ordinary that has made Matheson “exceptional so far,†according to Newhook.

Martin St. Louis said, “Mikeâ€s been tremendous.â€

“Without him, who knows where we are?†asked Caufield.

And Suzuki, who called Matheson Montrealâ€s best defenceman, put his finger on why heâ€s made such an impact to this strong start.

“I think as heâ€s gotten older, heâ€s found a way to feel out the game more and not take as much risk,†the captain said. “Mikeâ€s been so poised. Perhaps more so this season than Iâ€ve seen before.â€

If the 32-year-old keeps it up, he becomes indispensable to the Canadiens.

You know theyâ€re thinking it.

After locking up Hutson on Monday and signing five-year contract extensions for themselves Tuesday, Jeff Gorton and Kent Hughes must be contemplating what itâ€ll take to keep Matheson in Montreal beyond this year. The Pointe-Claire, Que. native is in the final year of a deal paying $4.85 million per, and heâ€s undeniably a huge piece of the fabric thatâ€s woven the vaunted culture of the Canadiens, and they know it.

Itâ€s what they hoped Matheson would be when they traded for him four summers ago.

He put up 19 goals and 96 points over his first 130 games. And then, with Hutsonâ€s arrival, he assumed the role of becoming their top shutdown defenceman and leading penalty killer.

The transition wasnâ€t necessarily as smooth for Matheson as his patented skating stride, but it wasnâ€t nearly as rocky as some in the market made it out to be last year.

But now? With more experience under his belt?

Matheson looks as comfortable as can be in his role, and the Canadiens are benefitting tremendously.

Theyâ€ve felt it since the start of the season, but they particularly felt it on Tuesday night, when they were prone to complicating the game and playing “jumpy,†as Newhook put it.

Matheson was sure-footed and steady, calming play that needed to be calmed.

Itâ€s been what heâ€s done since the season started. With the depth of the Canadiens bolstered, and with game-changing talent throughout their lineup, Matheson has been able to use his teammates more efficiently and adopt a less-is-more approach thatâ€s increased his value.

It is the approach he thinks all the Canadiens should have.

“You look around the league, especially teams that are successful in the playoffs, they play boring hockey,†Matheson said. “As much as that might not be the most fun to watch all the time, thatâ€s what wins. It gets people off their feet when thereâ€s a really nice move or something like that, but more times than not it doesnâ€t work. I think weâ€re understanding more and more that the more connected we are, the more we use each other, the better and better weâ€ll be.â€

Right now, heâ€s driving that.

“Itâ€s hard to say ‘simple†with all he does, but at the end of the day his role on the team has definitely changed a lot and it takes a special person and player to kind of adapt to his role that way,†said Caufield. “To all of us, we know how special a player and person he is. Every day, he just works. Itâ€s special to have a player like that. Heâ€s a huge leader for our team. He plays against their top line every night, kills penalty, goes back and breaks the puck out every time and takes a hit. Where heâ€s come is a long way, and heâ€s a very special piece to have.â€

Matheson will be a difficult piece to keep.

The Canadiens wonâ€t be able to do it at just any price. But losing him might cost them more.

Itâ€ll require a fair deal and a strong pitch to keep Matheson from the allure of unrestricted free agency as the salary cap is skyrocketing and the scarcity of minute-munching, penalty-killing, offence-stimulating defenceman like him becomes more and more evident. The Canadiens will be incentivized to give it to him if he keeps playing as he has.

Matheson would welcome that with open arms.

He called the opportunity to potentially stay with the Canadiens and see through the process theyâ€ve embarked on together over the time heâ€s been in Montreal “super motivating.â€

But Matheson also said heâ€s not spending his days thinking about anything other than the plays heâ€ll have to make to help the Canadiens win their next game.

His mind is in the right place, and thatâ€s as much a reason the Canadiens are off to a good start as the game-breaking plays some of his teammates have delivered.

Source link

Canadiens rookie sensation Ivan Demidov tied the game with under three minutes left in the third period to force the extra session.

Alex Newhook and Kirby Dach also scored for Montreal. Samuel Montembeault made 18 saves in the winning effort. The Canadiens ran their winning streak to three games as they launched a four-game homestand.

