Montreal Canadiens: Ryan Poehling and his growing offensive output

Ryan Poehling made the Montreal Canadiens proud Saturday night by scoring a hat-trick as the US took on Sweden at the World Juniors.

That game was the definition of a bittersweet symphony for Ryan Poehling. The Montreal Canadiens first-round pick of 2017 got Team USA back into the swing of things by scoring a natural hat-trick in the third period. Sweden, unfortunately, got the best of them as Adam Boqvist scored the game-winning goal in overtime.

Poehling was named the Player of the Game and rightly so. But you could see the disappointment on his face. The Habs have a true player through and through, and it looks as if he’s only getting started.

The special thing about the hat-trick was that it took a little over six minutes for all three goals to be scored.

The US was down 4-1 and went on the powerplay after Isac Lundestrom went off for roughing. Poehling got the play started on the zone entry dishing it off to Alexander Chmelevski. Sweden would probably want to play this kill a lot better as Poehling headed to the left side of the net and was uncontested. Oliver Wahlstrom found Poehling alone for a quick and short one-time tap-in to cut the lead in half.

Then the fun began. Kyle Keyser skated off to the US bench at the 17:34 mark of the third. The team got their shots across with the extra man, but each of them was stopped. That was until Poehling put another puck past Samuel Ersson.

Quinn Hughes send a shot to the front of the net from the left circle. Wahlstrom managed to push the puck over to Poehling who had an open chance and didn’t miss it. 4-3 America.

It only took 14 seconds for the centre to complete the hat-trick. Adam Genning attempted to clear the puck out of his own end, but it was partially blocked by Poehling. Joel Farabee ended up with it at the blueline and send it back over deceiving the defending Swedish players. Poehling with time walked in and rifled a shot stick side to beat Ersson for the third time.

What an incredible game for the prospect. Of all the goals, the final was the most impressive. Poehling always has a mind for defence and quickly turned positioning and a strong stick into an offensive opportunity for his team.

With that game in the books, Poehling is tied with Morgan Frost for most points at the World Juniors (7). Many believed the offence within the young player was there and that he needed time to bring it out. What stands out about his trajectory is he isn’t sacrificing his defensive structure to score. In fact, he’s making use of it to put himself in situations to contribute offensively.

Qualities such as those are the difference between good and great players. It’s a massive positive for the Montreal Canadiens to have Poehling stand out on a team filled with skilled forwards. He’s making the most of his opportunity with Jack Hughes out of the lineup and is improving every game. And as bad as it feels to lose, it could help him take his game to higher levels.