Call of the Wilde: Montreal Canadiens trounced by the Colorado Avalanche

When the Montreal Canadiens flew over the Rocky Mountains to face the Colorado Avalanche Friday night, there must have been a bit of trepidation over the task at hand. They knew the Avalanche had lost only one game in regulation in 24 this season. They are as dominant as a team that has ever been in the salary-cap era.

Montreal fell 7-2.

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When the Canadiens signed Alexandre Texier, it felt like a decision that wouldn’t move the needle much. However, after further attention, it  now appears that Texier can make a difference.

The oddity of Texier is he possesses amazing hands, but somehow doesn’t use them very often. He likely won’t ever solve that at the NHL level at this stage. However, what he brings in other areas makes him worth the signing that GM Kent Hughes believed in.

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Texier plays smart. He has his head on a swivel constantly looking for his man defensively. He is aware of his positioning and is often on the right side of the puck. He’s been well coached. Texier also wins a lot of puck battles with a frame that looks bigger than it is out there.

Texier improves the size footprint of the club, so even if he doesn’t figure it out offensively, he adds to the brawn this team desperately needs. This is a good depth signing by the Canadiens.

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The evolution of Juraj Slafkovsky is on. The context is unusual. The new line Slafkovsky is on is getting cratered overall, but the actual development is so powerful that it must continue. The short term angst of losing in shot-share is worth the long-time benefit of watching this player explode.

Playing with Oliver Kapanen and Ivan Demidov, Slafkovsky is carrying the puck more than he ever has in the NHL. He is discovering that he can keep the puck on his stick, use his big body and make plays. On the Canadiens opening goal, Slafkovsky won the zone, then did a spinerama to beat the checker, then carried it to the net.

That was just the first part, and many might think that was the best part. However, the best part was making Mackenzie Blackwood believe that he was going to shoot. The duplicity part is the glimpse at greatness. Never did he show pass. Finally, when he did pass, Demidov was all alone.

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For Demidov, it was his sixth goal of the season, on his 19th point. That’s good for the league lead among rookies in the NHL. Let the line stay together despite some defensive issues. It’s how they’ll learn. More than that, it appears it’s the road to stardom for the first pick overall.

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The second goal is also a good development for the future. Lane Hutson has been working on his shot. Hutson knows that if his opponent doesn’t respect his shot, and they always think pass, he’s lost that deception. On the power play, Hutson ripped a shot far side.

It is absolutely vital that Hutson adds this to his repertoire overall. When they respect his shot, and he feints that he is going to shoot, he will open up passing lanes, and make tremendous passes even more than he already does.

Two outstanding long-term developments recently for the Canadiens for two important players.

Wilde Goats 

The best line in the NHL, and it’s not even close, is Artturi Lehkonen, Martin Necas, and the early favourite for MVP, Nathan MacKinnon. The line has a plus-17 goal differential already this season in five-on-five play. They have been on the ice at even-strength for 25 goals for, and are only eight against. They are remarkable.

The Canadiens didn’t get the Nick Suzuki match-up they were looking for defensively against that top line in the league. It was Joe Veleno given the responsibility of stopping MacKinnon. That’s a massive challenge for Veleno.

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However, the minuses were spread out fairly evenly against the powerhouse Avs. Alexandre Carrier carried a minus-two in the first period. He was mostly responsible for over committing on the opening goal, leaving Brock Nelson alone. Veleno didn’t help in the middle of the ice either.

The Canadiens actually played a strong first period, but down 3-0 in the second, they started to play stupid. The key to getting back into a game is patience. If a club thinks that allowing two-on-nothing breakaways is the way to get back into a game, they are mistaken.

A team can’t get three goals before they get one. A comeback begins with good hockey that has the same discipline in it as if the score was tied. The way this played out has some youth to it, some inexperience to it, some fatigue to it.

It’s years of NHL games that gives the knowledge that staying low-risk in how a game is defended is how the comeback begins. Key on the opposition’s nonchalance, or risk taking. Look at how the Canadiens have allowed comebacks this season. It’s been exchanging chances up three. That shouldn’t happen.

However, the bottom line on the week is the Canadiens got four points out of six in three tough buildings. It was a strong week. Throw this one out the window.

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4:49 Call of the Wilde: Habs report card

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The signing of Mike Matheson has made minds turn to who might be traded to accommodate his long term commitment to Montreal. The truth is no one will be traded for a while. The Canadiens are actually short in viable defenders; not dealing from a position of strength.

Adam Engstrom was called up not only because he was playing well in Laval, but also because the organization isn’t happy with the six in Montreal. Presently, only three defenders are actually playing well. The blue line situation still has many unknowns.

Eventually, management will do what they did when they had a hearty and competent nine the last time. When they had a depth chart of NHL-ready at nine, they traded Jonathan Kovacevic and Jordan Harris. When they feel organizational depth again, they’ll repeat the action.

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However, we are far from that day. Right now, they have four that they are completely confident in: Matheson, Noah Dobson, Lane Hutson and Kaiden Guhle. They are not sure what they have on the rest of the depth chart, so any trade talk is premature.

Alex Carrier is struggling. He’s the worst defender on the team in plus-minus. He has the coach’s confidence, which puts him in the five hole. Jayden Struble is in the six hole presently and is the player who has solidified his role as a regular during the Guhle absence.

Arber Xhekaj hasn’t seized the opportunity at all. He’s supposed to be establishing himself as a regular defender right now, but is getting shuffled off to the press box instead. The best defender in Laval this year, Adam Engstrom, is getting the look he earned, but that’s a far cry still from NHL regular.

David Reinbacher is having his best moments post-draft right now. However, it’s an extremely small sample size of a defender looking ready for the NHL. Reinbacher needs to keep playing as well as he is in Laval for the rest of the season. After that, Reinbacher has to prove he is an NHLer. When he does, there’s your nine finally.

When nine have proven their worth, two will be traded. Until then, the trade conjecture is a full season ahead of reality. The only way there’s a trade before GM Kent Hughes knows the true value of all of his defenders is if another GM misses the mark on their evaluation — the same evaluation that brought Zachery Bolduc for Logan Mailloux.

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If no one is giving GM Kent Hughes a chance to rob him, no trades are on the docket until clarity comes after the season is over in both Montreal and Laval. Eventually, the Canadiens will be dealing from a position of powerful strength, but not just yet.

Brian Wilde, a Montreal-based sports writer, brings you Call of the Wilde on globalnews.ca after each Canadiens game.