The way things have been going this season for the Montreal Canadiens, Saturday’s game (Dec. 21) at home vs. the Detroit Red Wings was either going to bear witness to Christmas cheers or jeers. Thankfully, Montreal handled its business en route to a comfortable 5-1 victory, thus claiming all the spoils from the home-and-home series against their Original Six foe after winning 4-3 the night before. Here are the takeaways.
Montembeault the Workhorse
Incidentally, in our preview for this two-game series published on Friday (Dec. 20), we opined that giving Cayden Primeau the nod for one of these two contests was a good idea. The 25-year-old needs a confidence booster after some miserable performances this season and the Red Wings, 27th in the scoring league-wide (2.64 goals per match), were just what the doctor ordered.
Except that’s not what head coach Martin St. Louis ordered, nor can he be blamed for going against modern NHL conventional wisdom, which states that different netminders start games on back-to-backs. That’s not always the case, and it wasn’t on Saturday. Truthfully, it’s hard to blame St. Louis for sticking with Samuel Montembeault. For one, despite some of the Quebecois’ sloppy starts in 2024-25, there have been more than enough games where he kept the club within striking distance of their opponent. There is also the matter of him being an official member of Team Canada’s 4 Nations Face-Off roster – whatever one thinks of the supposed politics involved – so there are evidently people out there who think he’s pretty decent.
Lastly, Montreal needs to do anything to build consistency. Even if it doesn’t always mean winning games (although they are enjoying a nice three-game run). If good habits materialize from using Montembeault like a workhorse for now, so be it. In any event, the team and the league will enjoy a break for a few days starting on the 24th, so they might as well ride the positive vibes.
He didn’t make a crouched-back save like on Friday; he was “regular great.” Some nice glove stops, a good presence in the crease, and he never looked tired. Montembeault was, as it turns out, exactly what the doctor ordered. This strategy won’t always work and fatigue can incur injury, but under these specific circumstances, St. Louis’ judgement was apt and his number one goalie rewarded him with handsome dividends.
Jake Evans Shows His Worth and Maybe His Value
Can the Canadiens play against the Red Wings for the rest of the season? It seems as though Jake Evans gets up for these occasions. On Friday (Dec. 20) in Detroit, the Torontonian registered two points via a goal and an assist in his 300th NHL game, all wearing Montreal colours. His goal was on a sweet and slick breakaway in the first period that reminded spectators that he’s actually pretty good sometimes.
Evans wasn’t done. On Saturday, with the teams tied 1-1 in the opening frame, newly acquired blueliner Alexandre Carrier won a puck battle along the boards in Montreal’s zone. The rubber went forward to Joel Armia, who kicked it yonder for Evans. The attacker cut from the left to the middle of the slot, rifling a shot that beat Alex Lyon cleanly. Speed, spatial awareness, coolness, and skill.
Evans now has a three-game point streak and has tallied four times in his past five outings for a total of five points (a pair of markers and three apples). For that matter, despite that most fans and pundits harp on how important Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Patrik Laine, and Juraj Slafkovsky are, Evans is fourth on the team in points with 19 (seven goals and 12 assists). Do you want another double-take-inducing stat? He has a plus-1 rating on the season. Keep in mind the Habs are minus-21 in the goal differential column.
He’s going to be an unrestricted free agent (UFA) next summer, assuming the contract negotiations go nowhere. Is he trade bait? Yes, especially the way he’s playing these days. Can he continue to help the club? Yes, especially the way he’s playing these days. And yes, we intentionally wrote the same response twice. Therein lies the Evans dilemma for the front office. To be fair, it’s a nice dilemma to mull over.
Important Names Earn Points
Saying that important names got on the stats sheet during these two games against the Red Wings, one is tempted to think of the usual suspects like Caufield, Suzuki and Laine. Granted, all three earned points, but in this instance, different players are referred to.
We’ve already waxed a little poetic about Evans, but how about Arber Xhekaj’s blast on Friday that tied the game for the Habs in the third period? Emil Heineman, a sneaky-efficient player, scored on both nights. Brendan Gallagher ripped a shot on Saturday to make it a 5-1 game in the second period. The much-maligned Slafkovsky levelled the terms via a deflection in the first period. Josh Anderson and Carrier registered assists in the home match as well. That was the latter’s first point as a Hab.
Montreal is in the kind of situation where everybody needs to pitch in. Their best players are very good but incapable of dominating night in and night out. The defence is a mixture of young and old, with the former still committing more mistakes than the fans care to witness. These aren’t the Edmonton Oilers, who can cruise to a win if Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl take over a game. They aren’t the Toronto Maple Leafs, who know that Auston Matthews, William Nylander, and Mitch Marner can bail them out. The Canadiens are truly at their best when all four lines and all three defensive pairings are doing their absolute best to outwork the opposition.
That’s what happened on both nights, against a team that they needed to get the better of. Heading into the two-game set, Detroit was hardly any better than Montreal, statistically speaking. These were four points begging to be claimed by a club that must, imperatively, demonstrate that there is hope worth clinging to in 2024-25. Job done, not to mention Montreal leapfrogs over Detroit in the Atlantic Division.
The Canadiens can seal this pre-Christmas deal if they secure two more points on Monday (Dec. 23) against the Columbus Blue Jackets in Ohio. It’s not the end of the world if they fail, so long as the effort is there. If they play on Monday as they did twice versus Detroit, that would be a great holiday gift for a fanbase that has been quite patient with a team still growing and learning.
