Even though he was shut out against the Penguins for the first time in five games, Cole Caufield still sat at the top of the NHL scorers on Sunday morning. A title that he holds in shared custody with Sam Reinhart and Nico Hischier.
Seeing the American hit the target with such regularity, 10 times in 12 matches, is one of the rare attractions for Canadian fans at the start of the season. That, and the feints of Lane Hutson who, casually, ranks third in points (7 points) among NHL rookies.
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But behind them and Nick Suzuki, who dominates the Habs’ points column with 13 points (4 goals and 9 assists), it is rather dead calm on attack.
Juraj Slafkovsky (one goal), Kirby Dach (one goal), Alex Newhook (two goals), Josh Anderson (two goals), Joel Armia (one goal). That’s slim support for the top 6. No surprise that the Habs are in 22e rank in the circuit with 2.75 goals per game.
The message got through
Due to the absence of Patrik Laine, the Canadian finds himself with the same problem as last year: there is a hole on the second unit. St-Louis may try to patch it up by juggling the identity of the right winger of the first unit (Slafkovsky, Dach, Anderson, Heineman), there will always be a gap.
Which brings us to the question: Is it time to recall Joshua Roy? The Beauceron is on fire in Laval. He is at the center of the Rocket’s seven-game winning streak. Along the way, he collected 10 points, including seven goals. Including a hat trick Saturday against Providence.
In 23 games with the big club last year, he looked good, scoring four goals and contributing to five others.
We understand that the organization wanted to send him a message by removing him on October 7. “You’re not quite there yet, big guy.”
But it will soon be a month. As was the case with the Canadiens players after Friday’s punishing training, he must have understood his lesson.
In addition, since the Canadian currently fields 22 players, one under the allowed limit, Kent Hughes would not need to send anyone back to Laval.
Avoid dying
Otherwise, the Habs staff will have to hope for a greater contribution from Newhook. Moreover, the former Avalanche player is the first to recognize it.
“We need more production from the supporting actors (secondary scoring), he mentioned, after the defeat in Pittsburgh. I take responsibility for it. I have to be better and produce more. We need it.”
If he wants to make a bigger contribution, Newhook will have to be more incisive in enemy territory. So far, he has taken 13 shots. That’s barely one per game.
“I try to rush into the opposing zone, I try to be creative,” said the Newfoundlander, taking out the whip to flagellate himself. Most of the time, I create enough to produce, but it doesn’t fall into place.”
Thursday morning, before the snuff inflicted on his group by the Capitals, St-Louis did not have quite the same reading of Newhook’s work once past the blue line.
“I think Alex does everything well, except when he arrives in the opposing zone,” summed up the Canadian head coach dryly. On the counterattack, he is effective. Defensively, too. Same thing in defensive withdrawal.
“But inside the opposing territory, there are too many games that die,” he criticized. If he gives himself a chance not to die with the puck, he will create more scoring opportunities.”
In plain English, St. Louis would like Newhook to distribute the puck a little more instead of systematically trying to beat an opponent one-on-one. Not only will he allow the attack to continue, but he will be able to receive the puck again.
