Free washer | Five key factors in the Canadian’s recent success

When I took a break from writing over the holidays, a little over two weeks ago, many were still frantically manipulating the draft lottery simulator when they got up in the morning.

The Canadian was then drafted fifth overall, but only two points separated him from the worst team overall, the Nashville Predators, with two more games to go.

The playoffs were not even an embryonic thought, since they had to close a gap of nine points to get there and also, above all, beat six teams to join the last qualified club.

A supporter who went on a pilgrimage for a fortnight without access to the internet would understand nothing when he returned. Here is the CH, two small points behind the Pittsburgh Penguins and the last place giving access to the playoffs, with two more games to play.

Two clubs separate him from the Penguins, the Ottawa Senators and the Columbus Blue Jackets. Ottawa nevertheless has a game in hand on Montreal, three on Pittsburgh. The Philadelphia Flyers, Detroit Red Wings, Rangers and New York Islanders now find themselves behind the Canadian.

If the draft took place today, the Canadian would hold 13^e choice, his, and the 16^ethat of the Calgary Flames obtained a few years ago for the temporary accommodation of Sean Monahan.

We are obviously moving away from defender Mathew Schaefer and attackers James Hagens and Michael Misa, but on the other hand, the young players in place in Montreal are showing definite progress during this period of success, which constitutes even better news than the prospect of drafting in the top 3.

At the dawn of the clash against the Vancouver Canucks, Monday evening at the Bell Centre, the Canadian has just beaten the Florida Panthers, the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Vegas Golden Knights and the Colorado Avalanche during of a trip that a vast majority of specialists predicted would be catastrophic.

The Canadian is 7-2 since losing 9-2 to Pittsburgh and 4-2 to Winnipeg in mid-December. But the recovery took place a little earlier. Montreal is 10-5-0 since December 3 and 14-9-1 since November 11. Here are five key factors in the Habs’ recent success.

1- The return of Patrik Laine

The knee injury suffered by Patrik Laine in a preparatory match was a disaster as he was eagerly awaited in Montreal. Laine returned to the game on December 3 and, although not representing an even-numbered threat, he lit up the power play. He scored eight goals in his first nine games, all with a man advantage, and allowed the Canadian to win six games. Laine had cooled off a bit when he suffered a virus, with an assist in four games, but he seemed to be slowly returning to form. He will have provided the spark necessary for the awakening of this team.

2- L’acquisition d’Alexandre Carrier

At the risk of provoking sacrilege in the eyes of diehard Laine fans, the acquisition of Carrier, on December 18, in return for Justin Barron, is less spectacular, but perhaps even more important than that of Laine. Without raising passions, Carrier, 28, offers a game of extraordinary reliability. He balanced the CH defense and above all stabilized Kaiden Guhle. His playing time has increased steadily over eight games, averaging almost 22 minutes over the last four games.

Carrier faces the big opposing trios in the company of Guhle and helps reduce the workload of David Savard, a good mentor for Arber Xhekaj within the third pair. Montreal is 6-2 since his arrival, and has allowed just 18 goals in 8 games during that stretch. His four assists represent a bonus.

3- The emergence of the fourth trio

Jake Evans has seven points in eight games since December 20. He played 17 minutes against the Avalanche on Saturday. Not bad for a… fourth-line center! He also has 16 points in his last 22 games and has made CH’s numerical inferiority one of the good ones in the NHL with a success rate of 82.4%, for tenth place in the league.

Evans is producing at a pace of almost 50 points. He ranks third among team forwards behind Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield with 23 points in 39 games. His winger, the surprising Emil Heineman, already has ten goals, including four in the last eight games, despite limited usage time. After 39 games, Joel Armia is just seven points shy of his total from last year in 66 games. He has five points in his last eight games and is also a pillar on the penalty kill. Let’s see if he and Evans, two potential unrestricted free agents, will agree to stay in Montreal at a reasonable salary.

4- The awakening of Kirby Dach

Not only did Dach get four points in six games on the team’s most recent trip, along with the game-winning shootout goal, but his play finally reminded us of Dach from the second half of the season in 2023. We feel him much more confident with the puck and the CH spends significantly more time in the opposing zone when he is on the ice, thanks in part to his ability to protect the disc when he has possession. He played 19:22 on Saturday at Colorado, his highest total after that against the Flames on November 5.

Dach played on average more than 20 minutes per game from January to March 2023. He recently revealed that he had regained some confidence by being relegated to the second wave of power play, within a group where he could obtain more puck keys. His return to form had repercussions on Alex Newhook who, without amassing points by the ton, offered a much tougher game. Newhook has three points in its last five games and played 17:23 Saturday.

5- The reminder of Jakub Dobes

With the acquisition of Alexandre Carrier, the recall of Jakub Dobes, to the detriment of Cayden Primeau, sent back to Laval, represents the big decision of general manager Kent Hughes in December. Dobes, only 23 years old, it should be noted, only played in two games, but beat the Florida Panthers and the Colorado Avalanche while allowing only one goal. His calm is surprising and at 6’4″ and 215 lbs, he has the physique for the job.

Dobes must have had enough of having his ears broken by those who considered 20-year-old Jacob Fowler to be the organization’s goalkeeper of the future! Dobes was drafted in the fifth round in 2020 by the Canadian, after Kaiden Guhle, Luke Tuch, Jan Mysak, Jack Smith, Blake Biondi and Sean Farrell. What would Primeau have done in his place during the trip? It is reasonable to believe, with 19 goals allowed in its four previous starts, that the CH would have suffered setbacks against these NHL powers.