After giving a night off to most of his regulars on Thursday night, Martin St-Louis got the big guns out tonight. The Montreal Canadiens had all of their top nine (aside from Christian Dvorak, who Owen Beck replaced), three veteran blueliners, three of their best prospects on the backend, and their goalie tandem from last season.
View the original article to see embedded media.
Meanwhile, the Toronto Maple Leafs left their Core Four at home. Morgan Reilly was nowhere to be seen, and the most recognizable names on their roster were Easton Cowan and Matthew Knies.
However, it didn’t take five minutes for the Canadiens to lose three players. David Reinbacher had to retreat to the room after a Knies hit 13 seconds into the game. Then, while on the power play, Patrik Laine received a knee-on-knee hit thanks to career AHLer Cedric Pare and stayed down. The big Finn had to be helped off the ice, and it looked like a severe injury.
Pare didn’t get a penalty on the play, so Arber “The Sheriff” Xhekaj took matters into his own hands and jumped him without even taking his gloves off, earning himself a truckload of penalties and the rest of the night off. Just like Reinbacher and Laine, mind you, the Canadiens announced after the first that neither would be back.
Related: Déjà Vu: Canadiens Lose Patrik Laine Four Minutes Into Saturday Night Game
After the game, Nick Suzuki said he thought it should have been a penalty, but the referees believed it was accidental.
Selected by Boston in the sixth round of the 2017 draft, Pare has never played a single NHL game. After being drafted, he spent three more years in the QMJHL before graduating to the ECHL and the AHL. This is just about the worst possible scenario for a team icing NHLers: seeing one of them taken out by a player who will never play in the NHL.
Understandably, tempers flared on the ice. On top of Xhekaj, Juraj Slafkovsky and Josh Anderson also dropped the gloves. While it’s easy to get frustrated, the last thing this team needs now is another talented player going down to injury in a meaningless pre-season tilt (because, really, it can’t be called a match right now).
Forty minutes in, Nicholas Robertson remains the only player to have found the back of the net. It seems he decided to hurt the right team tonight, unlike Thursday, when his stick push sent Willam Nylander headfirst into Christian Dvorak’s knee.
Through six power play opportunities, the Canadiens have obtained a grand total of six shots. They just keep looking for the perfect play, passing, passing, and passing again. It’s a bit like nobody wants to shoot. Unfortunately, shooting is a prerequisite to scoring, so needless to say, Dennis Hildeby was still chasing a shutout.
Robertson added another goal to his name early in the third frame on a shot that Cayden Primeau would probably want back. Montreal got another power play opportunity during those last 20 minutes, with the same result: one more man-advantage shot and still no goal.
Montreal finally found the back of the net with an extra attacker when Lane Hutson fed Kirby Dach on the doorstep, who only had to tip the puck in. It was a meaningless goal in a meaningless game, but it still got the fans cheering, their sole celebratory moment aside from when P.K. Subban was shown on the Bell Centre scoreboard. Final score: 2-1 Toronto.
This game will go down as a prime example of why some people hate pre-season games, but at the same time, it’s normal for players to want to get some reps in before the results start to matter. Laine said himself yesterday that he would like to play all three remaining exhibition games. This is obviously not going to happen now, but it shows that those games serve a purpose.
St-Louis must have had a déjà vu feeling when he got on the stand to speak to the media last night and was immediately asked about the Laine injury. “I’ve said it before, right? The league doesn’t care; it keeps going. We have to keep going,” said the bench boss.
Overall, he seemed pleased with how his team responded to the events of the first period, showing a pack mentality. However, he confirmed that he spoke to his changes between the second and third frames to calm things down. Asked about Xhekaj’s reaction, he explained:
It’s tough to lose him for the whole game, I understand his reaction, but it was hard to lose him for the whole game.
When prompted to say if he would have a chat with his rugged blueliner following the events, he said:
Tomorrow’s a day off, I think I’ll think on it. Then whatever I decide to do, I don’t think I’ll tell you.
Of course, losing Xhekaj for the rest of the game was a big blow to the team since they were already down two men, but it’s part of his role to react to that kind of event. The coaching staff knows his role; they know he’ll be out for blood; they could have told him you can’t get tossed right now; we need you. They didn’t, so they have to share part of the blame.
Related: Pregame: Canadiens vs. Maple Leafs Take Two
On Slafkovsky dropping the gloves and perhaps exposing himself to injury, he added: “Slaf is a big boy; it’s about showing people he can bring this. It’s not about doing that every night, but letting the opponents know that he can do it.”
Tonight, St-Louis was meant to try out his newly formed power play units, but things didn’t go according to plan, losing Laine so early. For the little time we saw before he went down, the coach seemed to want to split the power play time between the two units evenly. He left his first one out for a minute, put the other on, and then the unthinkable happened.
Still, Laine wasn’t the only player on the man advantage, and while losing him hurts, going 0/7 is just abysmal. All through the night, there were too many passes and not enough shots. The players always seem to be looking for the perfect play instead of trying for the net. A pretty power play goal is worth exactly the same as one that comes on a rebound; there is no point in trying for the masterpiece at all times.
The Canadiens have a day off tomorrow, and camp will resume in Brossard on Monday morning. Unsurprisingly, St-Louis said his main objective for the rest of camp would be to work on the power play and the offensive side of the game since he has focused on the defensive aspects so far.
Everyone will eagerly await an update on Laine’s injury, but remember that there can be a waiting time while the swelling goes down before the MRI is done. I guess at this stage, it’s all speculation, but what we do know is that he left the Bell Centre on crutches wearing a knee brace. For those who believe it’s good news that he can walk on crutches, I’ll say this: I’ve blown my ACL on both knees repeatedly and never needed a wheelchair.
Follow Karine on X @KarineHains Bluesky @karinehains.bsky.social and Threads @karinehains
Bookmark The Hockey News Canadiens’ page for all the news and happenings around the Canadiens
