Through three games of the series, the Montreal Canadiens learned that they are not second best. Whether they win the series or not is another matter, but they now have the confidence to know that they can compete with the top seed in the east.
Game 4 featured a chance for the Canadiens to tie the series and really put a fear into the Washington Capitals. However, in an evenly contested game, it was the Capitals who got the winner late to take a stranglehold lead in the series. After two empty netters, the final count was 5-2.
Wilde Horses
Many outstanding performances to enjoy, but the most important for the organization long-term is the play of Kaiden Guhle. To truly compete for a championship, a team has to have a top pair. In that top pair, is an offensive powerhouse and a shutdown defender.
The offensive powerhouse is, of course, Lane Hutson, and that we knew by watching all season. Equally as rare in the NHL is the shutdown defender. He has to have so many attributes to his game. Guhle is elevating to show all of them.
Firstly, the shutdown first-pair defender has to make smart decisions all game long. He has to have his man. He has to make smart outlets. He has to neutralize the best players in the entire league on a consistent basis. He has to keep his giveaways to a minimum.
It would be a stretch to say early in his career that Guhle could do all of that.
It’s clear in this series watching him that he has all the attributes. Guhle also has an ‘X’ factor with the ability to step up at the blue line and absolutely destroy attackers. Guhle creates fear and a tentative start at the blue line for the opposition that makes defending the reset of the attack so much easier.
In the Edmonton Oil Kings run to the Memorial Cup that saw Guhle win the MVP in the Western Hockey League playoffs, Guhle showed all of these attributes in his game. It takes a while always to get comfortable to show it at the next level. He has arrived at that next level.
Guhle is also perfect as a partner for Hutson. Guhle can join on the offence intelligently, but he will play it smart picking his spots. Guhle always reads well when he has to cover for a Hutson foray deep offensively.
The Canadiens have a first pair for the next decade. One year ago, they didn’t have either player proven that they could elevate to this spot. Rebuilds can also happen quickly. Confirmation of the first pair for Montreal happened only in the last two months, but there is no denying it now.
Sure there will be errors like Guhle overcommitting on his man on the 3-2 goal, and Hutson getting outmuscled the odd time, but no partnership is perfect. This one will be excellent for a long time.
The second period was thrilling. The Canadiens were down 1-0 and were also down two-men shorthanded for 44 seconds. They killed the penalties off thanks to outstanding work from Mike Matheson who laid it all out to make a stunner of a clearing play.
The offence then went to work on the power play. The dynamic of the power play has changed for the better in a big way. Ivan Demidov is weaving magic as an addition with Patrik Laine on the mend from injury. The first goal with the extra-man Juraj Slafkovsky was the catalyst.
Slafkovsky made a brilliant zone entry with an extremely talented move to back off the defender. Demidov took over from there with an inside-out move that left the defender nowhere close to him. He took it behind the net, then found Slafkovsky for an outstanding finish.
On the go-ahead 2-1 goal it was Demidov again picking up an assist. The Capitals are already backing off Demidov out of respect for his stick skills. He fed Lane Hutson who fed Cole Caufield who just snuck it inside the near post.
Wilde Goats
It has to be mentioned that the power play is flying with Demidov on the right, and Caufield back on the left side where Laine was. Where does Laine go now when he returns to health? It can’t be the first power play.
If Laine isn’t making a difference on the power play, then what is next for him, because Demidov can’t be taken off the ice. The other four cannot be taken off the power play either. It is the right combination for right now and for the future. The second unit is not what Laine dreamed of when he came to Montreal.
It’s an interesting organizational moment for the Canadiens. If it is the second unit for Laine, that’s only 40 seconds usually of work, and that won’t be enough for Montreal to see big value there.
It will be interesting to see how the coaching staff handles this. When was the last time the club had a difficult moment from too much talent? That’s the power play now. Four forwards can’t fit into three.
Also, a word about Jakub Dobes. His difficulty wasn’t even about puck-saving, but puck-maintenance. The first two goals he allowed were about attacking the puck to cover it up to stop the play. The saving-the-shots part Dobes did well. The phase he needs work on is grabbing loose puck and owning them before someone else does.
If not for two moments of Dobes poorly handling a play more like a shortstop than a hockey goalie, the Canadiens would have been in position to win the contest. It leads to a feeling of the difference being inexperience. Only one way to get that, and it’s play more vital games through the years.
Wilde Cards
In his first game for the Montreal Canadiens, Ivan Demidov scored a goal and added an assist. After his goal, the crowd enthusiasm was electric. Demidov soaked it all in and could be seen on the giant video scoreboard saying “Holy f***.”
It was his first moments of discovering what a hockey mad market Montreal is. What Demidov saw was nothing compared to his first playoff game at the Bell Centre. It’s an entirely new level of enthusiasm.
Demidov dominated in Russia in the KHL. This has been a period of acclimation. Consider all of this from Demidov’s point of view. The learning curve forced upon him in this short time is intense. It’s basically like accelerating in school three grades.
Hockey doesn’t get any faster than the NHL playoffs. The violence of the game doesn’t get any more combative than the first round of the playoffs. The crowd doesn’t get any crazier than it is right now. The sensory overload must be dizzying.
It is all so new to this man still in his teens. Where do you focus? On trying to improve your speed to keep up, or not to be injured with faces getting cross-checked to the left and the right, or on a crowd so loud you can barely hear yourself think?
Add to this, Demidov is learning in the NHL that your teammates are your brothers and they will stand with you. The NHL is the most talented hockey league in the world, but it is also the toughest. Everyone must be ready to not only complete for the puck, but also compete for your health.
Demidov is discovering a camaraderie in the locker room that he has not seen before. These are the first moments when he joins this band of brothers. They will bring him in, and there will be a moment of truth. A moment perhaps where he is challenged to a fight, and Arber Xhekaj says “I got this for you.”
In the moment that he feels that support when he knows that he doesn’t walk alone, that is the moment that he will be more ready to play hockey freely. In that moment, he will stop deferring at times, and start attacking fiercely.
It is a process; a process he is practically circumventing.
The process usually starts at training camp with a rookie winding it up during pre-season, then handling the tentative pace of the opening month. Nothing is on the line so severely that mistakes aren’t forgiven. When it starts in October, time is a luxury.
This is April. Everyone else has been preparing for this moment all season. For Demidov, he is still learning the first name of all of his teammates.
Life was serene and comfortable in Russia. Everyday was a repetition of something that he already knew. Now he’s playing the most intense hockey in the world and it’s all new.
This is Montreal. When you prove you can make it here, you can make it anywhere. Buckle up, Kid. You’re in for a hell of a ride.