The Canadian | Dvorak back, Newhook on the wing

(St. Louis) The unbearable suspense linked to the composition of the Habs trios for Saturday evening’s duel against the St. Louis Blues will last a few more hours.

What we do know is that Christian Dvorak will play his first match of the season, he who candidly admitted that he has been ready to play for a while – we will come back to that. The American will be used in the center, so that Alex Newhook will be transferred to the wing. But on whose wing? Mystery.

The two main parties admitted that they did not know it themselves. In the morning training, no exercise gave a clue to the evening combinations.

In an informal conversation, Michael Matheson confirmed that it was not unusual for players to only learn the identity of their offensive or defensive partners when they arrived at the arena for the game. evening.

Rafaël Harvey-Pinard will not be in uniform, he who is treating a “lower body” injury suffered Thursday in Arizona. Michael Pezzetta will replace Jesse Ylönen. We understood, in the words of Martin St-Louis, that this latest decision is not unrelated to the profile of the Blues, who are aficionados of the physical game.

Newhook got some shifts at right wing from Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield last Thursday, but in a limited sample size. St-Louis stressed that having “less responsibilities”, particularly in the faceoff circle, could be “beneficial” for him.

The Newfoundlander actually displays a success rate of barely 41.7% in this regard, which places him in 122^e ranking among the 137 players in the league involved in at least 50 faceoffs this season. A return far from the respectability threshold of 50%, and miles from the greatest specialists on the circuit, who reach or exceed the 60% mark.

“When players struggle with faceoffs, they experience one or two seconds of negative energy every time they lose another,” admitted St-Louis. It can become heavy for them. »

Dvorak was ready

In his first interview with journalists this season – the media do not have access to injured players – Christian Dvorak confirmed the impression shared by all observers who follow the team’s daily life.

“I’ve felt ready for a while,” he said. However, he could not play, since he was placed on the long-term injured list. At this point, a player can only return to action after missing 10 games and 24 days of work. These two criteria pointed towards November 4 for his return to the game. And there he is, right on target.

The 27-year-old striker had to go through a long rehabilitation after a knee injury cost him the last 18 games of the 2022-2023 season. He had surgery in mid-March.

The extra hours of preparation allowed him to gain strength, he said Saturday morning.

Martin St-Louis recalled that he never had “high expectations” of a player who returns after a long absence. “He needs to get his rhythm back,” said the coach.

Samuel Montembeault will be the starting goalie for the Habs. A skater must always be removed from the lineup by the start of the game to make room for Christian Dvorak. We can therefore expect that Gustav Lindström will be demoted in the American League or that the name of Rafael Harvey-Pinard will be added to the injured list; if he did, we would know right away that he would miss at least a week of activities.