Cowan: Canadiens need to shoot puck more if they want to beat Hurricanes
For the second straight season, the Canadiens are the youngest team to make the NHL playoffs.
Now, with an average age of 25.8, they’re the youngest team since 1993 to reach a conference final, set to take on the Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference final with Game 1 slated for Thursday in Carolina (8 p.m., CBC, SN, TVA Sports).
In 1993, the Canadiens also had an average age of 25.8 when they beat the New York Islanders in five games in what was then called the Wales Conference final before beating the Los Angeles Kings in five games to win the Stanley Cup.
“It’s easy to just use the age as a crutch,” Canadiens head coach Martin St. Louis said after the Canadiens beat the Sabres 2-1 in overtime of Game 7 Monday night in Buffalo to advance to the conference final. “We know that two years ago we lacked experience, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t advance and mature. So I feel like the process that we kind of have in place, the environment and the mindset, I think it’s allowing us to grow no matter what, how old we are. Because I think if you’re an older team you can still grow. You can learn anything if you put your mind to it.
“Last year’s experience in the playoffs, what we’re going through right now, you can’t buy that,” St. Louis added. “It’s amazing.”
It is amazing what the Canadiens have been able to do in the fourth full year of a rebuild. It’s also amazing that they have advanced to the conference final with almost no five-on-five offensive production from two of their top forwards — Cole Caufield and Juraj Slafkovsky.
After 14 playoff games, Caufield (one goal) and Slafkovsky (one assist) have combined for two even-strength points. Caufield is minus-7, while Slafkovsky is minus-8.
But other players have stepped up, led by Alex Newhook, who has 7-2-9 totals (all at even strength), including the overtime winner in Game 7 against Buffalo to go along with a plus-5. Jake Evans has 2-6-8 totals and is plus-9; Alexandre Texier has 3-4-7 totals and is plus-6 and Phillip Danault has 1-5-6 totals and is plus-4 — all those numbers at even strength.
Even the defence has been pitching in offensively at even strength. Kaiden Guhle has 0-6-6 totals and Alexandre Carrier has 1-4-5 totals. Lane Hutson has 2-12-14 totals, but only five of his points have come at even strength, including one goal.
The biggest reason the Canadiens are in the conference final is goalie Jakub Dobes, who has a 2.52 goals-against average and a .910 save percentage. In the two Game 7 victories on the road, Dobes has a .956 save percentage, stopping 65 of 68 shots.
The Canadiens are going to face a huge challenge against the Hurricanes, who have a perfect 8-0 record in the playoffs after sweeping the Ottawa Senators and Philadelphia Flyers. The Hurricanes have made the playoffs for eight straight years and are in the conference final for the fourth time during that span. They will also be well-rested with 11 days off since sweeping the Flyers.
But there’s reason for hope with the young Canadiens.
The Hurricanes have lost the last four times they reached the conference final, including last season in five games to the eventual Stanley Cup-champion Florida Panthers. The Canadiens won all three games they played against the Hurricanes this season, including two in Carolina by scores of 7-5 and 3-1. The Canadiens also beat the Hurricanes 5-2 at the Bell Centre.
The playoffs are a different beast, though, and the Canadiens are going to need more even-strength production from Caufield and Slafkovsky if they want to beat the Hurricanes. As a team, the Canadiens also have to shoot the puck more.
The Canadiens are averaging only 25.1 shots per game in the playoffs. The only team that averaged less is the Flyers with 24.6. The Hurricanes are averaging a league-high 33.9 shots per game in the playoffs.
The Canadiens can learn a valuable lesson from Newhook’s Game 7 overtime goal against the Sabres — shoot the puck!
They can also learn a valuable lesson from Evans on that goal — drive to the net!
The shot Newhook scored on wasn’t a great one. The puck was wobbling, but he shot it anyways and Sabres goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen seemed distracted by Evans skating hard toward the net.
Goal!
The Canadiens have a ton of young offensive talent and it’s a joy to watch them pass the puck around. But their top players are too often looking to make the pretty play in the playoffs.
Shooting the puck and going hard to the net works in the playoffs. Always has and always will.
Editor’s Picks
I picked the Lightning to beat the Canadiens in the first round in six games because they had more playoff experience. I was wrong.
I picked the Canadiens to beat the Sabres in six games in the second round — it took seven.
While the Hurricanes are the favourites going into the Eastern Conference final — and with good reason — if there’s one thing this young Canadiens team has proven this season is that they never give up and you can never count them out.
Now they need their top players to produce.
Prediction: Canadiens in seven.
