Why the Canadiens are thriving right now
It’s been a tale of two seasons for the Montreal Canadiens. After a very slow start to the year, and hit hard by the injury bug, the Canadiens are currently one of the hottest teams in the NHL.
Montreal is 7-2-1 in their last 10 games, and have propelled themselves up into the second wild-card position in the Eastern Conference, entering Wednesday’s action with a 24-19-4 record. A big reason for their recent success has been the stellar play of goaltender Jakub Dobes. The 23-year-old Dobes has started his NHL career with an impressive 5-0-0 record, with an astonishing .941 save percentage.
Montreal has also been led by forward Nick Suzuki, who has 47 points in 47 games this season, and the resurgence of a healthy Patrik Laine, scoring 12 goals in his 19 appearances this season. Add in rookie defenseman Lane Huston on the back end, who has 39 points in 47 games, and the Canadiens have quickly assembled some firepower.
On Wednesday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Tyler Yaremchuk and Frank Seravalli discussed the Canadiens’ hot streak, and how they’ve been able to climb up the standings in a hurry.
Yaremchuk: We’ve talked about the Rangers being on a solid run, so are the Montreal Canadiens. Wins in four of five, they beat the New York Rangers a couple of days ago, they get a win last night over the Tampa Bay Lightning, and Jakub Dobes continues to be quite the story. 5-0-0 to start his career with the Canadiens, and the numbers are unreal. It’s giving me, to tie it into the Ottawa Senators, shades of the ‘Hamburglar’ from a few years ago.
Seravalli: Yeah, out of the clear blue sky, as blue sky as his mask. I mean, I don’t know if anyone saw this coming. And, I think if you look at the start of the season for the Montreal Canadiens, there was a period of time where Sam Montembeault was carrying this team and the numbers were way above where they should have been, based on his play.
Now, I’m not saying it’s all coming back to goaltending, because the Canadiens have taken huge strides under Marty St. Louis. The way that they’ve played, with attention to detail, that third line has been a force and are difficult to play against. And, they’ve got little elements. They’re competing, they’re working, and I would say, that was the key element that was missing from the Canadiens earlier this year. I was concerned watching some of the body language with guys like Nick Suzuki and others.
Are you bringing it every night? I don’t know that I saw that from Montreal, and now, they sit in a playoff spot.
For more on the Canadiens playoff push, and all the very latest from around the NHL, watch the full episode below.