One moment won't make or break outlook for Canadiens rookie David Reinbacher

David Reinbach touched the ice for the Montreal Canadiens for the first time this season in the 4-3 overtime win over the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday night. The expectation is that maybe he'll be able to help a team that's been inconsistent to start.

He didn't see too much action on the ice. He was out for 9:09 of the game. However, his impact was felt for better or for worse.

For the most part, apart from a single shift, he was solid. He picked up a couple of hits on the night. However, he had one blunder that gave the Sabres a prime scoring opportunity. He played a puck off the boards, and it went into no man's land. 

The Sabres got control of the puck, and Reinbacher then couldn’t block the shot before Josh Norris found the back of the net. 

This wasn't his NHL debut, but in a way, it can be described as a welcome-to-the-league moment. It's a new level of play. The competition gets tougher. Small mistakes can more easily come back to bite you while also being placed under the microscope.

However, after that, he mostly played well. Naturally, it's a moment when he could easily receive flak, and if he were a veteran, it would be more warranted. In his third NHL game, one in which his team still won, it can be somewhat forgiven.

Plenty of room for growth, but that's OK

While many would like to see him come up and set the world on fire, that might not be the most realistic thing for him. He's in for growing pains at 21 years old.

For that reason, it was very wise of the Canadiens to bring him in but give him only a little bit of ice time. It's an opportunity to ease him in. It's a risk because they mainly had to operate with just their top two defensive pairings. Lane Hutson played pretty close to half the game.

It's about finding a middle ground. He can't come up and not play at all, but to thrust him into action for 20 minutes. That would be irresponsible. In this setup, he had the chance to breathe and regroup after a flustering moment.

It wasn't as if he played poorly, and the defense was stellar apart from him. After the blunder that handed Buffalo a goal, the Canadiens went 3-1, and then lost it. Again, if not for a strong penalty kill, they would've lost.

It's going to be a while longer before we know where he's at. Some may look at the one moment and make a decision, but the reality is that not that much can be decided by just over nine minutes of playing time.

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