Canadiens: In Other News… 0-5, First Win, 21-22 Debut for Rocket, Lions

0-5 Streak Leaves Canadiens at Crossroad

The tale of Robert Johnson is one as old as music itself, that being the legendary Blues guitarist got his incredible skills by selling his soul to the Devil. Standing at the crossroads as a struggling musician and terrible guitarist, Johnson handed his guitar to a man dressed in black, who subsequently tuned it, making him a masterful guitarist. Whilst the Devil ultimately came to claim his deed, head coach Dominique Ducharme, GM Marc Bergevin, and most members of the Canadiens roster found themselves at that same crossroad, and for the longest time, it seemed like the Devil wasn’t coming.

I don’t need to go into much detail behind the Canadiens 0-5 start to the 21-22 NHL season. Try as a I might, I was unable to find time to discuss my thoughts on what was a continually dismal run, but alas, here we are. There isn’t much sugar coating needed to take away from what these first five games were. Dreadful, in every sense of the word. After a 2020-21 season that concluded with an, as stated, magical Cinderella run to the Stanley Cup Finals, Montreal looked like a shell of that team that once was, made even more difficult by the loss of the aforementioned Price and Weber.

The two players were integral, if not essential to the Canadiens success last season, with Price in essence being the reason they went to the Cup Finals in the first place, holding down the fort in games where the Habs were heavily outshot and even further still, outmatched. Now, without Price in goal, the Canadiens have mainly been just one thing, outmatched. Even with a tough 4-1 showing against Buffalo, the Canadiens didn’t faremuch better against similar basement dwellers in the San Jose Sharks, getting crushed 5-0 off a two-goal performance from rookie Jonathan Dahlen.

Against stronger opponents, the Canadiens  looked like a fish out of water, getting similarly crushed 4-1 and 3-1 by the Carolina Hurricanes and New York Rangers, with former Habs third overall pick Jesperi Kotkaniemi, getting his first goal with the Canes after signing a one-year, $6.1 million AAV offer sheet with them in the off-season. Yet, in spite of it all, Montreal went into their sixth game against Detroit with their heads held high, and, well, rightfully so.

Offense, Niku, Perreault Shine in 6-1 Win over Red Wings

Montreal was everything and more that they weren’t over the first five games of the season against Detroit on Saturday, looking confident, calculated, and fluid with the puck, coming out with a decisive and much needed 6-1 win. While Detroit got on the board first with a great snipe from Captain Dylan Larkin, Montreal came out flying not long after, and didn’t look back.

After Ben Chiarot broke the ice off a beautiful feed from Jonathan Drouin, goals from Mike Hoffman and Christian Dvorak only furthered Montreal’s lead. Yet, along with late off-season addition Sami Niku registering two assists in his Canadiens debut, Drummondville native Mathieu Perreault stole the show with his third career hat trick. A former sixth round pick of the Washington Capitals in the 2006 NHL Draft, Perreault has been a regular in the NHL since the 2011-12 season, managing four-consecutive 40-point seasons from 2013-14 to 2016-17.

A hard-working two-way centre and Swiss army knife in many ways, Perreault has showcased his versatility early in Montreal, and along with Drouin has stood out as a pleasant surprise for the Canadiens thus far this season. A long-time and early member of the second incarnation of the Winnipeg Jets, Perreault emerged as a veteran leader for the organization even in spite of a bloated $4.125 million AAV salary over his final four seasons. With a host of new additions looking to find their footing over the Habs first five games, Saturday’s matchup gave exactly that, and Montreal looked as confident as ever as the offense flowed smoothly and seamlessly.

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Hoffman and Niku proved to be a dynamic one-two punch on the powerplay, Jake Allen was reliable as always, stopping 26 of 27 shots faced, and youngsters in Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki showcased the confidence they had previously been lacking in over the first five games of the season. With Caufield registering his first point off an assist, the former first rounder looked as confident as he did in the playoffs, making some nice moves with the occasional slick pass here and there. After a tumultuous winless slide to start the season, Montreal definitely got what they had been looking for against a resilient and talented Red Wings squad.

