Montreal Canadiens: What to make of Michael McCarron’s game

Michael McCarron was looking to make an impact with the Montreal Canadiens against the Toronto Maple Leafs in his first NHL game in months.

It’ safe to say that the power of St. Patrick wasn’t on the side of the Montreal Canadiens last night. The team started out strong against the speed and youth of the Toronto Maple Leafs including the Jonathan Drouin and Jacob de La Rose lines who had several minutes of sustained pressure in the offensive zone in the opening period. Unfortunately, that effort only lasted for the opening 20, and it was all Leafs afterwards.

Tracking Artturi Lehkonen, Brendan Gallagher, and Alex Galchenyuk – who has a career 14 points in 23 games against the Leafs – were a few of the focuses for Habs fans, but a lot of eyes were on Michael McCarron. The 2013 first-round pick slotted in on the fourth line in place of Byron Froese next to Nicolas Deslauriers and Byron Froese.

McCarron saw 11:39 last night for the Montreal Canadiens and had two shots on goal and two hits on his scoresheet. But how was he overall? Many will jump at the chance to bring up his high-sticking penalty on Connor Brown that led to Nazem Kadri‘s power-play goal to make it 3-0 Leafs late in the second period. Speaking of that, the Habs penalty kill failed to improve after allowing two goals shorthanded, including Kadri’s.

The highlight of McCarron’s critiques is his role in Andreas Johnsson‘s first career goal. It’s easy to point the finger at the 23-year-old as you see him streaking in late as Johnsson sends the puck past Charlie Lindgren for the team’s fourth of the night.

You may be able to cut McCarron some slack there as he just swung over the boards as Connor Carrick past the puck to Zach Hyman. However, if he continued to push towards the front of the net instead of gliding, he probably would’ve been there earlier to intercept Johnsson.

Save for those two moments, McCarron’s night may be described as underwhelming. You rarely noticed which unfortunately was something said of the centre at the beginning of the season and past call-ups in previous years. That was McCarron’s first NHL game in four months, and hopefully, that gave him a little jolt as to where he needs to get to be effective and reliable.

More from Editorials

• Montreal Canadiens: Senators Rebuild At Crisis Point As Kent Hughes Moves Forward
• Montreal Canadiens: Jonathan Drouin Continues Charity Work In Montreal After Leaving Habs
• Montreal Canadiens: Laval Rocket Lineup Going To Be Must Watch
• Montreal Canadiens: Jesse Ylönen Contract Extension Analysis
• Montreal Canadiens: Top 31 Prospects – #31 Quentin Miller

If the Montreal Canadiens are hoping to make him a third-line forechecking player as Sylvain Lefebvre mentioned, McCarron needs to have better performances than that. Claude Julien has to be able to trust him starting out in the defensive zone and make the necessary moves to break out and do damage in the offensive zone. That comes down to proper execution and attention to detail.

McCarron still has time to show that he can be that kind of player in the future. The Habs were patient with de La Rose, and he’s improved over time, let’s see if McCarron can show the same level of growth in these final games.

Next: Three Things That Saved Bergevin's Job

What did you make of McCarron’s game? Can he improve by the season’s end? Let us know in the comments below.