Help up front would be good for the Habs, but not at any price

Montreal Canadiens' Juraj Slafkovsky (20) celebrates his goal over Buffalo Sabres with teammates, Cole Caufield (13), Nick Suzuki (14) and Lane Hutson (48) during first period NHL hockey action in Montreal, Monday, March 3, 2025. (Christinne Muschi / The Canadian Press) (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press)

The Canadiens' top line has been leading the charge since the 4 Nations Face-Off as Montreal tries to stay in the playoff race.

Before Friday’s games, Nick Suzuki had been leading the NHL since the season restarted, with 17 points in nine games.

Suzuki (five goals) and his linemates Cole Caufield (six) and Juraj Slafkovsky (six) have scored 17 of the Habs’ 31 goals during this period.

Patrik Laine and Alex Newhook followed with three goals apiece.

Head coach Martin St-Louis admitted that he was hoping to see the rest of the team support the front three a little better. However, he added that the players could not do so at the expense of their defensive responsibilities.

“We had that at times (during the season),” said St-Louis on Friday about secondary production. “We need to get that back. You want to play tight shorthanded and have a good power play. You want to be tough to play against five-on-five and create chances. That doesn’t guarantee you’ll finish them, but you have to create them.

“It’s a bonus, but your defensive play will give you a chance to get into the game, and then you have to try and get the bonus.”

In this regard, St-Louis did not beat around the bush when talking about Laine’s five-on-five play.

The 26-year-old Finn has scored 12 of his 15 goals on the power-play this season.

Returning to action against the Seattle Kraken on Wednesday after a two-game absence due to flu-like symptoms, Laine scored a power play goal and assisted on a four-on-four Newhook goal.

However, Laine was the Habs' least-used player at even strength with 8:08 of playing time.

Even Michael Pezzetta played more than him in this situation, with 9:25 of playing time at even strength.

“We know what he (Laine) can do offensively, but we also have to be predictable defensively,” said St-Louis. “I need to know that he’ll have the right defensive intentions, and not just in our zone and not just for one period. It’s a daily thing in training. He has to have the right defensive intentions.”

Forward Joel Armia took part in most of the Canadiens' training sessions on Friday. He missed the game against the Kraken with an upper-body injury.

He appeared to injure his left hand when he fell on the ice against the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday.

St-Louis said he expects Armia to be fit to play on Saturday when the Habs host the Florida Panthers at the Bell Centre.

St-Louis also confirmed that Montembeault will defend the Habs net in that game.

Flowering Hutson

During the game against the Kraken, defenceman Lane Hutson collected two assists and passed the 50-point plateau, and now has 51 on the scoreboard.

Hutson became only the seventh Habs player to amass at least 50 points in his first NHL campaign.

“He’s a player who makes the difference in a game by making a lot of plays when he seems to have nothing in front of him,” said forward Jake Evans.

Veteran forward Brendan Gallagher has seen a lot of young players come through the Habs' ranks over the years. He can’t understand how a player of Hutson’s calibre could have slipped into the second round of the draft so late.

“From the first warm-up in his first game, you could see how good he was just by watching him skate with the puck,” said Gallagher. “He doesn’t need to do much to stand out.”

Evans upacks his boxes

Unsure of his future with the Habs before the trade deadline, Evans had said that he saw himself leaving for the recent four-game road trip with three suitcases and that he and his wife had packed boxes in their Montreal apartment before he left.

Evans finally signed a four-season, $11.4 million contract extension before boarding the plane three days before the trade deadline, so he hasn’t changed sides.

The 28-year-old Ontarian admitted that the last few weeks had been stressful.

“I didn’t know what the future was going to hold and I even got emotional when I thought I was probably going to be traded,” Evans said on Friday. “It was weird to come home yesterday and see all the boxes. I’m glad to be able to unpack them here.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on March 14, 2025.