10 Thoughts: Two for Two to Start the Preseason
After kicking off the 2025 preseason with a win on Monday, the Habs looked to make it two straight victories as they hosted Philadelphia on Tuesday. While they got a bit of a scare in the second, they were able to hold on for the 4-2 win.
As expected, Martin St. Louis opted to roll an entirely different roster compared to the one against the Penguins. That meant that the battle between Owen Beck and Oliver Kapanen would be on hold for the night with some others hoping to get themselves into that discussion. The team lined up as follows:
Caufield – Suzuki – Slafkovsky
Bolduc – Newhook – Roy
Blais – Veleno – Rohrer
Tuch – F. Xhekaj – Thorpe
Guhle – Hutson
A. Xhekaj – Carrier
Paquette-Bisson – Reinbacher
10 Thoughts
1) In the preseason, chemistry between linemates is often nonexistent. That makes seeing a line that looks in midseason form rather jarring. But Montreal’s top line was intact for most of last season with Lane Hutson often playing behind them and it showed. Nick Suzuki fed Hutson who slid it to Cole Caufield who one-timed a shot past Samuel Ersson. Before Hutson even had the pass, Caufield was starting to get set for the one-timer. Reading off each other that well that fast was nice to see.
2) With 61 players in camp and 18 retired numbers, there aren’t many unused numbers on the roster right now. Still, it was a little jarring seeing #79 playing on the back end for the first time in a long time. Of course, that wasn’t Andrei Markov but rather Tobie Paquette-Bisson, playing his first preseason game in this, his third stint with the Canadiens organization. He certainly didn’t look out of place either with David Reinbacher, a pairing that could make a lot of sense in Laval this season in a shutdown role.
3) It was nice to see the young fourth line get a goal, even if Florian Xhekaj’s shot didn’t have much business beating Samuel Ersson. (But a goal in your first preseason game is still pretty cool.) I liked Tyler Thorpe’s play on the goal, taking a hit from Nicolas Deslauriers (who isn’t exactly small) and drawing a double-team to create the opening for Xhekaj. From there, he slipped the pass out and the puck was in the back of the net. That type of board play hasn’t exactly been a strong suit for the Habs over the years and if Thorpe is looking to make a name for himself, plays like that are a great way to do so.
4) It took until the second period of the second game for the Habs to get what looked like an injury as Christian Dvorak’s skate cut Juraj Slafkovsky’s cheek, causing him to miss most of the period. (There’s a way to mark your first game against your old team.) Fortunately for Slafkovsky, he was able to return and made a good pass to set up Suzuki later in the period with the captain wristing a shot past Aleksei Kolosov for Montreal’s third goal.
5) With Dobes not allowing a goal in his half of the game, Kaapo Kahkonen was going to have a hard time beating that as he looked to make a good first impression. Instead, two of Philadelphia’s first three shots on him beat him, a rush play from Anthony Richard and a power play marker from Owen Tippett that wasn’t a scorer’s goal by any stretch. He did settle down in the third, at least.
6) Speaking of that power play, it was one that never should have happened. Rodrigo Abols threw a big (but clean) hit on Vinzenz Rohrer, then took a tripping penalty seconds later. Arber Xhekaj then decided that the appropriate solution was dropping the gloves and punching a clearly unwilling combatant. The hit was not worthy of retribution and certainly not to that degree. Personally, I think he saw that his brother fought and he wanted to fight too and thought this was the opportunity, instead drawing four minutes to take the power play away from Montreal and hand it to the Flyers.
What got him in trouble last year was ill-timed unnecessary penalties and this suggests he still hasn’t figured that part out yet. It’s a good thing for him that it’s preseason as if (I suppose when is more likely) that happens, it’ll be grounds for him to be benched. At some point, he needs to learn this lesson.
7) Montreal had one power play in the back half of the third period. They didn’t score but it was interesting to see them utilize the bumper spot with Zach Bolduc. That didn’t happen much last season as it was all about queuing up the one-timers but that’s an element that could make that unit less predictable. That would be a great sign heading into the season.
8) The older Xhekaj got the goal back that his penalty caused as he had a shorthanded empty-netter after a couple of clears in the final minute. Overall, his penalty aside, he played a pretty good game. He looks a bit quicker this year and after getting blown by a bit too often last season defensively, upping his speed was a good strategy this summer.
9) The Alex Newhook line was the misfit line at times last season and it felt that way a bit in this one. Newhook was fairly quiet as was Bolduc while Joshua Roy had some good and not-so-good moments. That’s not a combo that complements itself well in terms of their various skill sets. Of course, it’s preseason but two of the three project to be on the third (or fourth) line to start the season, here’s hoping they get a bit more comfy over the next few games.
10) One forward I’ll highlight is Samuel Blais. His spot on the roster is far from a given despite his one-way contract; if an extra youngster steals a spot, it’s probably at his expense. But he had a solid showing in this one. He’s always a physical player and that was evident in this one but he was around the net a bunch as well. Nothing that got through, mind you but that’s a combo that will fit well on the fourth line whenever he’s in the lineup. That was a good first impression.
HW Habs 3 Stars
1st Star: Nick Suzuki – Considering it’s only preseason, it would be foolhardy to say his line picked up where it left off but all three players on it were simply dominant in this one. Suzuki had the winning goal, started the Caufield marker, and was strong at the faceoff dot. They’ll happily take this type of performance night in and night out.
Stats: 1 goal, 1 assist, +1 rating, 2 shots, 10/14 faceoffs, 14:13 TOI
2nd Star: Cole Caufield – I’ll make the quip about the one-timer being in midseason form and move on. Again, the Flyers had no match for this line.
Stats: 1 goal, 1 assist, +1 rating, 3 shots, 15:04 TOI
3rd Star: Kaiden Guhle – He had a very solid game defensively and even led the way with five shots on goal with Hutson even setting him up at times. I highlight that last part as if this is the duo that plays a lot with Suzuki this season, making Guhle look like a viable shooting threat is only going to open things up for the whole five-man unit, especially since Hutson isn’t much of a threat with his point shot. Guhle has been an offensive threat before in junior and incorporating that into his game a bit more in the regular season would be nice.
Stats: 0 points, even rating, 5 shots, 3 blocks, 21:55 TOI