Is Kaiden Guhle Turning His Game Around for The Better?

In reality, the Habs need him to play with a rough, physical style if they want to stand a chance of winning any playoff-style games down the stretch. For the past two months since he recovered from his groin injury that caused Guhle to miss 40 games, he has struggled to impose his physicality, which has not only hurt his effectiveness but was also a major issue for the Canadiens as they didn’t have any other defenseman that could be as solid and physical as him when he’s on his game.

The rock bottom of the lack of strength and physicality in his game came on the game-winner against the Anaheim Ducks just over a week ago. Ducks forward Jeffrey Viel knocked Guhle off the puck rather easily in the defensive zone, which allowed Ryan Poehling to get the puck. Now, we all know that Lane Hutson deciding to puck-chase to cover for Guhle getting knocked down caused a wide-open Cutter Gauthier to have an easy game-winner.

It wouldn’t be a surprise if Guhle watched the tape from that goal and it helped flip the switch in his brain to be somewhat of a physical force and regain the strength on his skates. Playing the Boston Bruins on Tuesday night, it felt like the Canadiens’ defenseman was a completely different player than he was against the Ducks as he started to throw more hits and just did not let the forwards go through him. He was only credited for two hits on that night, but he asserted himself physically, proving that the Guhle we all wanted to see may be back.

He isn’t a Shea Weber-type defenseman, but Guhle is the type of player who can control things in front of the net by getting players away from his goaltender if he wants to. For much of the season, Alexandre Carrier, who is only 5’11” and 174 lbs, has been the guy tasked the most with clearing traffic in front of the net. Unfortunately, he just isn’t strong enough to box out the forwards, causing him to struggle on most nights, whereas Guhle can. Hopefully going forward he takes on that role, as they now seem to be playing together. It is essential for the Habs’ success that Guhle uses his strength most in front of the net and isn’t afraid to block shots.

While Tuesday was the start of Guhle bouncing back, Saturday night was by far his best game of the season, as he was not only physical with a massive hit early on in the game to set the tone, but he also got to show his offensive chops for the first time in a very long time. He finished with the game-winning goal and two assists in the process. Guhle scored his first goal since October 11th, showing just how much of a statement game that Guhle had on Saturday night. We also must not forget he was the very guy in to protect Nick Suzuki when Matthew Barzal tried to fight the captain, adding to the physicality part of his game.

Hopefully, this past week is a sign that things are on the upswing for both Carrier and Guhle as the team tries to control their own destiny during this tight playoff race. Guhle will certainly be an important part going forward to ensure that the Habs aren’t getting pushed around as well as be able to deliver some punishment.

Do you think Guhle will continue to stay on his game?