Canadiens: 24 Thoughts On Habs OT Win Over Red Wings

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The Montreal Canadiens look to stop the bleeding as they head to Detroit to face the Red Wings.

After a strong 5-2-1 start to the season, the Canadiens have dropped four consecutive games and sat at 5-5-2 when the puck dropped at Little Caesar’s Areana.

Here are 24 Thoughts on the game.

First Period

Canadiens head coach Martin St. Louis has decided to shake up his lines tonight resulting in some interesting combinations. Nick Suzuki is between Alex Newhook and Josh Anderson while Christian Dvorak is centering Cole Caufield and Juraj Slafkovksy. I would have hoped to see the Slafkovksy-Suzuki-Caufield combination stay together a little longer than this.

It is really odd seeing a defense pairing of Ben Chiarot and Jeff Petry wearing Detroit Red Wings jerseys. It is especially odd to see both of them mixing it up with Brendan Gallagher in the first few shifts of the game.

Cayden Primeau finally gets his second start of the season. He looked pretty good in his first game but was facing one of the league’s best teams in the New Jersey Devils after sitting for a couple of weeks. That game was just over two weeks ago which is obviously not ideal for a goalie. He looks comfortable early turning away a handful of Red Wings shots in the first couple minutes.

Suzuki somehow gets away with an interference penalty as he gets behind the defense looking for a stretch pass. The pass didn’t get through and as Suzuki circled back he made a little contact with a Red Wings defender who fell and this opened up a huge lane for Mike Matheson to walk into the attacking zone and open the scoring with a wicked wrist shot. I’d be quick to complain if this was the other way around so we should point out when the Canadiens get away with one as well.

Brendan Gallagher makes a smart play after a rare Sean Monahan turnover led to some chaos in front of the Habs net. Primeau was scrambling a bit as the puck got behind him but Gallagher calmly gathered it and just flipped it out of the zone without putting it over the glass for a penalty or even icing the puck as it was just short of reaching the far goal line. The veteran line of Gallagher, Monahan and Tanner Pearson stays together and it is for plays like that where they just make the smart, safe, correct play…. except for the original turnover of course.

We may have to stop complaining about the Habs power play and start complaining about the penatly kill. They are running at 20% on the power play which is middle of the pack, but their 73.6% penalty kill is in the bottom ten of the league.

I keep liking what I see from Juraj Slafkovsky and have for pretty much the whole season. Starting to use his size more to extend plays with the puck on his stick, getting to the net and getting rebounds on goal. It is easy to see that he could become a really hard player for opposing teams to handle when he has a little experience under his belt.

Good period for Primeau who has watched a lot of hockey this season. Stopped all eight shots he faced. Looked poised and calm in the net. Made a couple of tough saves.

Nov 9, 2023; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Montreal Canadiens right wing Joel Armia. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports /

Second Period

Canadiens kill off an early penalty but it was mostly just Primeau killing it. He made three great saves off Dylan Larkin in close on pretty much the same setup from down low as Larkin kept one-timing the puck on net from the slot. Tough play for a goalie but Primeau read it well each time.

Suzuki with great work on the penalty kill. Created two nearly identical turnovers at the blue line with the first leading to a breakaway where he hits the post and the second letting him kill plenty of time before getting the puck down the ice.

Gallagher looks like he is 25 years old. What is happening? Gets the puck in the offensive zone and wisely draws a defender to him and waits the perfect amount of time to let Monahan get open before saucering a perfect pass onto Monahan’s stick to lead to a chance. Three weeks ago I thought Gallagher needed to retire. Quicker turnarounds have only been successfully pulled off by The Undertaker at Wrestlemania.

Why are referees so reluctant to call penalty shots? Josh Anderson gets in all alone and is fouled from behind but they call a holding minor instead of a penalty shot. Off to the power play… which had been pretty good this season.

Monahan scored on the ensuing power play and the Habs kind of get away with one again. Monahan knocked Moritz Seider’s stick into the rafters and as Seider took off to get it the puck gets to the front of the net where Monahan pulls it to the forehand and buries it over James Reimer’s pad. James Reimer still plays hockey?!?

Nevermind! The awesome, amazing, wonderful, stupid offside rule negates a little more offense in a league starved for it. Caufield’s skate is about a quarter of an inch offside as the Habs entered the zone 30 seconds before the goal so it does not count. I get we want to go back and gets calls right, but it wasn’t a breakaway goal because the guy scoring it was eight feet offside. It’s like half a skate length long before the puck ever got to the net. Silly rule.

When did the Yzerplan become “get every veteran possible”? Chiarot, Petry, Olli Maatta, JT Compher, Andrew Copp, David Perron, Christian Fischer, Alex Debrincat, Justin Holl, Klim Kostin, Daniel Sprong, Jake Walman and Reimer all brought in via free agency and trade. I thought teams were supposed to rebuild through the draft?

Christian Fischer punches one into the Habs net…literally. The puck bounced up high and he swatted at it with his hand and redirected it into the net. The referees gather to watch the video review, see Fischer punch the puck into the net (and now I love reviews because…. oh wait it counts for some reason.) The Magic 8-Ball that is used in the review room must have come up “call on the ice stands.” The rule states it counts if the puck happens to bounce off a player’s equipment and in but you can not direct the puck into the net with anything but your stick. Sure looked like he actually pushed it into the net with his glove.

Nov 9, 2023; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Montreal Canadiens right wing Josh Anderson. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports /

Third Period

Canadiens still on the power play to start the third and it doesn’t take long for them to snipe. Suzuki tries to feed Caufield but it doesn’t get through. It comes back to Suzuki and everyone thinks he is going to feed Caufield again but he just steps up into the slot and fires the puck past Reimer. The Red Wings goalie thinks he was interfered with but this one is going to count as the Habs power play can’t be stopped!

The Red Wings head coach looks like the bad guy from those movies with the yellow minions.

Ahhhh, Suzuki makes a weak clear in the defending zone and Compher beats Primeau over the shoulder with a perfect shot as Primeau left a sliver at the top corner of the net open from a really tight angle. He’s been really good tonight, but that was not a great one to give up with the shot coming from along the goal line almost.

Gallagher shoots the puck at the Red Wings net well after the whistle and then pretends like he had no idea a whistle had gone and gets into a shoving match with Moritz Seider who is about a foot taller…. gosh I missed vintage Gallagher.

Three minutes left and Jake Evans gets moved up to take Slafkovsky’s spot on a line with Dvorak and Caufield. I can’t say I agree with that one and it looks worse as the Canadiens immediately give up two scoring chances even though the shift started with a faceoff in the offensive zone.

Josh “Just Missed” Anderson just missed a chance at the game winner as the puck just rolls by the post.

Cole Caufield is a cheat code in overtime. Reimer gets a holding the stick (when’s the last time you saw a goalie get that?) and Caufield makes him pay as he rips home his third overtime goal of the season on the ensuing power play.

What a game from Cayden Primeau. He’s done little more than watch games from the press box all year long and he looked as comfortable as anyone on the ice last night. Well deserved win for the young goaltender and I hope we get to see a little more of him soon.

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