Canadiens Curiously Go with Seven Defensemen in Guhle’s Return – The Hockey Writers – Montreal Canadiens

True story: Immediately after Carolina Hurricanes forward Sebastian Aho’s go-ahead, backbreaking goal on Friday night, RDS viewers saw the camera pan to everyone’s favourite scapegoat on the Montreal Canadiens, Patrik Laine, as if he was the guilty culprit or something. It probably should have panned to head coach Martin St. Louis instead.

Maybe Laine could have stood to re-enter the play with greater gumption or something, but, even if defense were Laine’s strength (it isn’t), it’s hard to envision him having done anything practically speaking. Defenseman Arber Xhekaj had thrown a missed hit on Hurricanes forward Jackson Blake, entering the offensive zone, which took both him and Laine, who had to navigate past Blake, out of the play. Without Xhekaj in the proper position, Seth Jarvis, to whom Blake had gotten the puck, was able to pass it to Aho on a two-on-one rush, Alexandre Carrier, the lone defenseman back, unable to take it away.

Canadiens and the Blame Game

So, Carrier, himself admittedly at the mercy of the Hurricanes’ two top forwards, technically failed his assignment on the play more than Laine. Now, it’s obviously hard to blame him. It’s incredibly easy to blame Xhekaj instead. Ultimately, responsibility should fall on the head coach’s shoulders (and, maybe this is a case of the writer going out on too much of a limb here, not Laine).

Related: Montreal Canadiens Scapegoat Search for 2024-25

Honestly, there was a lot of blame to go around in this one, an eventual 4-1 road defeat. For example, veteran defenseman Mike Matheson forced rookie defenseman Lane Hutson to take a penalty with an errant own-zone giveaway that led to the eventual game-winning goal by Talor Hall earlier in the second period, minutes before the Aho marker. Ultimately, though, you’re going to find it hard to score against the team that gives up the lowest amount of shots per game (24.9) in the NHL when you manage just 15. And, in going with 11 forwards, taking Joshua Roy out of the lineup in favour of a returning Kaiden Guhle, you’re kind of taking a significant risk, one that far from worked out for St. Louis.

To be fair, you can understand his thought process. An incredibly well-rounded Guhle on defense is much more valuable than a relatively inexperienced Roy on offense. Against a team like the Hurricanes, who also put up the…