10 Thoughts: Habs Win Interesting Preseason Debut
The first game in what’s been a much more intense version of a Martin St. Louis training camp saw the Habs host the Penguins while dressing a roster that provided some intrigue on Monday. Owen Beck and Oliver Kapanen put forth good efforts in their respective bids to earn the last forward spot. Jayden Struble was a little uneven, perhaps missing a chance to put the last defence spot in question. Samuel Montembeault and Jacob Fowler both had solid performances and some other depth pieces had some decent games. The result was a 2-1 shootout win in a game where the result was a little less important than the performances.
Montreal’s Lineup
Patrik Laine — Oliver Kapanen — Ivan Demidov
Branden Gallagher – Jake Evans — Josh Anderson
Sean Farrell – Owen Beck – Filip Mesar
Jared Davidson — Alex Belzile — Lucas Condotta
Mike Matheson – Noah Dobson
Jayden Struble — Adam Engstrom
Marc Del Gaizo – Nate Clurman
Samuel Montembeault Jacob Fowler
10 Thoughts
1) The story of the first period was the indiscipline from both teams as six penalties were called. This made the game sloppy as neither team was able to get into any sort of rhythm. The Canadiens took four of the six penalties, and the Pens made them pay on a nice passing play by Valtteri Puustinen. Meanwhile, Montreal squandered a 5-on-3 chance.
2) The positive of the first period for the Habs was likely the early play from Laine. Everyone knows about Laine’s shot, but in this period, Laine was moving his feet and earned two calls for the Habs to find themselves on the man advantage.
3) Montembeault was solid in the first and continued to shine in the first half of the second period. He exited the game with 20 saves on 21 shots. Things got quiet as Fowler entered the game, but he was tested as his first shot against was a breakaway.
4) As the Habs started to take control in the second half of the period, one thing remained problematic and that was their hesitancy to shoot. This was a non-NHL goaltender in Sergei Murashov who was given far too much time to get comfortable instead of being attacked right away.
5) The third period started with another Penguins penalty which gave the home side a second 5-on-3 chance. Dobson got a few good shots, but the unit ultimately failed. However, Mesar and Beck were on the 5-on-4 that followed. Beck finally pounced on a rebound that came with Ryan Graves rushing to get back into play; officially an even-strength goal.
6) At even strength, it appeared evident that Montreal’s coaches felt, much like I mentioned above, that the team was not shooting enough. The Canadiens showed great pace and drove a significant number of plays toward the net, closing the gap on the shot clock as shots got close by the end of the game.
7) Engstrom had a rather quiet game, but it was a good quiet. He was smooth in all facets and didn’t look out of place at all. This was better than his partner, as Struble was uneven. If Struble has intentions of taking the sixth defensive spot away from Arber Xhekaj, this was not an effort in that direction. Struble had great shifts, but then made questionable decisions on others, which is exactly what the coaching staff didn’t like last year.
8) Dobson’s debut was a resounding success. Dobson is big, but he’s not physical. Having said that, boy, is he ever smooth. The number of times he was pressured and calmly got the puck up the ice to get the Habs on offence or even to be able to get a line change was noticeable and a huge asset to not get hemmed in their zone.
9) The only real battle from camp this season is happening for the 12th forward spot. While that battle includes more than Beck and Kapanen, those were the two candidates in action on this night. Score one in favour of Beck who played a far more complete game than Kapanen on this night, topping it off with the goal.
10) The overtime period was fun as Fowler came across with an awesome save early before Demidov and Matheson both missed glorious chances to end the game. Ultimately, it went to the shootout where Farrell and Tristan Broz scored to extend it further. Finally, it was Kapanen who went with a deke to win it for the Habs in the fifth round.
HabsWorld Habs 3 Stars
1st Star – Owen Beck
Not that noticeable in the first period, Beck turned it on from the second period on as he was one of the better Hab players in the second half of the game. He forechecked hard, scored the goal, and was just well-positioned most of the night.
Stats: 1 goal, +1, 4 shots, 3 hits, 70% face-off, 18:16 T.O.I.
2nd Star – Noah Dobson
He’s so smooth and skilled that one preseason game into his Habs career and he’s got Matheson trusting him enough to give him the puck when in trouble instead of trying a hero play and coughing it up. In all seriousness, the Dobson-Matheson pairing was very efficient all night long which is promising moving forward.
Stats: 5 shots, 24:16 T.O.I.
3rd Star – Ivan Demidov
If Demidov had a quiet first period, he silenced any worry, getting gradually better as the game moved along. By the third period, he was dancing around guys and creating some excellent scoring chances. Those chances are more likely to be capitalized on once he’s feeding Kirby Dach who should be salivating watching the chances Demidov created for Kapanen on this night.
Stats: 2 shots, 18:28 T.O.I.