The Montreal Canadiens were in every single one of the first four games. They could have won them all. However, instead of being even in the series or leading, they faced elimination in game five in Washington.
They felt they deserved better, but hockey has a lot of puck luck and the Canadiens couldn’t find any. Montreal’s season ended with a 4-1 loss in Washington.
Wilde Horses
The growth in this series of Ivan Demidov has been extremely encouraging for the Canadiens. After two shockingly good regular season games, Demidov was overwhelmed in game one by the violence of it and by the pace. He had only a few puck touches, and that may have concerned some.
However, as the series progressed, Demidov has improved tremendously. He has taken the spot left by the injured Patrik Laine on the power play and created no doubt that next season he will be on the first unit next season. He has to be. Demidov fits so perfectly and completely with Lane Hutson, Cole Caufield, Nick Suzuki and Juraj Slafkovsky.
Demidov’s playmaking on the right side has allowed Caufield to be the trigger man on the left side. The puck possession that Demidov has shown on the right side has been impressive. Each time he touches it, there is danger for the opposition. He has also shown tremendous vision.
In the first period, on the power play, Demidov made a pass so brilliant across the crease that Suzuki wasn’t even ready for what would have been a sure goal. Demidov’s stick skills and his feints are world class. Demidov will be a star in this league when he gains more experience to the ways of the NHL.
The five-on-five puck touches are not quite there yet in a big way, but it’s easy to see how he is closing in on it. At the start of the playoffs, he was not even close to the play, and as the series finished, he was closing in on finding the time and space to weave magic.
This was the biggest challenge possible for a new player, especially a 19-year-old one. Demidov started in the NHL experiencing hockey at its most intense. Demidov will find the first month of the new season, in October, easy by comparison.
It will be exciting to watch his growth, particularly if a second line centre is added to the roster to help him be at his best.
Wilde Goats
This series felt like the hockey gods were not on the Canadiens’ side.
To be competitive in every single contest, yet to win only a single one out of five is unusual. Playing as well as Montreal did, being the better side half of the time, should have led to more wins.
Sports can be confounding, and of all the sports, hockey is the most so. It is a game of chaos. It is also a game of goaltending. To be frank, the Capitals got the better of it overall from Logan Thompson. In the vital fourth game, Jakub Dobes wasn’t poor at actual puck-stopping, but puck-management.
Dobes didn’t pursue loose pucks to deaden the play. Two plays that had zero danger in them ended up being two goals. There’s a lot to being a good goalie, and it isn’t just making remarkable looking saves. Dobes is quite good at those. He fights hard to stay in plays, and has a spectacular glove.
Get breaking National news
For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen.
Thompson made great saves at times, but, more than that, there were no bananas. He didn’t mishandle pucks, and he didn’t leave big rebounds. He made the saves he was supposed to, and he stole some as well.
The Canadiens didn’t win the chaos as it felt like they had no puck luck. They also didn’t win at goaltending. If the one seed is going to be upset by the eight seed, the eight seed can’t just play even hockey. They also have to be on the right side of chaos, and they certainly have to have the better goaltending.
Montreal had a season that they can be extremely proud of. They were 15 points better than Vegas expected in September. The Athletic had the same 76 points as the expected total. They were not supposed to make the playoffs.
They have a foundation for great things to come. The roster is almost built. The only organizational mystery is what happened to Patrik Laine. It feels like he fell out of favour. Either that or he is still hurting from the knee injury from the start of the season. It’s difficult to know as no one is saying anything.
Laine’s five-on-five play does not leave one confident that he is part of the plan. Laine has one more season remaining on his deal. It will be interesting to see where they slot him in October.
It is easy to see a new centre on the second line with Demidov and Alex Newhook as the other winger, not Laine. It’s also possible to see Christian Dvorak coming back, for the right price, after playing his best hockey as a Canadiens centre. Dvorak is a suitable third line centre.
It’s time to consolidate what they accomplished this year. Bring in more talent, have the young players establish and get more comfortable, get slightly more settled in net, continue to avoid injuries, and they should be even better next year.
They are the hunted now for the playoffs, not the hunters. That will present its own challenges early. No one will be sleeping when they face the Canadiens anymore.
Wilde Cards
Consider how the NHL markets the Stanley Cup playoffs. They’re not showing you skillful plays. They sell a war to you. They sell violence. They don’t promote the brilliance of Connor McDavid as much as the violence of Tom Wilson.
So no one should be surprised that the referees condone that violence. Don’t be surprised that there are three cross-checks across the face that aren’t even called as minors. Don’t be surprised when an elbow goes to the head and the ref turns away from it. Don’t be surprised when attackers charge from 25 feet to deliver a hit and it’s all not a penalty.
The refs aren’t missing it. They’re seeing it all. They just don’t care. In fact, they favour it.
This series has proven yet again what the NHL wants, and it’s not the regular season. They want a playoff war where they are selling “last man standing”. And if they want a war, then you better have a lot of soldiers. The Canadiens are woefully short of soldiers who scare anyone.
The soldiers must be talented enough to not cost goals against. That’s all. After that, they don’t even have a scoring role to play. They are there to intimidate, and play a neutral 0-0 game.
Tom Wilson is not that good a player. He’s alright but he’s not that good, but put him in the playoffs headhunting with impunity and you have the MVP of the series. In the NHL, with the hockey the league wants to see, if you can’t beat them, you must join them.
The Canadiens need their own Wilson. They need players who scare the hell out of the opposition. Right now, they have Arber Xhekaj. Kaiden Guhle is also stepping up on the blue line to deliver punishing hits. It’s not enough. The Canadiens have to have more nasty to make the timid on the opposition take note and perhaps even disappear.
Another element to this is the star players on the Canadiens, those responsible for the actual winning, cannot be intimidated by violence. Look at Cole Caufield. He took a cross check to the face in game two. It wasn’t even called a minor. He was absolutely incensed at the bench. His response hasn’t been to wilt, but to go even harder for revenge, to rise to the challenge.
If there is a player on the roster who cannot handle this violence, they must be traded. They will never take you to the promised land. They may have good regular seasons but they will disappear when it counts. No Canadiens player has disappointed by disappearing, except the one that has actually disappeared. They have accepted that they will experience pain and they have been ready for it.
Note what type of player has elevated for the Canadiens. Josh Anderson is a big physical winger. In the regular season, he’s left some disappointed with his offensive numbers. The playoffs start and he is one of the most important players out there.
The most important acquisition in the offseason is a second line centre. He needs to have an ability to play big and nasty.Perhaps the wisest hockey thing Marc Bergevin ever said is this: Some players get you to the playoffs and some players get you through the playoffs.
How about revising that wisdom: The truth is the players who got you to the playoffs need to be courageous enough to also get you through the playoffs. Any lack of courage will be exposed, and it will be costly.
GM Kent Hughes is extremely intelligent. He can see that he needs a nastier team. Expect all of the new players next season to have a footprint of talented, but also mean.
The meek may inherit the earth, but they don’t make it to the month of May in the NHL
Brian Wilde, a Montreal-based sports writer, brings you Call of the Wilde on globalnews.ca after each Canadiens game.