Jaden Schwartz, Jani Nyman, Jamie Oleksiak and Jared McCann also scored for the Kraken, who dropped their first game of the season and the opener of a six-game road trip. Joey Daccord stopped 17 shots.

The Canadiens exacted revenge on Seattle, which swept the two-game season series last season, including an 8-2 drubbing on home ice last October.

The Canadiens win was the culmination of a night filled with celebrations surrounding Montrealâ€s home opener.

Pre-game ceremonies were highlighted by lengthy ovations for Canadiens head coach Martin St. Louis, Demidov, and reigning Calder Trophy winner Lane Hutson, who signed an eight-year, $70.8 million contract extension on Monday.

Canadiens: Newhook scored his first goal of the season in his 300th career NHL game. The goal was assisted by defenceman Alexandre Carrier, who also celebrated his 300th game on Tuesday.

Kraken: McCann, meanwhile, scored in his third straight game to start the season. The 29-year-old, who also collected an assist in the game, has four points over the stretch.

It took less than five minutes for the Canadiens to open the scoring as Newhook, positioned at the far post, tapped in a perfectly-placed pass from Demidov behind Daccord on just Montrealâ€s second shot on goal.

Caufield scored in a fourth straight Canadiens home opener. The 24-year-old has five goals across those four opening-night contests.

Kraken: Visit the Ottawa Senators on Thursday.

Canadiens: Host the Nashville Predators on Thursday.

Source link

The Montreal Canadiens have had a solid start to the 2025-26 season. After losing their season opener to the Toronto Maple Leafs by a 5-2 final score, they have followed that up with wins against the Detroit Red Wings and Chicago Blackhawks in their last two games. Now, they will be looking to keep their winning streak going against the Seattle Kraken on Oct. 14.

One reason for the Canadiens’ success early on this season has been the impressive play of new forward Zack Bolduc. The 22-year-old has had a very hot start to the new campaign, as he has scored a goal in each of his first three games with the Canadiens. He also had his first multi-point game as a Canadien during their Oct. 11 matchup against the Chicago Blackhawks, as he not only kept his goal streak going, but also recorded an assist.

With his great start to the season, Bolduc currently leads the Canadiens in goals with three. His four points are also second on the Canadiens, as captain Nick Suzuki currently leads the club with five points. With this, Bolduc has certainly been feeling it early on offensively.

While the season is young, it is hard not to feel excited about the way Bolduc is playing right now.  The 2021 first-round pick could very well be on the way to having a breakout season for the Canadiens, and it will be interesting to see if he can this kind of play up from here.

In 72 games last season with the St. Louis Blues, Bolduc posted career highs with 19 goals, 17 assists, and 36 points. Yet, with the way he is playing now, it would not be necessarily surprising if he gets even better numbers with the Canadiens this season.

Source link

MONTREAL — One day after firing Marc Bergevin and installing Jeff Gorton as the new executive vice president of hockey operations of the Montreal Canadiens, Geoff Molson told us weâ€d understand in time.

That was Nov. 30, 2021, when most people gathered at that press conference were understandably skeptical about what the owner of the Canadiens was selling them — that managing the clubâ€s hockey operations had become a job for two people.

In hiring Gorton, a unilingual anglophone, the prevailing perception was Molson was breaking with team convention of having the hockey boss be able to communicate with the fans in French. The thought was Gorton would run hockey ops and anyone who came in underneath him would essentially serve as his French-speaking puppet.

But if that perception wasnâ€t completely eliminated by the time Kent Hughes was introduced as the 18th GM in franchise history, in January of 2022, it quickly faded as the first moves of the rebuild were being executed by both Hughes and Gorton.

Molson told us weâ€d understand in time, and it didnâ€t take too long before we did.

Four years later, with Molson promoting Gorton to president of hockey ops and extending his and Hughes†contract for five years beyond this one, the ownerâ€s foresight must be commended.

