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Is this what you expected from this Montreal-Buffalo playoff series? If so, what might be missing?
Ed Helinski, Auburn, N.Y.
Before the series started, I picked the Canadiens to win in six games — so this is what I expected with the Canadiens having a chance to end the series with a win in Game 6 Saturday at the Bell Centre (8 p.m., CBC, SN, TVA Sports).
I also picked the Tampa Bay Lightning to beat the Canadiens in six games in the first round, so I didn’t really expect the Canadiens to still be playing at this point. I thought a lack of playoff experience — including rookie goalie Jakub Dobes — would hurt the Canadiens against the Lightning, but I was obviously wrong.
I should have listened to Canadiens veteran Brendan Gallagher, who had this to say about his young teammates.
“Young in age,” Gallagher said. “I think what we’ve been through — and most young players when they come up in the National Hockey League don’t get the types of minutes that our guys have. I think them being as talented and having the potential that they have they’re put into positions where you gain those experiences earlier.
“It goes beyond how old they are,” Gallagher added. “The amount of trust and confidence and belief that we have in them is as much anyone in the league. So it’s important with what they’ve been through.”
Between series what are the pros/cons of the Habs potentially playing a well-rested Carolina team? I’ve never seen a team have this long to recuperate, but unsure if it’s an advantage.
abe on X — @abe89478323
The Hurricanes swept their first two playoff series, going a perfect 8-0. They haven’t played since last Friday, when they beat the Philadelphia Flyers 3-2 in overtime.
If the Canadiens win Game 6 Saturday night, the Eastern Conference final against the Hurricanes will start on Tuesday in Carolina. If the Canadiens-Sabres series goes seven games — with Game 7 Monday in Buffalo — the Eastern Conference final wouldn’t start until Thursday in Carolina.
I think that long of a break would work to the advantage of the Canadiens or Sabres early in the Eastern Conference final because the Hurricanes could be rusty. But the lengthy break could help the Hurricanes in a long series because the players will be well-rested and will have had time for some playoff bumps and bruises to heal.
When the Canadiens won the Stanley Cup in 1986 they had six days off before the final series against the Calgary Flames. The Canadiens lost Game 1 against the Flames 5-2, but then won the next four games to win the Cup.
When the Canadiens won their last Stanley Cup in 1993 they had a full week off before starting the final series against the Los Angeles Kings. The Canadiens lost the first game 4-1 and then won the next four to earn their 24th Cup.
“The whole thing with us it was just trying to keep guys out of trouble,” Chris Nilan, who was part of the 1986 Stanley Cup team, said with a chuckle this week on a bonus episode of The Gazette’s Hockey Inside/Out Show when asked about the long break before the Cup final that year.
On a more serious note, Nilan added: “I think if anything it can have an effect on the way you start the first game until you get going again. It’s like starting all over again. ‘Oh, my God, we haven’t played a game in such a long time.’ So the first game I think it can affect you. But, listen, they (the Hurricanes) have a really good hockey team and I wouldn’t think that it’s going to affect them to the point where: Oh, my God, they’re going to lose four straight. But it certainly can have an effect on that first game.”
Why is there so little concern for the absolutely horrendous play of the Habs’ second power-play unit? We are essentially getting one-minute power plays. The second unit rarely gets control of the puck, let alone sets up for a chance at a shot!
Ron Courville, Châteauguay
Head coach Martin St. Louis has stacked the Canadiens’ first power-play unit with Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Ivan Demidov, Juraj Slafkovsky and Lane Hutson — and they stay on the ice as long as possible during power plays.
The Canadiens are counting on the first power-play unit to get the job done and they certainly did in the 6-3 win over the Sabres in Game 5 Thursday night, going 2-for-2. The Canadiens ranked 10th in the NHL on the power play during the regular season with a 23.1 per cent success rate and they rank sixth in the playoffs with a 22.9 per cent success rate.
That’s why there shouldn’t be a lot of concern about the second power-play unit. Any goals they might score with the man advantage would just be a bonus.
