Week three for the Canadiens and the roller-coaster ride continues. Busy week and the Habs picked up four of a possible eight points that were at their disposal losing to the Minnesota Wild and Tampa Bay Lightning and beating the Minneosta Wild and St Louis Blues.
But there is a lot to like with the early season trends.
- Nick Suzuki looked like he could be AHL bound but moved to the fourth line and found his game. He was able to score his first two goals in the NHL and the first one seemed to go right to his legs. Suzuki has been playing with confidence. For those who think Claude Julien doesn’t work well with young players (I used to be one of them), it turns out maybe he knows a thing or two about bringing young players along (see Kotkaniemi a year ago). And how about this, with the injury to Joel Armia we’re even seeing Suzuki out there on the penalty kill. “He’s such a smart player, you can put him out there in any situation… Powerplay, 5-on-5, I think he keeps getting better every game,” said Julien.
2. The powerplay continues to click and is starting to score on set plays rather than the broken ones that didn’t look pretty earlier in the season. It’s a PP unit that ranks top-10 in the NHL. This was an area of emphasis in the off-season and pundits said that a good PP could have found them that extra point they were missing one year ago to make the playoffs. The most encouraging sign is the constant movement and flow it has. Oh yeah, and Jeff Petry.
3. Keith Kinkaid hasn’t picked up a win but was great on Sunday against the Minnesota Wild. The assignments the backup goalie receives aren’t easy ones and after just two games it’s safe to say he inspires more confidence than Antti Niemi. It’s also fun getting on the highlight reel with that save on Jason Zucker of the Wild. Even Carey Price got a kick out it.
4. I’m not really sure who’s wearing #44 for the Montreal Canadiens, Nate Thompson has been way above what anyone expected. Some thought he would eventually lose his spot in the lineup to Ryan Poehling. Doesn’t look like that’s going to happen any time soon. During the summer, Thompson was able to find the fountain of youth.
5. Jeff Petry has become the Canadiens number one defenseman. Don’t @ me bro. This isn’t a slight on Shea Weber but praise for Petry who has picked up right where he left off last year.
And now you steal away
Take him out today
Nice work you did
You’re gonna go far, kid
-Mitchy-