He started with Gorton — the architect of the New York Rangers rebuild who cut his teeth with the Boston Bruins, rising from public relations intern all the way up to GM — and authorized him to hire Hughes, who built up a wealth of experience over two-plus decades as a prominent agent for clients as prolific as Patrice Bergeron. He had a vision of them complementing each other, dividing the labour, and harmonizing on the decisions, and he believed theyâ€d rebuild everything that needed rebuilding.

“We want to establish new standards of excellence at the hockey operations level and improve the way we manage the team on the ice and off the ice,†Molson said upon hiring Gorton. “These new standards include several important organizational improvements, including being better at the draft, being better at player development, and better supporting our players so they can have success in our market.â€

Whatâ€s happened since has been a completely linear progression through a process that rarely, if ever, progresses in linear fashion.

Gorton and Hughes were methodical, meticulous, and calculated. They werenâ€t making as big a bet as they appeared to be making when they hired Martin St. Louis.

Concurrently, they made obvious bets, beefing up analytics and using the information gathered to optimize their draft, trade and signing strategies. They also made massive investments in player development and equally large ones in fostering an environment where players could be themselves and have a better chance of tapping into their potential, and they cultivated and nurtured a culture of honesty and accountability that now permeates throughout the whole organization.

“If you’re going to be direct and honest, and we value that piece and we feel it’s the most important thing, I think it’s got to go from top down,” said St. Louis just prior to the Gorton and Hughes extensions being confirmed by the Canadiens. “You can’t just skip levels just because of positions, and I think they’ve embodied that with the way they treat everybody — not just the players, the security people in the building, everybody. It’s real, and it’s easier to build a good culture when you have good people. I wouldn’t have taken this job if I didn’t think that Gorts and Kent are great people, so it’s easier to move along and get there quicker when you have consistency in behaviour.”

Predictability in behaviour is just as important.

For the players, who thrive on the predictability of their teammates on the ice, knowing how Gorton and Hughes will act and react has provided them optimal working conditions off the ice.

“Theyâ€ve been great,†said Kirby Dach, whom the pair of executives traded for in 2022. “Very personal, very easy to talk to. If you have anything going on, their doors are always open. I think theyâ€re very fair, too. Theyâ€re not going to sugarcoat things and, as players, you respect that and you want to hear it and want to hear when youâ€re not doing the right things and when you are doing the right things. Theyâ€ve been great. Theyâ€ve managed to find a way to keep everyone happy all the time, and everyone around here really enjoys the culture thatâ€s been built. It starts with them, and then Marty, and then the entire leadership group, and then the rest of the team as well.

“Theyâ€ve also made great moves.â€

There were the early trades of what Hughes refers to as “the asset accumulation phase†of the rebuild, like the one that sent Ben Chiarot to the Florida Panthers for a prospect, a 2023 first-round pick and a 2022 fourth-round pick. And there were the more recent ones in the “team-building phase†for Alex Carrier, Zachary Bolduc and Noah Dobson.

In between, and as recently as Monday, there were also the shrewd contracts handed out to young, core members Cole Caufield, Kaiden Guhle, Juraj Slafkovsky and Lane Hutson.

Those last two were taken in the first draft Gorton and Hughes oversaw together — first and 62nd overall, respectively — and many more talented players have been added in subsequent drafts to give the Canadiens what experts consider to be one of the best and deepest prospect pools in hockey.

Pair all that with the team going from bottoming out to making the playoffs within three-and-a-half years of Gorton and Hughes signing on, and extending both men long-term was a no-brainer for Molson.

“I am very pleased that Jeff and Kent have committed to the Montreal Canadiens for an additional five years,†read the ownerâ€s statement in the teamâ€s press release. “Their commitment to building a world class organization has been unrelenting and will only get better as we progress in the years to come. I would like to thank Jeff and Kent for taking this team and organization to where it is today, full of talent, size and speed with a support structure that is second to none, an objective from day one. I look forward to many more years working with them.â€

Before Molson officially started working with Gorton and Hughes, it was hard to envision how it would all go.

But Molson was right that weâ€d understand in time and, based on how itâ€s gone so far, heâ€s probably right about the bet heâ€s making on both men delivering a championship-worthy team in due time.

Source link