Five points out of a possible 10: eight observations of a highly satisfactory trip for the Canadian

Building on his first two consecutive victories on opposing rinks since December, the Canadian returned from his most grueling trip of the season with a harvest of five points out of 10. A trip of .500 is usually considered acceptable. Given the quality of the opponents, this is even more the case.

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If we expected Montreal to win in Seattle, we didn’t give much of their skin in Edmonton and against the Avalanche, undefeated in their previous nine games. However, against these two teams, the Canadian collected three points. And with a little more luck, he would have gotten his hands on a second point in the Alberta capital.

And all this, deprived of Martin St-Louis, the main leader of the team, for the first four matches of this journey.

“It’s a journey that wasn’t easy with the circumstances and the teams we were playing. From afar, I was very proud of my team, and this evening on the bench, I was even more proud,” commented the Canadian head coach on Tuesday evening.

During these 12 days away from home, the following eight observations were made:

1) Nick Suzuki increasingly recognized

The captain took advantage of this trip to reach personal highs in goals (29) and points (67). He did it while doing a colossal defensive job. He was a master against Nathan MacKinnon. And in Edmonton, Kris Knoblauch did everything to keep Connor McDavid away from him. An obvious sign of respect.

2) Juraj Slafkovsky, the best teenager

By scoring at least one point in each of the games on this trip, the Slovakian extended his successful streak to eight games. In Denver he recorded his 40^e point of the season, which allowed him to overtake Mario Tremblay in the column of best scorers aged 19 and under in the history of the Canadian. The mark has held since the 1974-1975 season.

3) The rise of Guhle

After a tougher outing in Calgary, Kaiden Guhle had an inspired journey. He scored the tying goal in Edmonton and had three points in a single period in Seattle. Beyond his contribution on the scoresheet, the Albertan excelled in all three zones. Against the Oilers and Avalanche, he was mainly opposed to McDavid and MacKinnon. His work is not unrelated to the fact that the two stars were limited to one goal each at equal strength.

4) The imperviousness of numerical inferiority

During this trip, the Canadian faced some of the best mass attacks on the tour. However, he only conceded three times in 18 numerical disadvantages (83.3%). The efficiency of Suzuki, which was discussed a little above, is not unrelated to the success of this unit. Jake Evans and Joel Armia, with their positioning and their ability to cut pass lines and recover pucks, also stood out. Not forgetting David Savard, the team’s number two goalie every time he hits the ice.

5) Armia and Newhook come out of their shells

With the exception of the game in Seattle where he scored five, the Canadian was limited to two goals or less in each of his other four outings. At least the first line got some support. Joel Armia and Alex Newhook took advantage of this trip to develop a certain bond. The two sidekicks combined their efforts for three goals, scoring the winning goal in each of the two victories. Moreover, we have rarely felt the Finn as involved as in recent weeks.

6) Cleared on 17 occasions

Obviously, everything is not perfect, the Canadian’s massive attack was shut out on 17 occasions during this stay. When Brendan Gallagher (two goals in 13 games), Josh Anderson (one goal in 26 games), Rafaël Harvey-Pinard (one goal in 34 games) and Tanner Pearson (one goal in 25 games) find themselves on the second unit, must Are we surprised? We also understand why the first wave, made up of Mike Matheson and the four most dynamic forwards on the team, spends practically the entire two minutes of a power play on the ice.

7) Tanner Pearson on the last miles

Pearson’s days are numbered in Montreal. The 31-year-old striker, whose contract expires at the end of the campaign, was left out of three of the five games this trip. If it hadn’t been for a stop in Vancouver, where he played a little over four seasons, he probably wouldn’t have faced the Canucks. Moreover, Trevor Letowski said that the coaches had explained to the veteran that he would watch his part of the match from the bridge. Jerseys bearing his image should soon be “on special” in the Canadiens’ souvenir shops.

8) Celebrini walks away

These five points allowed the Habs to move ahead of the Arizona Coyotes and the Ottawa Senators in the general standings. In doing so, he lost 2% of the chance of winning the lottery for the first pick, this time featuring Macklin Celebrini. All is not lost. The end of the Canadian’s schedule will not be easy.