MONTREAL — Process over results is a nice thing to say and an important thing to believe in, but it can be difficult to do so in real time when you’re respecting the process but not getting the results.
Since Evgenii Dadonov was scratched four times in five games over the holidays and got back in the lineup on Jan. 5, he’s been among the Canadiens’ best players. It’s easy to say that after he scored two goals in a decisive 4-1 win against the West-leading Winnipeg Jets, but it’s been clear for a few games now.
It just hadn’t produced anything tangible. Playing well can be satisfying, but it is infinitely more so when the red light goes on to recognize it.
“I know,” Dadonov said after Tuesday’s game when he was told he’d been playing well. “It should happen one day, right?”
Right.
It almost always does happen one day, and for the Canadiens, it could not have come at a better time, and they can only hope it continues.
The reason Dadonov is in Montreal is that the Vegas Golden Knights needed to offset the money in taking on Shea Weber’s contract last summer. They had tried to trade him to the Anaheim Ducks last season at the deadline, only to have the trade embarrassingly rejected because Dadonov had the Ducks on his no-trade list.
But that incident says a lot about Dadonov, because from that point on, he went on a tear for the Golden Knights.
In his first game after the trade was invalidated by the NHL, Dadonov had a goal and two assists. Over his final 16 games from that point on, Dadonov had 16 points, five goals and 11 assists.
Being scratched four times in five games doesn’t exactly equate to being traded to a team you had explicitly indicated you did not want to be traded to, but it is similar in that it is a shot to your pride as a professional hockey player. And if there’s one thing Dadonov has, it’s pride.
And it has shown.
Canadiens XGF% leaders since Jan. 5
|
Player |
GF % |
XGF% |
HDSC % |
|---|---|---|---|
|
71.43 |
59.36 |
69.05 |
|
|
75 |
58.25 |
70.37 |
|
|
60 |
53.71 |
63.89 |
|
|
60 |
52.84 |
61.22 |
|
|
66.67 |
52.18 |
53.57 |
His line with Joel Armia and Jake Evans from Jan. 5 onward has performed well, but with Armia and Evans hitting injured reserve before the game, Dadonov did not stop.
Again, pride.
It’s been difficult to get to know Dadonov because things started so badly for him, and he’s never played in a media market like Montreal. He is not comfortable surrounded by cameras and microphones, and he has never had to deal with that reality to the same extent it exists in Montreal.
Mike Matheson, however, knows him well. They were teammates with the Florida Panthers, and Matheson witnessed Dadonov’s best years playing with Jonathan Huberdeau and Aleksander Barkov. So when it was suggested to Matheson on Tuesday that Dadonov can roll with the downs of the season better than others, that it doesn’t appear to affect him as much, he took exception to it.
“I wouldn’t say that,” Matheson said. “He’s a guy that cares a lot. He’s obviously a veteran guy who is a professional who can maybe hide it a little better, or whatever the case may be. I sat next to him on the plane, and we talked. He cares a lot, for sure.
“And I don’t think he sees it as an individual thing, like, ‘Oh, I’m not scoring, and I want to score because it looks good for me.’ He’s very team-oriented, so he has a deep care for how he’s doing and how he’s contributing to the team. I played with him in Florida, and he’s an unbelievable player, and I think we’re definitely seeing that lately.”
Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis knew what it was like to be scratched, to be overlooked, to be told you’re not good enough. Although he didn’t experience those things at the same stage of his career, he can understand and respect how Dadonov has responded to it because he’s been there.
“(Dadonov’s) been a pro; he hasn’t complained, he puts his head down and just goes to work,” he said. “He’ll do extra skating after the morning skate when he’s scratched. He’s a hard worker, he’s a pro, and he shows why he’s had that kind of success in this league. I’m glad he’s getting rewarded. Through the injuries and the lack of performance of the team when he was out, he finds himself an opportunity and he runs with it and he grabs a chair.
“I’m happy for him to get rewarded.”
There are ways to watch confidence growing on the ice and how it manifests itself in key moments.
Here is an opportunity Dadonov had in the second period. For someone who is accustomed to regularly scoring goals in this league but had scored only two all season, an opportunity like this is gold:
Except, Dadonov’s shot at that open net was blocked. The puck came right back to him, and this is what he was looking at:
A player lacking confidence would have just fired that puck again. But Dadonov didn’t do that. He held on to it, waited for a better opportunity and forced Connor Hellebuyck into a difficult save. Moments later, he was rewarded.
Confidence is a funny thing. But it is crucial. Dadonov has been looking for it all season, and he seems to have finally found it.
Standing next to Dadonov as he spoke to the media was Justin Barron, who just had the best game of his NHL career. His two assists doubled his career point total, and the first one set up Dadonov for that goal.
Barron was named the first star of the game with his parents in the building to watch him and his brother, Morgan, face each other for the first time. It was a special night for the Barron family. But Barron is also the fruit of a deadline trade, coming to Montreal as part of the package for Artturi Lehkonen last season. It was appropriate to have these two next to each other under these circumstances because the Canadiens had hoped from the moment Dadonov was acquired that they would be able to flip him for future assets at the March 3 trade deadline.
The way Dadonov played over the first half of the season made that possibility seem remote, and the interest the Canadiens have received for him has been tepid, to be generous. But if he can continue playing as he has over the past two weeks, the Canadiens might be able to stoke that fire and rekindle hope that Dadonov will generate some kind of interest. He has a track record of being an offensively dynamic player, someone who can complement good players.
“I think early on there was definitely some negative attention towards him, and I was kind of surprised,” Matheson said. “I think back when he was playing with (Huberdeau) and (Barkov) on that line, I think he was super underrated — what he brought to the table for that line, how successful they were because of him. He’s been very underrated on the last couple of teams he’s been on, too, when you think of Vegas and Ottawa. I think he’s an unbelievable player.”
The Canadiens need to allow that to shine through. It would help them to remain competitive through this rash of injuries they are dealing with. But far more importantly, it would allow them to build a market for Dadonov, a player who has been consistently effective since arriving in the NHL but has had a limited window to show the rest of the league that he is still that player.
Tuesday night was a good first step.
(Photo of Mike Matheson, Evgenii Dadonov and Michael Pezzetta: Minas Panagiotakis / Getty Images)
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