Pezzetta, Khisamutdinov, shine as Rocket, Lions, Get 2021-22 Season Underway

After a scaled back season spent in a weakened all-Canadian North division, the Laval Rocket are back to full attendance with their 2021-22 season underway, ditto the newly founded Trois Rivieres Lions, who made their ECHL debut in a two-game series against the Newfoundland Growlers. After clinching the North Division Title in 2020-21, the Rocket are off to a solid 3-2 start this season, helped along by an impressive 4-0 win over the Providence Bruins on Saturday. After years of mediocrity and lack of interest from the Canadiens front office towards improving their AHL fortunes, the Rocket came out guns a blazing in the off-season, inking an astounding 15 players to AHL contracts, including former NHL regulars in Gabriel Bourque and Kevin Poulin.

Along with Michael McNiven continuing to seize his starting opportunity, making 29 saves in the shutout on Saturday, five players are off to PPG starts, with pre-season standout Michael Pezzetta near equaling his 20-game output of last season over the first five games, with 1-3-4 totals and a +6 rating. Laurent Dauphin has continued to prove his worth as one of the Rocket’s top offensive options, and enforcer Brandon Baddock has showed some skill early with like Pezzetta, 1-3-4 totals and a +3 rating.

As for Trois-Rivieres, the atmosphere in the Colisee Videotron was nothing short of electric on opening night, with Trois-Rivieres native Alexis D’aoust registering the first goal in Franchise history. With an unassuming, if hard-nosed lineup consisting mainly of long-time ECHL veterans and overseas options, the Lions fought valiantly, yet ultimately came up short in 6-3 and 3-1 decisions against a talented and stacked Growlers squad.

With a number of established talents such as top scorer Olivier Archambault and journeyman defenseman Mathieu Brodeur, the Lions should be able to put up a solid fight over the course of their inaugural season, with a bit of flare here and there. Former Canadiens seventh round pick Arsen Khisamutdinov made an early case for goal of the year on Friday, notching the only one for the Lions that night. Going into their next game on Tuesday, look for the Lions, and the Rocket, to build on promising starts and give Canadiens fans the solid minor-league hockey they had long been lacking in, over the past however many seasons.

Daniel Audette Sits Third in KHL Scoring Race

Now for a bit of ancillary, and I do mean ancillary, content, Daniel Audette is a name mostly forgotten by Canadiens fans in the grand scheme of things. A former fifth round pick of the Habs in the 2014 NHL draft, the son of former Canadiens forward and long-time NHL star Donald Audette managed little but the occasional flash of promise in his three seasons with the Rocket and St. John’s IceCaps. After managing career highs of 14-25-39 totals in the 2018-19 season, Audette was on pace to eclipse those numbers with the Springfield Thunderbirds in 2019-20, further showcasing the offensive abilities he’s since fully realized on the other side of the pond.

After deciding to make the jump overseas going into 2020-21, Audette caught on fire early and hasn’t looked back. Signing with Lukko Rauma of the SM-Liiga, Audette finished second in league scoring with 13-37-50 totals over 60 games, leading his squad of mostly homegrown talent to the league playoffs, posting 0-4-4 totals over 11 games. After migrating to KHL club Podolsk Vityaz for 2021-22, Audette has only shone brighter with 12-12-24 totals over his first 20 games. To say Audette’s resurgence as a legitimate overseas scoring threat has been a surprise would be a gross understatement, but regardless, the Blainville native has taken his chance and ran with it, and thus far has shown no signs of slowing down.

While long-time top scorer and one-time Vegas Golden Knight Vadim Shipachyov largely has a chokehold on the KHL scoring title, Audette and fellow Canadian Phillipe Maillet are right there with him, with Audette being one point behind for second in league scoring. Considering the recent trend of Canadian KHL talent, with Oshawa native Justin Danforth playing his way into an NHL contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets this season, it remains to be seen whether Audette will see another North American opportunity in the future, though it’s highly unlikely. In either case, the former Canadiens farmhand has found new life overseas, and its one he looks to continue building upon as the KHL reaches the mid-point of it’s 21-22 season.