The Canadiens have 11 power-play goals in 12 playoff games and they have all come from the first unit. Every member of that unit has scored on the power play. Slafkovsky has four power-play goals, Caufield has three, Suzuki has two and Hutson and Demidov have one each.
Canadiens players on top power-play unit celebrate Ivan Demidov’s third-period goal Thursday night in Buffalo. The unit has scored 11 power-play goals in 12 playoff games. Joed Viera / Buffalo NewsIs it crazy to ask why no one has bothered to fix or re-engineer the Zamboni door at the Bell Centre? I mean, every single season we get a handful of weird bounces, some of which give goalies grief. In Game 4 against the Sabres it was a goal against the Canadiens in a one-goal playoff game. Look, it’s not why the Habs lost, but a goal is a goal. I mean, I’m not talking about developing cold fusion or curing cancer or establishing lasting peace in the Middle East … it’s a goddamned stanchion. How hard is that to fix?
Warren Layberry
I’d be very surprised if Canadiens owner/president Geoff Molson and/or president of hockey operations Jeff Gorton hasn’t asked Bell Centre staff to look at trying to fix the Zamboni door.
However, there has to be a door for the Zamboni to get on and off the ice, so there are going to be stanchions and gaps in the boards no matter what they do.
Bad bounces are part of the game and they can help or hurt both teams.
Why is Jakub Dobes considered a rookie when he first played last season? I saw his shutout debut in Sunrise, Fla.
Michael Nadler
Dobes did indeed play 16 regular-season games last season with the Canadiens and made 34 saves in his NHL debut on Dec. 28 that year in a 4-0 win over the Panthers in Florida. The 24-year-old also played three playoff games last season.
To answer your question, here’s the NHL rule when it comes to rookie status:
“To be considered a rookie, a player must not have played in more than 25 NHL games in any preceding seasons, nor in six or more NHL games in each of any two preceding seasons. Any player at least 26 years of age (by September 15th of that season) is not considered a rookie.”
That rule is why goalie Ken Dryden was able to lead the Canadiens to the Stanley Cup in 1971 and earn the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP after playing six regular-season games and then win the Calder Trophy the next season as the NHL’s top rookie at age 24.
Is Joe Veleno, who had a whopping five points in the regular season and is on an expiring contract, doing enough to stay in the lineup over Oliver Kapanen and his 37 points during the regular season? Was Kapanen that bad in the playoffs? Seems to me Kapanen brings the same defensive awareness but has more offensive pop.
Rob Houle on Bluesky — @houlio.bsky.social
St. Louis obviously believes Veleno is doing enough now after making him a healthy scratch for the entire first-round series against the Lightning.
Kapanen played the first four games against the Lightning and had no points and only one hit before being replaced by Gallagher for the final three games of that series. Veleno replaced Gallagher to start the series against the Sabres.
Veleno is more suited to play a physical fourth-line role in the playoffs with Kirby Dach and Zachary Bolduc than Kapanen. Veleno has 13 hits in the five games he has played while averaging only 9:36 of ice time. Bolduc has 28 hits in 12 playoff games and Dach has 22 hits. Veleno has obviously earned the trust of St. Louis with his defensive play and physicality.
When asked before Game 5 about possible changes to his lineup, St. Louis told reporters in Buffalo: “I think the way your team plays sometimes and the individual will steer you in a direction. I’ve liked the way we’ve played, so it’s probably harder to change things. But as a coach you can’t be scared to change things if that’s what you see and I have great options. Right now, I feel the group’s going pretty good.”
Brendan Gallagher has one year left on his deal and has been a healthy scratch for all but three games so far in these playoffs. Do you think the Habs start next season with Gallagher still part of the team or do they buy him out or try to trade him this summer?
Deke Rivers on X — @OLearyO
That’s a real good question and I’d be surprised if Gallagher is back with the Canadiens next season.
The 34-year-old does have one year left on his contract with a salary-cap hit of US$6.5 million, which would make him at this point the fourth highest-paid forward on the team next season behind Suzuki (US$7.875 million), Caufield (US$7.85 million) and Slafkovsky (US$7.6 million).
