The Montreal Canadiens improved their record to 3-0-1 as they defeated the Arizona Coyotes 5-2 at the Bell Centre on Thursday night. It was Carey Price’s regular season debut having finally recovered from a nasty bout with the flu. As well as Al Montoya has performed in Price’s absence, simply having their number one netminder back in the crease gave the Canadiens extra confidence on the ice. The two goals allowed by Price were off of terrible giveaways by young Mikhail Sergachev and Nathan Beaulieu. He had little chance on either of them but otherwise made his usual array of saves and made it all look oh so very easy.

Alexei Emelin started the scoring as he connected with a one timer in the first period to give the Canadiens a 1-0 lead. In the second period Torrey Mitchell, Shea Weber and Alex Galchenyuk scored within the first 5:30 minutes to give them a commanding 4-0 lead. A change in goaltenders sparked a comeback by the Coyotes as they capitalized on the aforementioned mistakes but Artturi Lehkonen would score an extra insurance goal in the third period to put the game in the books.

The game itself was the Canadiens most complete effort to date. All four lines contributed to the scoresheet and two defencemen had goals as well. Having the defence involved in the play has made for such a positive effect on the Canadiens offence. As well, they managed to hold their opponent to under 30 shots for the first time this season and scored a powerplay goal for the third consecutive game. This is not to say that the team was perfect. They still only won 46% of their faceoffs and took their foot of the gear for the last half of the second period when the Coyotes cut the lead in half. However, it was a very solid game to build on.

As the Canadiens learned in 2015-2016, it’s not how you start the season that matters, it’s how you finish it. It is easy to forget that the Canadiens jumped out to a 9-0 start last year. The difference this year is that with a roster overhaul as well as the addition of Kirk Muller behind the bench, the Canadiens are becoming exactly the type of team that general manager Marc Bergevin and head coach Michel Therrien envisioned in the off season. They are stronger, faster and have more skill than a year ago. This is the deepest group of forwards in quite some time for the Canadiens. The top six has the most talent that the Bell Centre has seen in years. Everyone loves to pile on Desharnais but he has proven that he can still play in the NHL and succeed when he is put in the right situation, on the third line was physical and fast forwards. Andrei Markov is averaging 21:29 minutes of ice time and forming an excellent second defensive unit with Jeff Petry who is proving that he is the glue on defence when healthy. Nathan Beaulieu has proven that he is up to the task of playing with Weber and is more than holding his own, despite his error Thursday night. Emelin has played his best hockey in quite some time and has been quite good on the penalty kill with Shea Weber. While Sergachev will likely be sent back to the Windsor Spitfires after his nine game trial, he has shown flashes as to why he is considered to be a blue chip prospect and will be a mainstay on the Canadiens blue line for years to come.

For once, every off-season acquisition is paying off and have proven their value. Muller has improved the powerplay. Weber looks to be every bit the perennial all-star that he is. Who knows if he will be the same five years from now but his play is exactly what the Canadiens needed in front of Price. Alexander Radulov has been outstanding from day one. Against the Coyotes, the second line trio finally started to click and display some chemistry as Tomas Plekanec played his strongest game of the season. Andrew Shaw is a perfect fit on the third line and is back to playing hard and physical hockey after his talk with Stephane Quintal and Bergevin. Montoya provided steadiness in net while Price was sick. If things are not clicking one night, Therrien has the right ingredients to mix in his blender and try something new.

I would still prefer to see Daniel Carr in the lineup and Brian Flynn in the press box. Flynn was brought in to the lineup to help with faceoffs but he failed to win any on Thursday and was below 50% on Tuesday. He is also the only player in the minus. Carr brings grit and net presence and can play on the third or fourth line, though preferably the third alongside Shaw and Desharnais. The Canadiens do need to work on their faceoffs as they are 29th in the league. Winning faceoffs gives the team immediate control of the puck and play. Losing so many draws makes it that much harder on the team to regain possession. On the first line this has been addressed by having Brendan Gallagher take the draws on the right while Andrew Shaw does so on the third line. This strategy has helped in the past couple of games and there is little doubt that they will continue to work on it with Muller.

The Canadiens visit the Boston Bruins on Saturday night. The team held an optional practice today and so any changes will only be known tomorrow.

Cheers & follow along!
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