Call of the Wilde: Montreal Canadiens double the Buffalo Sabres – Montreal

With three straight victories to start the final stretch of the season, the Montreal Canadiens have been gaining momentum in their chase for a playoff spot. But they could not afford to hit a snag against the Buffalo Sabres in a home-and-home series.

The series opened Saturday in Buffalo with Jakub Dobes getting the call in net. He was solid, making 24 saves on 26 shots as the Canadiens doubled the Sabres 4-2.

There were many reasons for the Canadiens’ slump before the Four Nations event, but the biggest reason wasn’t spoken of much. The production of the Suzuki line was half of what it was during the rest of the season.

They were carrying the load and lost their energy, especially Suzuki and Cole Caufield. They got two weeks rest and they are back with authority leading the Canadiens every night.

It’s been four games for the trio since the break and the statistics are impressive: Suzuki has nine points, Caufield has five points, and Juraj Slafkovsky has three points. The Canadiens have scored 18 goals in four games since the break, and the Suzuki line is in on 10 of them.

The Buffalo series opener was scoreless in the first period, then Caufield got to work on the power play early in the second. It was a tremendous play from four talented players. Lane Hutson broke up a Buffalo rush and immediately fed the puck 100 feet to Suzuki.

Suzuki was static at the blue line, so he passed it on to a skating Patrik Laine, who handled the two-on-one perfectly feeding Caufield. He one-timed it for his 29th goal of the season. That is a career high for Caufield. He is on pace for a 40-goal season.

Another player who enjoyed the rest was Lane Hutson. He crashed before the break with only two points in his last nine games. After the break, in four games, he has five points. Hutson led the rush for Montreal to tie it. He took it deep, then fed Christian Dvorak who fed Josh Anderson. It was a gorgeous passing play.

Hutson was in on the go-ahead goal for the Canadiens with two seconds left in the second period. Mike Matheson with a terrific pass to a streaking Alex Newhook, who tipped it home for a huge goal. Hutson also is plus-five in the four games since the break, with a 60 per cent Corsi. Hutson isn’t going to be a star. He already is a star.

Jake Evans added an empty netter as the Canadiens won a fourth consecutive game.

Every game is so vital for the Canadiens as GM Kent Hughes contemplates how to handle the trading deadline on March 7. The players want to send the message that they can chase a playoff spot.

The last playoff spot is occupied by a club pro-rated to achieve 91 points this season. If the Canadiens tied that 91 total, they would need to finish the season in the final 22 games with 14 wins and eight losses.

Hughes knows this is an extremely tall order, but four for four is making for a lot of believers. The Canadiens play the Sabres again Monday, then they are in Edmonton on Thursday for their final game before the trade deadline. At this point, it’s 50-50 if the Canadiens will be sellers or not.

The Canadiens have lost Kirby Dach for the rest of the season due to a knee injury that required an operation. It’s the same knee that left him out for an entire year last season. Montreal management has not revealed the nature of the knee injury.

It is impossible to know how serious it is, because one usually uses a timeline for recovery to obtain the knowledge. It would be grand if the Canadiens were forthright, but if they choose not to be, it is their right to do so per NHL rules.

With only six weeks left in the season, it could be as minor as a meniscus surgery to clean up the area after the major damage the year before. It could also be serious chronic weakness in the knee resulting in another MCL injury. It is unlikely that the ACL is implicated as the club did say that Dach would be ready to go again in October for the first game of the 2025-26 season.

The first surgery was completed in New York City indicating that it was so serious that the foremost orthopaedic surgeon was required. The second surgery was done in Montreal perhaps indicating that the surgery was not quite so complicated.

It was a difficult season for Dach offensively in point totals, but more than that, Dach struggled mightily to keep the puck out of his own net. He concluded the year with the second worst plus/minus in the entire NHL. The Canadiens goal differential is minus-23. That’s almost entirely the responsibility of the second line.

In his favour, perhaps he was carrying some form of weakness around with him in the knee the entire season. That could be part of the reason that he did not play the promising hockey that marked his tenure in Montreal before that sad night when Jarred Tinordi hit him over the boards.

For the organization and the future success they are looking to attain quickly, it likely spells an end to the Dach as the second-line centre experiment. If the club wants to make the playoffs the next season, they have to improve from the worst second-line numbers in hockey.

Every other line for the Canadiens is strong. The first line is top-10, the third line is middle of the pack, and the fourth line is the second best in the entire league. Success for the club next season starts with a 200-foot centre in the “2C” role.

Patrik Laine is one of the wingers on the second line and his defensive ability is not good. He needs to be playing in the offensive zone. Ivan Demidov is expected to launch right into a Canadiens uniform from Russia next season as the best prospect not currently in the NHL. Demidov will also require a strong centre to positively impact him as he learns the NHL game.

Both Laine and Demidov do not have a positive footprint for defensive play next year. So, they need more than a good centre, they need a good two-way centre who can clear it and carry it, so the wingers can play hockey where they play it best.

Owen Beck will take the role for the rest of this season likely unless there is a surprising blockbuster before the March 7 trading deadline. He will be overmatched in that role in his first games at the second-line centre position. In fact, he could top out as a third-line centre overall in his career.

Michael Hage could be the eventual centre the club is looking for in that position, but that is two years to three out from this moment. Hage has put together the best U19 numbers in all of college hockey this season, along with expected top-five pick in the draft, James Hagens.

However, for next season, there is no clear and solid solution. General manager Kent Hughes will have to spend big in the unrestricted free-agent market, perhaps offering Sam Bennett a big contract, or he will have to convince his owner to be patient.

Bottom line here is the Canadiens can be a playoff club next season, but only if they have a complete second line. If they have the worst second line in the league again next year, or close to it, there is no chance the other 17 players can rise above that structural difficulty.

Let’s see what Hughes can accomplish. He’s done his job fairly close to perfectly so far with no giant mistakes made, but the roster isn’t complete yet.