The thing has been widely documented, but its progression has been phenomenal in recent weeks. The continuation of his internship to the right of Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield is fully deserved. It hasn’t translated into many goals yet, but the indicators are green. The Money Puck site calculates that of all the lines that have played at least 50 minutes together this season in Montreal, the 22-14-20 combination ranks second in expected goals share, one of the few above the threshold respectability of 50%. According to the NHL Edge website, the Slovakian has taken 19 shots from the slot in his last 18 games, compared to none in his first 10.
One would have thought that a first goal, even scored in an empty net, would revive him. Alas no. Over the next three games, he was his side’s worst attacker in just about every offensive department. When he was on the ice five-on-five, the opponent dominated 35-15 in shots on goal. His linemates Sean Monahan and Jake Evans didn’t have a great week either. Anderson, however, was the worst of the three.
At 24 years old, Nick Suzuki still has time to improve. However, we are starting to have a fairly good idea of his rate of offensive production. After 28 games, his 22 points equate to a total of 64 points over 82 games. This after records of 66 and 61 points over the last two campaigns, and the equivalent of 60 points in 2020-2021. However, there are still many games left for the captain to hope to reach the 70-point threshold for the first time in his career.
He looked good despite the loss to the Los Angeles Kings last Thursday, stopping 38 of 42 pucks aimed his way. Following this performance, we noticed on the NHL Edge website that he is the NHL goalie who plays strong matches with the most regularity. Indeed, in 9 of his 11 starts, or 81.8% of cases, he had a save rate above .900. His good season continues.
No one scores fewer goals than the Habs in the first half: just 14 goals in 28 games. After Sunday’s defeat against the Nashville Predators, we felt Martin St-Louis annoyed by this recurring flaw on his team. In reality, the Montrealers got off to a good start, but quickly lost their momentum, ending, once again, the first period without having scored – for the third time in a row and the seventh time in nine games. “I felt that at the start, we had a plan and that we tried to execute it: we played deep [in the opposing zone] and we kept control of the puck,” analyzed St-Louis. But as the match progressed, we got away from that. »
It could have been “down”, since it’s not very happy, but the trend has been constant since the start of the season: winning a match in 60 minutes is a mountain for CH. No less than 7 of the team’s 12 victories so far have required overtime (4) or shootouts (3) to overcome the opponent. With his five small victories acquired in three periods, the Canadian shares last place in the league with the Seattle Kraken. And he shares the top spot with the Toronto Maple Leafs with 7 standings points requiring overtime.
At his current pace, Mike Matheson is on his way to a 56-point season, which would shatter his career high (34) set last year. Kaiden Guhle and Justin Barron, meanwhile, can aspire to 25-point hauls, a threshold reached by less than a quarter of all defensemen who played at least one game last year in the league. Habs defenders, in fact, lead the league in total goals scored. Even Johnathan Kovacevic and Gustav Lindström (4 each) got their hands dirty. Now all these beautiful people need to defend their territory better, but that’s another matter.
The penalty kill is in complete disarray, now 30th in the NHL, with a low 73.5% success rate, right near the cellar. And the power play looks only slightly better at 16.5%, ranking 24th. On Sunday, the five-man attack generated almost nothing interesting. This did not escape Martin St-Louis, who attributed his club’s loss of rhythm in the first period to the inability of his best players to take advantage of opposing penalties. “It’s not a question of scoring: it’s a question of not losing momentum,” he summed up. We are there.
It cannot be reiterated enough: the turnover statistic should be taken with a grain of salt, as it is compiled very unevenly across the league. However, the Canadian is in a good position to be lost puck champion for the third season in a row. Which means either that the minor officials at the Bell Center are harsh, or that the Martin St-Louis players are committing a lot of it. The coach also described his troops as “stubborn” on Sunday evening. “Sometimes we force plays and there’s nothing,” he said. From the top of the faceoff circles to the blue line, it’s a dangerous place. […] When the match is close or it is early in the game, we must not take risks when the other team does not give us anything. We need to simplify this at the moment. »
