Opening week featured stellar performances from three Habs

October 13, 2024

The Montreal Canadiens opened the 2024-25 season with three games. On Wednesday, they battled out a 1-0 win over the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs. In Boston on Thursday the Habs fell 6-4 to the Bruins. Then on Saturday night, the Canadiens toppled the Ottawa Senators with a 4-1 win.

The story of the first week was three stellar performances.

Cole Caufield’s shoulder is back.

Last season was a bit of a disappointment for Caufield, despite posting career-best numbers. He was less potent than expected, and this was attributed to a long recovery from shoulder surgery. The shoulder is back.

Caufield is on fire, having scored four goals in three games to start the season. Only the first of these came on the power play. If the Habs are taking a step forward this season, number 13 has to be at the centre of that. So far, so good.

Sam Montembeault intends to be the Habs bona fide starter.

Both wins came with Monty in net, and after 120 minutes of play the big man has allowed just one goal. He may have been a sport while sharing the crease with two other guys for most of last season, but he intends to own that crease this year.

The kid plays with intensity, and he celebrates in equal measure. Did you see him at the buzzer on Wednesday night? Did you see Savard’s reaction? That’s the kind of swagger HuGo has been promoting since they arrived, and it’s a beautiful thing.

Lane Hutson is a confirmed top-four defender after just five games in the league.

The career is young, but so far he’s at a point per game pace. Of course it’s too early to take any stats seriously, but watching him is a joy. He makes something happen practically every shift, is a power play wonder, and can actually hold his own in his own end.

Here is the kicker. The coach is playing him like he’s watching the same games we are. No rookie bias. No shielding him. No load management, so far. Marty is seeing the same performance we are and he’s rolling with it.

The ceiling is high for this one.

A few more random thoughts…

Brendan Gallagher continues to make himself useful, and his two goals this week deserve a nod. Josh Anderson is also a better version of himself so far than we saw last year. Granted, achieving a worse version would be a mission.

If there is a veteran who needs to pick up his game it’s Christian Dvorak. He has not been awful, and I don’t expect any immediate action, but he might be an Oliver Kapanen adjustment away from being redundant. Certainly, he needs to pick up his faceoff game to stay relevant in Montreal.

Emil Heineman can shoot and that second line needs a shoot-first option. Recall he was the prospect Kent Hughes wanted in the Tyler Toffoli trade. This kid is an NHLer and this GM is good at finding them.

Arber Xhekaj and Justin Barron as a pair might be on a timer.

Week 1 was a ton of fun for Habs fans. Don’t look now, but the Montreal Canadiens are 2-1-0 to start the 2024-25 season. Not a bad start in taking that step forward.