The Montreal Canadiens looked to be down and out offensively when Alex Galchenyuk was injured. Thanks to Artturi Lehkonen, that has not been the case for the Habs.
The Montreal Canadiens were going to need some players to step up when Alex Galchenyuk went down with injury. Galchenyuk hurt his knee in a collision against the Los Angeles Kings and will be out for 6-8 weeks. One player who is putting pucks in the net for the Habs in Galchenyuk’s absence is rookie Artturi Lehkonen.
Lehkonen was drafted in the second round of the 2013 NHL Draft. The native of Piikio, Finland was mostly known for his offensive game, especially his shot that is able to evade goaltenders. Last season, he led the SHL in postseason goals with 11 in 16 games.
Lehkonen looked terrific in training camp. He primarily played on a line with Alexander Radulov and Tomas Plekanec and it looked like an excellent scoring trio. However, when the puck dropped on the regular season, Radulov was the only one finding the scoresheet.
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In his first 12 games, Lehkonen scored just two goals and one assist. He was injured in game 12 against the Philadelphia Flyers. Upon returning from injury on November 26th, Lehkonen went scoreless for two more games. That left him with just three points in 14 contests.
Lehkonen found scoring touch at perfect time for Habs
It was to the point where I firmly believed Lehkonen needed to be sent to the minors. I thought they had lots of prospects in the American Hockey League who deserved a shot. I thought after a short stint with the St. John’s Ice Caps, Lehkonen could find his offensive game.
I was wrong.
Since then, Lehkonen has scored five goals and seven points in ten games, including five in his last seven. He has found that offence which made him such a dangerous player in Finland and Sweden in the past.
His offence couldn’t come at a better time either. When Galchenyuk was injured, and to a lesser extent, Desharnais, it was thought the Habs would struggle to score goals. With Lehkonen stepping up offensively, scoring has not been a problem for the Canadiens.
A lot of that credit can go to the fantastic play of Max Pacioretty and Radulov. The pair have made an excellent pairing on the first line. However, Lehkonen’s sniping ability has allowed the team to have more than one scoring line.
Habs keeping up offensively even without their best scorer
Combining with Tomas Plekanec for much of this stretch, the Habs have enjoyed plenty of offensive success without their best offensive player. Galchenyuk has missed eight games and the Habs have scored 28 goals in that time.
No one was expecting 3.5 goals per game from the Canadiens while Galchenyuk was on the shelf. With four goals in the last seven games, Lehkonen gets a lot of credit for the Canadiens going 4-2-2 during a tough stretch of games.
What’s most impressive for the slender Lehkonen is how he is scoring his goals. He is proving that although he is a smaller winger, he is not a perimeter player. Almost every one of his goals this season has come from just outside the blue paint.
Lehkonen is excellent at getting open and finding holes in coverage then slamming in a rebound. You would think he is 225 pounds, but he is closer to 180. It’s an underrated skill, but being able to create excellent scoring chances is what it takes to be an excellent goal scorer.
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Lehkonen us clearly great at finding openings and getting scoring chances. Now that he is starting to figure out how to capitalize on those chances, the 21 year old will be firmly entrenched in the Canadiens top six for a very long time.