Oliver Kapanen played like a second center last night

Lane Hutson took the blame for this one. But there were positives in all of this. Oliver Kapanen, for example, earned his place in the NHL and will as long as he plays like this. His short-handed play was reassuring. At a time when the Habs have lost some key players on the power play, seeing him and Alex Newhook (who is fast) do well was reassuring. And I’m not just talking about his goal, of course: I’m talking about his game in general.

When you look at it, Kapanen played like a second center last night. I don’t know if it’s going to last (I have my doubts), but he’s building on his great practice camp.One goal… plus-1 differential… 20 times on ice… two shots… three checks… 50% efficiency in the face-off circle… what more could you ask for? He played 13:19 and, frankly, the coach can’t have much to reproach him for. From the way he behaved, he doesn’t look like a guy who deserves to be taken out of the line-up. Far from it, in fact

But he’s certainly not the only player worth talking about. Here’s a look at how the Habs performed in yesterday’s game against the Maple Leafs: 1. Zachary Bolduc playing with Brendan Gallagher is like the student learning from the master. And yesterday, it paid off when Gally set the table for the Québécois’ first goal of the season in his new colors. Bolduc is playing hockey the right way. He’ll be helping the Habs for years to come. 2. Patrik Laine will have to learn not to take penalties for nothing. Between that and the sequence where he looked bad late in the game when the net was deserted (I’m not saying he was the guy to blame here), he didn’t make the news for the right reasons. His penalty may have led to Kapanen’s goal, but…

3. The club’s defense didn’t look bad, on the contrary. Mike Matheson and Noah Dobson have certainly reassured a few people, which is all to the good. The secret? More depth. Five defenders played between 17 and 23 minutes, providing fresh strength. Guess who played only 11 minutes? #TheSheriff 4. Speaking of playing time, Ivan Demidov plays with Alex Newhook (who doesn’t have the best finish in town) and Oliver Kapanen. Yesterday, he only played 13 minutes and 21 seconds, including less than a minute on the powerplay. The message: earn your playing time, kid. 5. Juraj Slafkovsky lacked finish. But yesterday, despite everything, he was able to fire no less than six shots on goal. You could feel his commitment on the ice. That said, going close is good in sports other than hockey.

6. I imagine that Samuel Montembeault would have liked to see more cohesion in front of him, in order to be able to pick up his first win of the season. He didn’t do a bad job in front of his net.

’prolongation’

The Canadiens headed to Detroit after the game. After all, tonight they’ll face the Red Wings on the heels of their second regular-season game, andwe’ll need a win to avoid waking up my friend Tankathon.#Therewill be no morning practice for Martin St-Louis’ men. A media availability will take place shortly before lunchtime with journalists on hand. Ah: we’ll also be watching to see if Kent Hughes goes to meet Lane Hutson’s “new agents” to talk contract.