It’s a light week for the Montreal Canadiens, with only one weeknight game. In Seattle on Tuesday, the Canadiens tried to wrap up a four-game road trip with an impressive three wins. However, the Kraken are a competitive club this season.
Montreal showed its inexperience, allowing the Kraken to return from three down in the third period to send it to overtime. That’s when Cole Caufield took over yet again for a 4-3 Montreal win.
Wilde Horses
The Canadiens’ power play is now set up perfectly. Juraj Slafkovsky is finally in the bumper position, where he belongs. Slafkovsky was on the half-wall on the right side previously, and it simply wasn’t right for him. That’s a spot for a playmaker with a quick stick and quick vision.
Ivan Demidov belongs on the right side on the power play, and that’s where he is, only a dozen games into his career. Since the change to Demidov from Zach Bolduc, Montreal’s power play is 4-for-6. Demidov is a weapon on the right side, making it all work.
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The bumper is for the big body who can finish, and that’s what Slafovsky is doing well so far this season, with five goals. Late in the first period, the Canadiens had their first chance with an extra man. They scored on a play that saw Lane Hutson feed Nick Suzuki, who found Caufield, who fed Slafkovsky. The entire four-man exchange took less than a second and a half.
It was the second point for Suzuki as he extended his points streak to 10 games. The only contest where he didn’t count was the first one. His first point was a setup of Caufield with a seeing-eye pass through the crease. Caufield slid home his eighth goal of the year.
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The dominant line on the night was Suzuki’s, as it is starting to be an absolute force all over the ice. The Suzuki line spends entire shifts in the offensive zone, and when they do have the odd moment in their own zone, they clean it up well and move it out.
The dominant pairing defensively was Jayden Struble and Hutson. They had a 90 Corsi after two periods. Hutson’s best minutes this year have actually been with Struble this season, not the injured Kaiden Guhle.
Under the radar is the improvement of Kirby Dach. He made a sweeping move in the first period to beat a defender one-on-one that was world-class. Dach is competing well, and has his line with Joe Veleno and Bolduc look good. Dach is making small gains each contest.
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He isn’t yet unblocked, but Dach’s play is good enough to predict that it could happen in a way it hasn’t since before his first ACL surgery. In fact, Dach did pick up an assist on the Canadiens’ third goal. On the power play, Alex Newhook counted his fourth of the year.
The game went to overtime, where Caufield did it again. He has now set the Canadiens record for overtime goals with 11. Caufield undressed the defender, then slid it near post from almost behind the net. Caufield is tied for the league lead in goals with nine on the season.
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The Canadiens are a perfect four wins and no losses in overtime this year. They start with Suzuki, Hutson and Caufield. All three counted points on the overtime winner. Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Evan Bouchard are the standard for three-on-three overtime. Caufield, Suzuki and Hutson are not that far behind.
Certainly, this is a long way from former Habs coach Michel Therrien trying to stop a goal to start overtime, putting out his best defensive players.
Wilde Goats
When a group of players hasn’t played much with the lead over the years, they don’t know how to manage a contest yet. The Canadiens are having trouble taking a game home in the third with the same attitude as the first two periods.
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The Kraken did nothing at all for 50 minutes, but then the Canadiens lost their edge and started clock-watching. Seattle scored on the power play, then four-on-four, and suddenly the last four minutes were dicey again.
With more confidence and more of an understanding of how to manage each shift, the Canadiens will get better with leads to make the opposition feel like they don’t have a chance.
The head coach preaches it all the time: Get pucks deep and make the opposition work 200 feet or slightly less on every opportunity. Also, get on the right side of the puck even more. It’s a process and the Canadiens are in the midst of scenarios they have not known much over the last few years.
They don’t know how to make the game boring when they have a lead yet. The four-on-four was the perfect example. It was back and forth, with Seattle loving that the Canadiens were pushing forward, looking for a goal they didn’t need, and allowing odd-man rushes against them.
The Canadiens didn’t need another goal. They needed two more minutes off the clock, with Seattle getting more and more disenchanted. Give this group time. Holding a lead is a skill like all the others, and the skill takes practice.
The only other minor issue is that Demidov has 10 shots in 11 games this season. He needs to shoot more. It’s natural for a rookie to defer to his elders. It’s a show of respect. In the third period, Demidov had a perfect look two on one. He elected to make a low-percentage pass to Oliver Kapanen.
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No one has any doubt that less than a shot per game will be replaced by three shots per game. When that happens, it will be the moment that Demidov is certain that he is the one who can win the game for his team.
Wilde Cards
The Montreal Canadiens have one big hole in their lineup. It’s a hole they have had this entire century, except when Suzuki paired with Philip Danault. However, finally, there is optimism that the hole will finally soon be filled. A strong one-two punch at centre is coming.
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When 2025-26 began, the organization hoped that Dach had healed and recovered and was ready to shine again after two reconstructive knee surgeries. They hoped that Dach could finally fill Montreal’s roster gap at second-line centre. However, not even a dozen games in, it’s becoming clear that Dach isn’t the answer. He has already missed games with yet another lower-body injury.
It might just be that Dach is a winger at the NHL level, as he has not figured out how to play a 200-foot game. Also, he is absolutely abysmal on faceoffs at 39 per cent. The search for someone to play with Demidov continues.
Demidov is not yet structurally sound in the defensive aspect of the game. He needs a centre who can play well defensively, get the puck out of the Montreal zone, up the ice rapidly, and into the offensive zone, where Demidov does his best work.
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Enter Kapanen. Here’s a player who last year seemed timid on the puck, unwilling to go into corners, and was generally a bit soft.
This season, Kapanen has returned as a much better player. He seems to have figured it all out quickly. Kapanen is strong on the puck now. He makes the right decisions all the time. He’s showing much more offensive acumen than anyone could’ve expected, and defensively, he’s sound.
Whether Kapanen ends up being a third-line centre or a second-line centre is something that we can decide in the future, but for today, the Canadians are thrilled to know they have found a bona fide NHL centre.
Already, the organization is feeling much better about where it stands, trying to get all the pieces in place for a Stanley Cup run. A run cannot happen without depth at centre. Kapanen isn’t the only positive development at centre in the first month this season.
There’s also a second solution rising in potential early in this campaign at Michigan University. In his second season, Michael Hage is upping his game at a tremendous rate.
Hage was already the best draft-plus-one forward in college hockey in points per game last year at 34 points in 33 games. This season, he’s making last year’s numbers look pedestrian.
Hage this season is averaging almost two points per game, with 14 in eight games. He is at the top of the leaderboard in points among players who are under 20. Hage might be the best forward prospect in college hockey.
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Hage’s team in Michigan last year was poor, not making it to the NCAA tournament. This season, it is excellent. The Wolverines have lost only once this season. Hage is their best player.
Hage is also interested in learning how to play a 200-foot game. He is scoring at a tremendous clip while also learning how to defend. The Canadiens could not be more thrilled.
This season began with Dach as the best hope. We aren’t even in November yet, and two players have supplanted him as better hopes.
Eventually, the Canadiens’ four centres when they are ready to make a serious Cup run appear to be Suzuki, Hage, Kapanen and Jake Evans. That’s a strong middle — finally.
Brian Wilde, a Montreal-based sports writer, brings you Call of the Wilde on globalnews.ca after each Canadiens game.
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Call of the Wilde: Canadiens season begins
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