The first time the Montreal Canadiens played the Vegas Golden Knights this season, they were the better team. In the rematch, this time on home ice at the Bell Centre, it was largely one-sided affair in favour of the Golden Knights. But the Habs cared not for Vegas’ possession and shot-share domination, somehow making a game of it and falling just short with a 6-5 loss. There was, at the very least, some good entertainment value despite the underlying numbers of the loss.
A huge help in keeping the score respectable was Jesse Ylönen, who should be considered for an immediate promotion in his team’s lineup.
This was his first of two goals on the night, a product of excellent defensive play near his own blue line, something that was quite rare to see from the Habs on the night. He takes off thereafter, and flashes some brilliant offensive abilities in undressing Adin Hill.
Ylönen would go on to score another goal later in that same period, opting this time to show off his best weapon; his shot.
The logical move at this stage is to give him a shot at bigger minutes. You don’t want to overreact and shoot him up to the top line after one good game, but he has to earn a shot at something more after that performance. There are under-performing forwards in the top-nine right now who should be ceding some ice time to a young player who managed to put up numbers while being the second-least used forward on the night.
He should also be getting power play time, and frankly it is somewhat of a mystery why he hasn’t been used there in any of his games this season. He possesses arguably the second-best shot on this team next to Cole Caufield, and could be a potential answer to spark a power play that has been inconsistent to say the least. Ylönen probably can’t fix it on his own, but it’s hard to see how he wouldn’t help make it a tad more dynamic than it looked scoring no goals, and surrendering a shorthanded marker against Vegas.
This is still a rebuild year, and the team can’t afford to let performances like that from a young player go unrewarded.
Click the play button below to listen to your full Bottom Six Minutes, also available wherever you get your podcasts. The Canadiens are hitting the road now, and we’ll be back with an episode following their first visit to the Boston Bruins this Saturday night.
