Game 19: Montreal Canadiens @ Columbus Blue Jackets
Start time: 7:30 PM EST / 4:30 PM PST
Streaming: Prime Monday Night Hockey
Perhaps a game on the road will benefit the Montreal Canadiens. They were too focused on trying to create amazing goals in front of the Bell Centre fans, to the point that they simply refused to shoot the puck, always believing there was a better play to create offence.
It was of course most noticeable on two five-on-three power plays that generated just a couple of shots. Martin St-Louis has made a change, and the thought process seems to have been taking some playmaking skill off the top unit to add a dedicated shooter instead, opting to switch Ivan Demidov and Zachary Bolduc. Bolduc’s hot start to the season was thanks to his production on the man advantage, although the power really took off when Demidov was initially added to the top fivesome. But that prowess hasn’t been seen for several games now, and change was needed.
The encouraging part is that Montreal played well enough to draw seven penalties. It was another game in which they won the expected-goal battle — their third-best of the season in fact at 61.9% — and their play has clearly improved since the debacle versus the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday night. They weren’t far off a win, but instead have now lost three consecutive games in regulation.
Montreal has taken what is simultaneously improving play and slumping offence to Columbus to play the Blue Jackets. The Habs won the season series in 2024-25 taking four of the available six points, and need to grab two from this season’s first meeting to stop their skid.
Tale of the Tape
| Canadiens | Statistics | Blue Jackets |
|---|---|---|
| 10-6-2 | Record | 9-7-2 |
| 49.8% (15th) | Expected-goal share | 50.4% (14th) |
| 3.33 (6th) | Goals per game | 3.00 (19th) |
| 3.39 (25th) | Goals against per game | 3.11 (19th) |
| 21.4% (13th) | PP% | 16.3% (22nd) |
| 79.4% (16th) | PK% | 72.9% (26th) |
| 2-1-0 | Head-to-Head Record (24-25) | 1-1-1 |
| Cole Caufield (13) | Most goals | Kirill Marchenko (8) |
| Nick Suzuki (17) | Most assists | Kirill Marchenko (12) |
| Nick Suzuki (21) | Most points | Kirill Marchenko (20) |
The Blue Jackets probably wish they’d had a better start to the season after how close they came to the playoffs a year ago, but a 2-0-2 record in the past four matches has helped them to regroup from a three-game losing streak of their own. Two games against the Edmonton Oilers’ defence and goaltending in that span resulted in more offence than they’ve typically produced (nine goals total in that completed season series). Otherwise, they have had trouble scoring more than three goals per game, and have only done so one time on home ice. Perhaps they’re guilty of trying to entertain their fans the way Montreal was, but that’s a situation the Canadiens will gladly accept.
Most of the offence runs through Kirill Marchenko. He leads Columbus in goals and game-winning tallies, assists, power-play points, and even has the team’s only short-handed marker. It’s not unfair to compare what he’s done to the impact Nick Suzuki has had in Montreal.
While Suzuki is the undisputed star of Montreal’s roster, Marchenko still has to play second fiddle to last year’s runner-up for the Norris Trophy, Zach Werenski. The defenceman is averaging over 26 minutes of ice team each game and holds a +9 goal differential on a team that has allowed one more goal than it’s scored. It is possible that the team relies on the superstar blue-liner too much. Last year he ran out of steam coming out of his time with Team USA at the 4 Nations Face-Off. He, along with the team, rallied for one last push in the final two weeks that nearly got the job done with six straight wins, but, as we saw from Montreal, they probably emptied the tank in that end-of-season chase and left nothing for a post-season run.
That’s the situation Montreal wants to avoid this time around. A great start had them in a position to do that, and it’s not too late to recover despite dealing with a handful of injuries. Finding success on the power play is the simplest way to end the run of losses, and a Columbus penalty kill that ranks 26th in the league is good unit against which to get things straightened out.
