Call of the Wilde: Montreal Canadiens withstand barrage to take 6-2 win Boston

Tuesday night was the first game for Phillip Danault in the Montreal Canadiens lineup since 2021. He played on a very tight team in Los Angeles for four years.

Danault got a very different taste of hockey in this one, as the Canadiens’ talent went to work in a 6-2 win.

Wilde Horses 

The Canadiens tried to win this one with talent, while the Bruins tried to win it with brawn. Samuel Blais had a perfectly placed shot from the side and behind the net off the back of Jeremy Swayman’s head and in. That wasn’t just talent. It was also creativity.

There was more talent from Ivan Demidov. He had a breakaway from centre ice with no back pressure to worry about. Demidov made a deke so perfect Swayman wasn’t even close to making the stop.

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With moves like that, Demidov not being chosen for the shootout needs to stop sooner rather than later.

In the third period, the Canadiens took over with talent, while brawn became fatigued. Lane Hutson laid out an absolutely perfect saucer pass to Nick Suzuki. He was stopped, but the rebound went to Zachary Bolduc for the tally.

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The Bruins made the mistake of choosing to contest the tally for goaltender interference. They lost the obvious decision. Add another penalty or two, add Demidov on the first unit, and the Canadiens pulled away. Cole Caufield made a series of dekes that had Swayman dizzy.

Still with a power play, it was Suzuki batting a rebound out of the air waist-high with a beautiful bit of skill, and suddenly it was 5-2. The Bruins’ will was taken from them in humiliating fashion as Hutson made a gorgeous pass for a Slafkovsky one-timer for 6-2.

The only sound in the arena in Boston was the footsteps of fans going home, but none of it would have been possible were it not for the first two periods of goaltending from Jacob Fowler, who is looking extremely ready to play in the National Hockey League.

Fowler was flashing outstanding technique all night long to keep a Canadiens team that was getting outplayed in the contest.

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On a cross-crease pass, Fowler slid from one post to the other while keeping his pad flat on the ice to make a terrific save. Anything less than perfect technique and it was an easy goal. On a breakaway where the shooter faked a slap shot, Fowler didn’t bite at all. He was in perfect position to stop the shot when it finally came at a much different angle.

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Fowler takes another terrific Goals Saved Above Expected of 1.49. Fowler is third in the league in GSAE per 60 minutes. That’s a fine start to a surely fine career in the NHL.

Wilde Goats 

Most of the games it doesn’t feel like the Canadiens don’t have enough toughness. They seem fine. Most of the games it doesn’t feel like the Canadiens aren’t big enough. They seem fine.

That is until a game comes along that challenges that assumption.

Until a team is seriously committed to a plan of intimidation, no one considers it even an issue for Montreal, but that was Boston’s plan. The puck had just dropped to start the game when Tanner Jeannot challenged Josh Anderson to a fight. Anderson had no choice but to accept.

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Those two had barely gotten out of the box when Nikita Zadorov challenged Arber Xhekaj to a fight. The wing span is so big on Zadorov, the only thing that comes to mind is Xhekaj had to fight an albatross. Boston wanted to beat the Canadiens in the alley until they weren’t interested in the battle on the ice.

This is why the future fourth line of the Canadiens has to have some toughness. It’s why the future third defensive pair has to have some size. Talent must be balanced by the other aspects of hockey that matter, especially in the playoffs. As long as it is a game of intimidation, some response to it has to be accepted and contested.

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The contest went Montreal’s way in the end, but mostly because of the goalie when Boston did have the energy to run the Canadiens out of the building.

Like the playoffs last season, let it be a warning for now that this is the strategy teams will employ.

Wilde Cards

Everyone is looking for the perfect gift for Christmas. You may think that with the average NHL salary being $2.6 million, players would have it all, but they too have a wish list.

The player who needs a Santa trip down the chimney more than any other is Samuel Montembeault. He wants 2024 under the tree. Failing that, a coach who can help him find the great technique in net that has abandoned him.

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Two players would like the gift of health more than any others. Kirby Dach and Kaiden Guhle aren’t asking for too much. They just want to make it through a season without losing most of it.

Lane Hutson would love it if USA Hockey watched hockey, instead of the height that Lane is so expertly playing hockey.

Cole Caufield would like the same from USA Hockey, but failing that, he would surely enjoy being the first Canadiens 40-goal scorer since Vincent Damphousse in 1994.

Nick Suzuki would love it if he could be the first 100-point man in Montreal since Mats Naslund in 1986. Suzuki better hurry or Ivan Demidov is going to develop so fast, the Russian will get there first.

Speaking of Demidov, Santa needs to instill in him the desire to shoot. Demidov averages just over one shot per game. He needs to get to three shots per game to perhaps beat Caufield to that 40-goal mark.

Juraj Slafkovsky only needs what’s happening to his game to continue. He doesn’t want Santa to jinx anything. The growth is so phenomenal — “Just get out of my way, Santa”.

Josh Anderson and Brendan Gallagher need Father Time to take a hike.

Martin St. Louis needs everyone to stop talking about the system they will when his players assess danger better in their own zone, and don’t allow odd-man rushes in other zones. That’s a gift everyone collectively can get as a perfect stocking stuffer.

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For Kent Hughes and Jeff Gorton, may Santa gift a second-line centre. The pair, affectionately named HuGo, have basically done it all in a rebuild in only its fourth year. However, if someone like Alexander Zharovsky, Michael Hage, or even Sidney Crosby could soon fill that 2C role, that would be the best gift possible.

And for the greatest hockey fans in the world, may the gift of Christmas be a championship after 32 years of Santa getting stuck in the chimney.

Merry Christmas, Everyone.

Brian Wilde, a Montreal-based sports writer, brings you Call of the Wilde on globalnews.ca after each Canadiens game.