Against the Islanders, the Canadian deserved a better fate. It was one of his best games of the young season.
More combative, he offered a much tighter defensive game. Less lace, less twists. After two periods, he offered Patrick Roy’s men only seven scoring opportunities. And that includes the four minutes the Habs spent crammed into their zone in the first half of the second period.
Seven scoring chances in 40 minutes of play is a huge difference compared to what happened during the visits of the Penguins and Kings.
But one fact remains: Martin St-Louis’ troops are unable to compete in the face-off circle We’ll send flowers in front of the bank. In the moments before Cole Caufield’s first goal, Juraj Slafkovsky stood out by helping Nick Suzuki win his face-off against Kyle MacLean.
An enlightened guy’s reaction that perfectly responded to Suzuki’s postgame analysis Thursday night against the Kings.
“By winning the face-off, you put yourself in an advantageous position. (…) They are so fundamental. We can start playing and controlling the puck,” said the captain.
Quick reactions
However, Canadiens center players won only 42% of their duels near Cayden Primeau. The percentage that dropped to 36% is shorthand. Even Jake Evans and Christian Dvorak, who St-Louis specifically sends out on important faceoffs, made some steals in their territory. Evans reached the limit of respectability (50%), while Dvořák was eaten whole (29%).
“The face is important, especially in the defensive zone,” Evans said after the loss to the Kings. You know that if the opponent wins, sure, they will have an opportunity to make a dangerous play.
The odd thing against the Kings is that the Canadian won 13 of his 19 faceoffs in the defensive zone. Three of the six losses turned into goals.
That same evening, Martin St-Louis instead blamed the way his players were making mistakes in the art of blocking shots.
“You’re going to lose some face-offs, but it shouldn’t end up in the back of your net three times. We have to find a way to block the shots. I know that when things happen quickly, it’s harder to put yourself in the line of fire,” he analyzed, but acknowledged that there is room for improvement in this area.
Invisible roof
Which brings us to Kirby Dach. Going back to the game, after playing just one and a half games a year ago, the big point guard was supposed to provide depth on offense. This is far from going according to plan.
Photo by Martin Chevalier
His 37.5% success rate in the faceoff circle is nowhere near the standards of a second-line center. In addition, St-Louis started replacing Alex Newhook. The poor are even worse off (31%).
Since the start of the campaign, Dach has a record of -8. Worst in the entire NHL. In his defense, it should be remembered that he was on the ice for two goals scored by the opponent into an empty net.
And as we know, you have to take something and leave something with this statistic. However, data compiled by Sportlogiq suggests that Dach’s expected goalscoring share when playing at even strength is only 33%. Which puts him at 321E ranks among 347 forwards who have played at least 40 minutes.
Looking at expected goals on a collective level, CH generated 2.55 versus 5.21 with Dach on the ice. This difference of -2.66 is rather far from -8.
However, it shows that not much happens when Dach is on the ice. A puck possession start sequence would definitely help a bit.
Shot attempt 97 55
Shots on goal 46 31
Shots from the slot 19 18
Shots from the bottom of the slot 10 9
Chances to Score 42 24
Goals 70
Source: Sportlogiq
