Skip to content

Canadiens need to learn what they have in Kirby Dach and Sam Montembeault

NEW YORK — There were less than six minutes left in the third period Sunday with the Canadiens nursing a 2-1 lead when the puck came free near the wall in their defensive zone.

Kirby Dach was patrolling the area, swooped in, picked up the puck, reversed course and proceeded to easily skate it through the danger of the neutral zone and into the offensive zone. Just like that, the puck was about 125 feet away from the Canadiens net, and the New York Rangers would be forced to make up that ground in an attempt to tie the game.

A distance that was made much greater thanks to one of Dach’s signature skills, which is to transition the puck, often single-handedly, as he did on this occasion.

The fact Dach did that in this game without Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield by his side, and — perhaps more importantly — the fact the Canadiens were leading this game because Suzuki and Caufield combined to score the go-ahead goal without Dach by theirs, made this night at Madison Square Garden that was perhaps more important than the 2-1 Canadiens win.

“He’s got a game where he’s able to control the game a little bit,” Martin St. Louis said. “He’s got a lot of poise in space, and even in not a lot of space he’s got poise. In space, obviously he’s very creative, he can cover a lot of ice with his size and reach.

“We’ve all been intrigued, you know, can he play center in this league? He’s 21 years old, so I don’t think any of us were ready to say he wasn’t going to be a center. Sometimes circumstances make you really take a look at that now. Not that we haven’t throughout the season, but you’re really forced into it now. He gave us a really good game.”

The circumstances are injuries to Sean Monahan and most recently Jake Evans. But this is something that shouldn’t require circumstances. If the Canadiens are intrigued by whether Dach can play center in the NHL, they should find out now. And they shouldn’t let the performances of Suzuki and Caufield dictate whether they find that out.

Before Sunday, every time St. Louis tried to play Dach at center, Suzuki and Caufield’s game suffered. Dach still did his thing, for the most part, but Suzuki and Caufield were much less impactful as a duo than they were as a trio with Dach.

Joel Armia had a good game playing on Suzuki and Caufield’s wing, but that doesn’t mean he’ll be a permanent solution in that spot because almost everyone who has auditioned there has essentially failed. Armia has some stylistic similarities to Dach — a good stick, an ability to win back pucks, size — but this is really on Suzuki and Caufield to prove they can function as a duo no matter who is on the other wing.

“I think Suzy and Cole have found their game a little bit in the last half a dozen games,” St. Louis said. “It’s a long season, you’re going to hit some lows, but they’re back to themselves. Now it’s just to find a way to keep them at that level as long as we can.”

And their ability to continue doing that will make it that much less tempting to put Dach back with them, which would mean more reps and more evaluation of him in the middle. When asked what was one thing he thought Dach does well that he doesn’t get enough credit for, Caufield’s answer showed exactly why Dach could be a valuable center one day.

“I think his puck protection,” Caufield said. “He uses his body so well and keeps the puck on his stick a little bit longer in the O-zone, and it kind of gives everybody a chance to get set in their position.”

Circumstances also led to Sam Montembeault starting this game less than 24 hours after facing the New York Islanders on Saturday. Jake Allen is still injured — although he had an extended on-ice workout before the game against the Islanders, so he should be close — and the Canadiens didn’t have enough confidence in Cayden Primeau to give him the start.

“I know he hasn’t played a lot of hockey this year, so I think him being up here and seeing NHL shots in practice and stuff allows him to get back in the groove,” St. Louis said. “It’s probably a combination of giving him a little more time and how well Monty’s playing.”

Montembeault played all four Canadiens games this week and stopped 150 of 159 shots, including 74 of 77 over the weekend in New York.

But the decision to play him didn’t come Sunday morning, it came right after the game Saturday when goalie coach Éric Raymond asked if Montembeault could play this game.

There is not a professional goalie on Earth who would answer no to that question.

“I said yes,” Montembeault said. “(Raymond) said he really pushed for me to go back in, so I’m happy it went well.”

Like Dach, the Canadiens need to know what they have in Montembeault. But St. Louis has been adamant in his support for Allen as his No. 1 goalie, even while he struggled in November and was being outplayed by Montembeault. That’s fine, a coach has to manage his goalie’s confidence and those public displays of support go a long way. But without saying Montembeault should become the No. 1, the Canadiens should be intrigued with how he would handle a greater workload, even if it’s not a workload like the one he just had this week.

Montembeault plays roughly once every four games when Allen is healthy. If that were to become a more even split, the Canadiens could gather more information on Montembeault without necessarily alienating Allen, either.

Circumstances dictated that Montembeault play these two games, but perhaps they should not dictate how much he plays the rest of the way, especially when you watch him go toe to toe with reigning Vezina Trophy winner Igor Shesterkin one night after doing so against current Vezina candidate. Ilya Sorokin and more than holds his own.

The improvement in Montembeault’s game since being claimed off waivers from the Florida Panthers as a stop-gap solution until Carey Price got healthy has been striking.

The one thing that’s missing in evaluating the sustainability of that improvement is sample size, the same thing the Canadiens are missing in evaluating Dach’s ability to play center in the NHL.

Providing that for both Dach and Montembeault is something that is within their control. It just requires a willingness not to be forced into it by circumstances and doing it because it needs to be done.

(Photo of Kirby Dach and Jonathan Drouin: Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)

.

Tags: