Poor Len analyzes Canadiens' first 6 games

Ed. here. Walt is still in Canada. I suspect he is indulging in Boneshaker IPA with our National Sports Editor, Poor Len Canayen, who has send these comments on the Montréal Canadiens season, thus far. 

Tank youse, Hed. Let's start with stats. Following last night's loss to the New York Rangers -- which the Habs deserved, by the way -- they have registered 4 wins and 2 losses, for 8 points and a .667 average.

That's good for second place in the Atlantic Division, behind the much improved Detroit Red Wings, who also have 8 points but have a game in hand. 

If la Sainte Flannelle can maintain the .667 average through the season, they should wind up with 109 point and a berth in the playoffs. 

But I did say "if".

The 2025-26 Canadiens are fast and super-exciting to watch, especially when Lane Hutson and Ivan Demidov. Yet, of the four games they won, they had to come from behind to win two in overtime. And the power play still hasn't hit top gear. Last night, Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki extended their point streaks to five games. Caufield sniped five goals in the first five games.

Noah Dobson scored his first goal in a Habs sweater and has fitted in nicely. After scoring three goals in each of the first three games, Zach Bolduc has gone a bit quiet but looks like a good acquisition. Kirby Dach appeared to have shaken off the rust, but is still injury-prone, missing last night's game with a lower-bodyinjury, as did Kaiden Guhle, who's going to be out for a month.

If the Habs are to sustain their early momentum, some tweaks must be made, not to the strategy of coach Martin St-Louis, but to the lineup. The power play has struggled. Too much passing and not enough presence4 in front of the enemy's net. How about putting Demidov on the right and dropping Juray Slavkovsky down to second, with Dach at centre and, say, Bolduc at left. 

Notice I didn't mention Patrik Laine? Apart from some time on the power play, he's been relegated to the fourth line, where, if he doesn't do much good, at least does little harm. Did anyone else note that while he sat out of last night's game (lower body injury, they said), Jonathan Marchessault was absent from the Nashville Predators lineup vs Winnipeg. Marchessault was showcased in Thursday night's game vs Montréal and I wonder if a trade for Laine is in the works. Marchessault would love to be at home in Québec and It would be a great deal for the Habs.

Then there's the goaltending conundrum. Les Glorieux have scored 21 goals in their first six games, but have allowed 18, a differential of +3. Problem: it wasn't backup goalie Jakub Dobes who allowed most of those. It was the supposed starter Samuel Montembeault. His GAA is 3.26 (sv% .857), compared with Dobes' 1.46 (.940), although the latter played in just two games. Monty's record is 2-2, while Dobes' is 2-0. Do I need to say more? [Please do. Ed.]

Hokay den, here's what dey shoujld do. Send Montembeault down to Laval for some reconditioning, and bring up hot prospect Jacob Fowler to play backup to Dobes for the next few games. See what happens.

[You seem to have a liking for goalies named "Jacob". Ed.] Yeah, well, remember Jake Allen? At the ripe old age of 35, he's still playing for the New Jersey Devils, and putting up respectable numbers. I rest my case. [I think there's still one in there that hasn't been opened. Ed.] Tank youse, Hed.