Montreal Canadiens: 5 quick hits from the home opener victory

The Montreal Canadiens emerged victorious in their first contest of the season. The Habs came out on top thanks to a last-minute goal from forward Josh Anderson to give the team a 4-3 lead over the Maple Leafs.

Even with a young defense core and some newcomers in the forward core, the Montreal Canadiens were able to get things done. There were some ups and downs, but head coach Martin St. Louis and the Habs collected a victory in the 2022-23 home opener.

With that said, let’s look at 5 “quick hits” or just five takeaways from the Habs home opener. I chose to roll with three positives from the game and two things that stick out as things that could be improved. Let’s dive in!

1. Montreal Canadiens’ top line had things working all night long.

The Montreal Canadiens’ top line of Cole Caufield, Nick Suzuki, and Josh Anderson was locked in from start to finish. These three had their game in sync and were able to get the job done all night. While Anderson picked up the game-winner late in the game, throughout the game, he used his physicality to create scoring chances often.

Anderson’s physicality and bigger frame compared to Caufield and Suzuki work well. The three are able to create scoring chances, and both Caufield and Suzuki excel in the transition game. They were able to show this against the Leafs with several 2-on-0 and 2-on-1 situations where they were able to make a good transition and create these quality scoring chances.