December 4, 2025
On Wednesday night the Montreal Canadiens greeted the Winnipeg Jets at the Bell Centre. The coach had not changed his roster dramatically – Davidson was in for Florian Xhekaj and Dobes was starting – but he did put the lines in the blender. The result was a 3-2 shootout win.
Here’s what caught my eye.
The top line needs to be the top line.
Slafkovsky was reunited with Suzuki and Caufield to face the top line on the Jets. The “more balanced” lines did not give the coach an option like that. Their history together is evidence enough that this team will be most successful when that line is doing its job.
To do that, though, St. Louis needs more depth in his forward group. He had it to start the season, but injuries have seriously limited his options.
The coach leaned on the kids.
Marty finally rode the Kapanen line. Both he and Demidov hovered around the 20 minute mark in ice time. The line is missing Newhook, but Texier was not bad in relief. Kapanen’s celebration told a tale of a kid who wants to be called upon to help the Canadiens win.
Xhekaj was back to doing Xhekaj things.
He, along with his brother, and Anderson, and Struble, missed their assignment against the Sens. A bitter rival was allowed to dominate the game physically and the Habs response to that style was no response.
God knows taking Lowry out of the game for a few minutes is more meaningful than MacDermid. That understood, I think we can acknowledge that AX is still learning when and how to wield.
No one wants better goaltending than the goalies.
They have not been good. That’s an understatement. It’s possible the criticism these guys receive is a little over the top. Both things can be true. Especially when they’re backstopping a young and depleted team that delivers a different performance every night.
The celebration from Dobes when that last shot rang off the post says it all. These netminders are desperate to bring their best games and help the Habs win.
For some reason the Habs social media posted the wrong lines. Here are the right ones for December 3, 2025.
Hab At Her 