Expectations were high for Canadiens this season, and they've mostly been met

The Canadiens have taken us on an emotional roller-coaster ride this season — and we’re not even halfway through the schedule yet.

When they won nine of their first 12 games, there were unrealistic aspirations of a Stanley Cup in the team’s immediate future.

When they went on a five-game losing streak in November — four of the games were at the Bell Centre — were outscored 27-10 and secured only one point from a shootout loss at Columbus, the players were bums and people were calling for the scalp of head coach Martin St. Louis.

When the Canadiens made the playoffs last season as a wild-card team — ahead of schedule in the team’s rebuilding process — the bar and expectations were raised, for better or worse. That’s likely why management avoided guaranteeing another playoff berth during the organization’s annual golf tournament in September.

But as the team, and NHL, takes a four-day break for Christmas in what has been the most unusual of seasons, the Canadiens are exactly where they hoped to be: in a playoff position.

With a 20-12-5 record, the Canadiens are second in the Atlantic Division following Tuesday night’s 6-2 win at Boston. Following 37 games last season, the Canadiens were 17-17-3. So, they’ve progressed. And they’ve done so despite significant injuries to defenceman Kaiden Guhle, forwards Patrik Laine, Kirby Dach, Alex Newhook and the latest, Jake Evans.

And they’ve done so under the duress of a condensed schedule due to the three-week February break for the Winter Olympics. The Canadiens, like many teams, have been forced to play back-to-back games — some involving travel — or three matches over four nights.

While it’s surprising their 10-9-1 record at home isn’t better, the Canadiens have compensated by going 10-3-4 on the road. And considering they’re in the midst of a seven-game road trip, that could augur well. The power play, operating at 26 per cent, and the penalty-kill, at 77 per cent, have been good enough. The team’s averaging, and allowed, 3.27 goals per game — the latter mostly due to some inconsistent netminding.

The Canadiens still don’t shoot enough (average of 25.4 per game), but have kept shots against to under 30 per game (27.3 average).

Offensively, the Canadiens continue being driven by captain Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield. While Suzuki has been overused at times and taxed excessively due to circumstances, he still has 11 goals and a team-leading 42 points in 37 games. And while Caufield ended a six-game goalless drought against Boston, he has a team-leading 18 goals.

Caufield has proven to be more than a one-dimensional scorer this season. His game has evolved as he becomes more physical. He has scored some dirty goals from around the net and continues scoring from some impossible angles.

While Zachary Bolduc, the third member of the troika, might not be a first-line player and has been a streaky scorer, moving Juraj Slafkovsky off that line, while teaming him with rookies Oliver Kapanen and Ivan Demidov, has rejuvenated the former first overall draft choice. Slafkovsky still has flaws in his game that should disappear with experience, but has become a mentor for his linemates. The trio combined for six points at Pittsburgh last Sunday and had four points against the Bruins.

Kapanen, an intelligent player, already has 11 goals, while the supremely talented Demidov is a gifted playmaker. With experience and confidence, he’ll learn to shoot more, but still has nine goals and 30 points this season.

Perhaps most impressively offensively is the depth the Canadiens now appear to have. From Josh Anderson to Samuel Blais and Alexandre Texier, many have contributed on any given night. And the recent addition of Phillip Danault in a trade from Los Angeles should improve the penalty killing while adding valuable experience — compensating for the departures of Christian Dvorak, Joel Armia and the retirement of David Savard.

Defensively, Lane Hutson has improved his shot and is quickly becoming a superstar, while Mike Matheson continues logging big minutes and has produced despite not receiving power-play time.

The addition of Noah Dobson has made the Canadiens better while providing another steadying force along the blue line. He gives this team an average of 22-plus minutes per game, generally stress-free. Dobson won’t duplicate the 70 points he produced two seasons ago with the New York Islanders, but should surpass his 39-point season a year ago when he had a minus-16 differential.

While may have been critical of Alexandre Carrier and believe he’s struggling — mostly based on his minus-7 differential — he played better when teamed with Matheson, Hutson or Guhle. He has struggled with Arber Xhekaj, compensating and trying to do too much.

Yes, the Canadiens have endured some defensive struggles and suffered some ugly one-sided losses. Contrary to popular belief, the Canadiens don’t play man coverage in their zone. They play a defensive zone system that attempts to kill plays as quickly as possible. But if that doesn’t succeed, as teams cycle against them, they attempt to switch to man coverage. The Canadiens are aggressive defensively, their players jumping into the attack. That has led to some glaring errors at times.

Otherwise, the biggest conundrum facing this team moving forward will be the goaltending situation; in particular, the Samuel Montembeault dilemma.

While it’s never ideal to rely on two rookie netminders, Jacob Fowler and Jakub Dobes have proven to be mostly reliable, although the latter has an unorthodox style. But what’s even less ideal? Carrying three goalies.

There’s no doubt Montembeault’s stock has plummeted since last season. In time, he’ll be provided with another opportunity. If he performs decently and management’s prepared to ride the Fowler/Dobes tandem, perhaps they trade Montembeault and his US$3-million salary. And if he doesn’t? They might not have any choice but hope he can sneak through waivers and rediscover his game at the AHL level in Laval.

hzurkowsky@postmedia.com

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