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Montreal Canadiens: 24 Thoughts On (Mostly Cayden Primeau) In Habs OT Win

By Ken MacMillan

Nov 9, 2023; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Detroit Red Wings defenseman Olli Maatta (2) and Montreal Canadiens right wing Joel Armia (40) battle for the puck in the first period at Little Caesars Arena. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 9, 2023; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Detroit Red Wings defenseman Olli Maatta (2) and Montreal Canadiens right wing Joel Armia (40) battle for the puck in the first period at Little Caesars Arena. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports /
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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.

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