The Canadiens would probably prefer trading Gallagher, but if they decide to buy him out, they would be left with a cap hit of US$3.833 million for him in 2026-27 and US$1.333 million for 2027-28, according to PuckPedia.
Since Gorton and general manager Kent Hughes joined the Canadiens they have treated players with respect and nobody deserves that more than Gallagher after 14 seasons with the team.
Gallagher will definitely want to play next season and not be a regular healthy scratch. If the Canadiens buy him out he would be a free agent able to negotiate a new contract with another team if there’s interest.
Maybe there will be interest from the Vancouver Canucks since Gallagher grew up there, has his off-season home in B.C., and remains the all-time leading scorer with the junior Vancouver Giants of the WHL.
The Canucks are starting their own rebuild and having a well-respected veteran like Gallagher around — even for one season — could help fix what looks like a broken team culture. The Canucks finished last in the overall NHL standings this season with a 25-49-8 record, 14 points behind the Chicago Blackhawks, who had the second-worst record at 29-39-14.
What will be the deal for Sam Montembeault for next season? He’ll be around as the third goalie or get traded?
Alex on X — @AlexRAM15002015
The Canadiens will definitely not go with three goalies next season and Hughes will be looking to trade Montembeault this summer.
The 29-year-old goalie has one more season left on his contract with a very reasonable US$3.15 million cap hit. With so many NHL teams having goaltending issues, I don’t think Hughes will have a hard time trading Montembeault after one bad season.
Editor’s Picks
Over the three previous seasons, Montembeault posted save percentages of .901, .903 and .902, respectively, behind a young Canadiens team that wasn’t great defensively. I think there will be other teams believing he can bounce back next season — and with good reason.
You have to remember Montembeault tore two groin muscles during Game 3 of the playoffs last season against the Washington Capitals. While he wouldn’t use that as an excuse, you have to think that injury had an impact on him this season.
Which players from the Laval Rocket do you think have a legitimate shot of making the Habs next season. I believe Owen Beck could make the Habs and replace a guy like Joe Veleno. I think Beck could provide a little more offence.
Sheri Taylor
Defenceman David Reinbacher has to be at the top of that list if he can stay healthy after being the fifth overall pick by the Canadiens at the 2023 NHL Draft.
Reinbacher was one of four Laval players the Canadiens called up this week after the Rocket was eliminated in the AHL playoffs, along with defenceman Adam Engstrom and forwards Florian Xhekaj and Owen Beck.
So those four players are definitely the ones with the most legitimate shot of making the Canadiens next season since management wants them to be around the team to experience this playoff run even if they don’t play.
Have I missed something or has there not been an update on Patrik Laine in months? He seems to be travelling with the Canadiens during the playoffs. He understandably doesn’t have a spot in the lineup, but no updates?
Raj G on X — @Viraj_Gandhi
You haven’t missed anything, but it’s very clear Laine played his last game with the Canadiens on Oct. 16 — a 3-2 win over the Nashville Predators at the Bell Centre — before having surgery to repair a core muscle injury.
“Patrik is part of the team, like all of our other players, and he’s not a distraction,” Hughes said after the March 6 NHL trade deadline passed. “He hasn’t been up to now. He’s still available to the team and (it’s) the coach’s decisions as to who will play from one game to the next.”
That was the last real update the Canadiens provided on Laine.
Laine remains on injured reserve despite the fact he has been practising with the Canadiens in a full-contact sweater for more than three months.
If Laine came off injured reserve the Canadiens would have had the option to send him to Laval after clearing NHL waivers. It’s likely the 28-year-old would have no interest in playing for the Rocket and the Canadiens probably wouldn’t want him there, either.
The Canadiens haven’t made Laine available to the media since he had his surgery. If the Canadiens make him available at the end of the season we might learn more about what happened to him.
If you have a question you’d like to ask for the weekly Habs Mailbag, you can email it to [email protected]
The post Habs Mailbag: Canadiens-Sabres series delivering expected results appeared first on Montreal Gazette.
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