The Canadiens don’t shoot enough

Are the Habs players so good that they can afford to always look for the perfect play? The answer is no; they need to shoot more.

Martin St-Louis will have to find a way of convincing his players to take more shots on goal, because if they don’t, the law of numbers will eventually catch up with his team and they’ll start racking up games of 0, 1 or 2 goals for. And it’s hard to win games in this league with so few goals..

The problem? The condensed calendar has the effect of reducing the number of sessions a coach has to teach things once the campaign has begun…

2. Quality of opponents to be raised in coming weeks
The Habs have played 15 games so far in 2025-26. Of those 15 games, eight have been against teams that wouldn’t make the playoffs if they started today. What’s more, they’ve faced teams 7 and 8 from the West and 8 from the East.

The next few weeks will be no picnic, especially between now and the end of November. On the menu: Stars, Bruins, Maple Leafs, Mammoth, Golden Knights and Avalanche. Many of these games will be played on the road. The Habs’ character – and talent – will be put to the test.

3. Samuel Montembeault will have to be better and more consistent
Everyone was happy to see Montembeault bounce back and allow only two short-handed goals to the Mammoth on Saturday at the Bell Centre. We’d all rather see him receive real, heartfelt applause than derisive claps.

However, even if the saying goes that in sport, you’re only as good as your last game, Samuel Montembeault will have to be better.

This morning, he finds himself second-to-last among all goaltenders who played more than 335 minutes in 2025-26 in terms of save percentage (.864), just behind fellow Canadiens Jordan Binnington.

If we dig a little deeper, Monty is the starting goalie who has given away the most lizards since the start of the campaign. For every 60 minutes Montembeault is in front of the net, he allows one more goal than he should. In the long run, this inevitably costs the team points. It’s up to him to build on Saturday’s game and bounce back.

4. Oliver Kapanen is not a true second center
Yes, Oliver Kapanen and Alex Newhook complement Ivan Demidov well right now. Demidov is the leading scorer and passer among all NHL rookies in 2025-26

Yes, Oliver Kapanen is the top scorer of all players in their rookie season…

He’s also the Habs’ second-highest scorer behind a certain Cole Caufield..

But you’re not going to convince me that Kapanen is the perfect center to play with Ivan Demidov. Just like you won’t convince me that no winger in the NHL would do better than Alex Newhook alongside him.

Except that, in my opinion, Alex Newhook – unlike Oliver Kapanen – could stay alongside Demidov for the entire season without hurting the team too much. He has the experience and intelligence to tuff alongside Demidov.

As for Kapanen, he’s not a bad player… but right now, he’s playing above his head. A bit like Jake Evans did last year in the weeks leading up to his new contract; he was scoring more goals than normal.

No, Kapanen won’t be nominated for a Calder Trophy, and no, he won’t have a major role with Team Finland at the Olympics – he probably won’t even make the team – but no, he’s not AHL-caliber, as one member of the Québécois media fraternity suggested a few weeks ago (based on Kapanen’s advanced stats ).

Kapanen is a good hockey player who needs to play on the bottom six, with more normal players. Not with Ivan Demidov!

I can’t wait for the arrival of a true second center to solve several of Montreal’s little problems.

overtime

– Interesting.

– News from practice.

– Oh!

– Worth noting.

– Today François Gagnon is inducted into the Hall of Fame.