Discussing Season 2 Episode 3 of The Rebuild: Inside The Montreal Canadiens

*Beware of spoilers for the third episode of the 2nd season of The Rebuild: Inside the Montreal Canadiens.

Episode #3 of The Rebuild opens up as the Montreal Canadiens are preparing to start their post-Christmas break in Florida like they do every year. It also covers the Laval Rocket’s trip to Utica, where

The beginning of the episode really leads into the Canadiens’ plan to call up Jakub Dobes and send a struggling Cayden Primeau back to Laval. This was one of the key moments that truly turned the tide last season. There is also a quick snippet of Alex Carrier’s reaction to being traded to his hometown Montreal Canadiens.

The episode really focuses on what it is like playing in the AHL as opposed to the NHL. Veteran defensemen David Savard, Mike Matheson and Carrier were walking on a Florida beach while discussing their AHL experiences and how just a taste of the NHL can change the way you play in the AHL after your first call-up. The trio of defensemen seemed to really appreciate where they are now as they reflect on the beginning of their pro careers in the AHL. This was clearly in anticipation of Dobes’ first-ever NHL start against the Florida Panthers.

On the other side of things, they show the story of AHL journeyman defenseman Vincent Arseneau, who seems to truly play for the love of the game. It is nice to see the older guys help the younger guys in the AHL. Arseneau has played for over 10 years in the AHL, and finally playing in Laval helps him continue playing as a Quebecois player.

Back over to the NHL side, we see both Carrier and Dobes needing to adjust to how the Montreal Canadiens’ system is, which is especially new for Carrier. For Dobes, he talks about how Martin St. Louis is such a great motivator for the Habs. Dobes is taking his rookie lap to really look like it loosened him up before his first game.

Coming into this game, the Habs had only won 4 of their 19 road games, going 4-10-5 to start the year. We get to see Dobes get comfortable between the pipes during the first period of his NHL career. 

It was cool to see someone like Savard telling his teammates what they needed to do as defensemen, because it shows what his true worth was to the team last season. Seeing something like that shows just how he could be missed in the Habs dressing room next season.

Kirby Dach had been struggling immensely heading into this game against the Panthers, and we get to see how he got the monkey off his back by scoring two goals. Daxh claimed that he actually felt at full strength for this game as opposed to earlier in the season, still trying to catch up.

This tells me that it’s obvious that he will have his struggles this season when he returns again.

While Dach starting to feel the way he did before his knee injury felt good to see, the main story was how Dobes got a shutout in his first game. We can clearly see just how close a group the Habs are as they celebrate Dobes’ first win and shutout by giving him the Balls of Steel necklace.