The Canadiens lost more ground on Wednesday morning. Goalie Samuel Montembeault left practice in Brossard with an apparent leg injury, and center Oliver Kapanen was missing again. The team answered by recalling goalie Jacob Fowler from Laval, and the Nashville Predators arrive at the Bell Centre on Thursday night.
At the same press conference, Martin St-Louis spent most of his time on two problems that have nothing to do with the injury list: winning puck battles and turning the puck over.
Montembeault Leaves Practice
Montembeault got hurt early in practice while trying to stop a rebound. He struggled to get up, skated slowly to the bench and went straight to the dressing room without coming back. St-Louis said the goalie is being evaluated, so there is no timeline yet.
The injury matters even though Montembeault has not played this season. Jakub Dobes has started all three games and is 1-1-1 with a .856 save percentage, and Montembeault was expected to get his first start against Nashville or against Detroit on Saturday. After going 10-8-4 with a .872 save percentage last season, a start was his chance to open this year differently.
Fowler Gets the Call
Fowler, 21, was recalled from the Laval Rocket on Wednesday. He was disappointed to be sent back to Laval, and he answered with a strong opening weekend: 29 saves on 31 shots in a 2-0 loss to Syracuse, then 23 saves on 24 shots in a 6-1 win. That adds up to a 1-1 record with a 1.53 goals-against average and a .945 save percentage. Last season he went 9-6-2 with a .908 save percentage and a 2.43 GAA in 17 NHL games, so he has already shown he can handle NHL games. St-Louis has not said who will start in goal on Thursday.
Kapanen Is Still Missing
Kapanen has not played a game this season. He was listed day-to-day with a lower-body injury on the eve of the opener, and he was scratched again in the home opener against Carolina. What makes Wednesday a surprise is that he has been skating in a regular jersey and taking full contact since last week. That usually points to a player who is close to returning, so another missed practice looks like a step back. The team has not explained the absence, and he remains day-to-day.
The Canadiens need him. Kapanen scored 22 goals and 37 points in 82 games last season, and with Ivan Demidov out two to four weeks, the second-line center spot has been filled by Alex Newhook, who has one point in three games. We looked at that problem in our Demidov and Slafkovský article.
Winning Battles Starts With Attitude
St-Louis named two areas where the team is behind, and the first is puck battles. He said winning a battle is not only about technique. It starts with the attitude of the player, who has to ask himself how hard he is willing to work for the puck and then give the maximum effort. That explains Wednesday’s practice: there were no line rushes, and the group played small-area games, 3-on-3 and 4-on-4, built around winning battles. The numbers back him up. Through three games the Canadiens have won 71 puck battles while their opponents have won 91. They won the battle count only in Toronto, 30 to 26, the game they won. In Pittsburgh it was 43 to 27 for the Penguins, and against Carolina it was 22 to 14.
Turnovers Start With the Puck
The second area is turnovers, and St-Louis took the question back to puck possession. In his view the problem starts with how long the team can keep the puck. We went deeper into that idea in our Martin St-Louis, Year 5 article.
The tracking data shows why he is worried. Through three games the Canadiens have 82 turnovers in their own zone, which ranks 25th in the NHL, and 34 in the neutral zone, which ranks 23rd. The defensive-zone total was 32 in Toronto, 16 in Pittsburgh and 34 in the home opener against Carolina, the worst night of the three. In that game Juraj Slafkovský lost the puck before Carolina’s first goal, and he lost it again in the neutral zone late in the game, which led to the empty-net goal.
Slafkovský and the Process
St-Louis was asked how he manages a Slafkovský who wants to make a difference. His first answer was the truth: he tells Slafkovský and the whole team the truth, and everything starts there. Then he talked about the process and used Carolina’s first goal as the example, when Slafkovský lost the puck in front of the net trying to beat two players.
St-Louis said Slafkovský wants to do everything quickly, but in the process you let the game tell you what to do. A player can be 150 feet from the net and already be thinking about scoring, when there may be two or three actions to make before the right opportunity shows up. Slafkovský has one goal and five shots on goal in three games, and the message is clear: the chances will come if he lets the play develop.
Coach’s Take
The goalie situation is the biggest question now, and we should not assume anything. With Montembeault hurt, St-Louis has two choices on Thursday: stay with Dobes, his number one goalie, who has started all three games, or give the net to Fowler. Dobes has a .856 save percentage and a 4.43 goals-against average through three games, so resting him is a real option, and Fowler played well in the NHL last season and has just had a great weekend with the Rocket. We have to wait and see what St-Louis decides.
Montembeault and Kapanen are the news today, but there is another injury that hurts, and it is on defence. Kaiden Guhle is on injured reserve with a groin injury, although St-Louis said on Monday that he is close to being ready. The Canadiens have allowed 12 goals in their last two games, six in Pittsburgh and six against Carolina, one of them an empty-netter, and the absence of Guhle is starting to show. Mike Matheson and Noah Dobson play the most minutes on the team and are a minus-3 and a minus-2 through three games. The third pairing of Jayden Struble and Arber Xhekaj was minus-2 each against Carolina. It is time to look at Adam Engstrom on Thursday, because that pairing needs a different answer.
Whoever plays, the team in front of him has to help. With Demidov out and Kapanen missing again, the Canadiens do not have the talent margin to survive sloppy hockey. St-Louis is asking for effort in the battles and patience with the puck, and both are choices players make on every shift. They cost nothing and they are fully in the players’ control.
Next Game
The Canadiens (1-1-1) host the Nashville Predators (1-1-1) on Thursday, October 8, at 7:00 p.m. ET at the Bell Centre, then host Detroit on Saturday, October 10. Follow the lineup page and the injury report for the latest on Montembeault and Kapanen.
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