tomh009

I saw "rebuild", and my immediate thinking reading this was that Vancouver is after Kent Hughes. But then I realized you were talking about Quinn ...

It's super rare for a goalie to play both games of a back-to-back.

Demidov and Kapanen work really well together, and Texier seemed to fit in, too (only one game though). We need that strong second line for a 1-2 punch, especially for the times (like last night) that the top line is overmatched by the opposition. Even with Slafkovsky back on the top line they struggled to control the game. It will be interesting to see whether Slafkovsky is back on the second line on Saturday night, or whether St-Louis keeps last night's top lines.

Some more on Markov on nhl.com: https://www.nhl.com/news/andrei-markov-talks-career-and-montreal-homecoming

Overall, it's telling me that nearly the whole team has better-than-average top speed, and most of them make more high-speed rushes than average. I believe the sensors use low-energy Bluetooth, not infrared.

Indeed! More points in less TOI is actually more impressive, but not getting more TOI could be a concern!

There is Engstrom, who can play well on either side (like Hutson). And I think there is some RHD prospect in Laval, too, can't remember his name at the moment ...

It was more balanced in Vegas, too.

Some good coverage of Reinbacher's play in The Gazette: https://montrealgazette.com/sports/hockey/hockey-inside-out/canadiens-prospect-david-reinbacher-finds-footing-after-injury-skid

St-Louis is starting to change his bench management now, with the team into the heavy pre-Christmas schedule. No more massive ice time for Suzuki and Caufield, for example: In Vegas, Suzuki played 19:29, while other forwards were all between 11:02 and 17:04 (only 12:07 for Demidov!). Defence was more lopsided, with Matheson, Dobson and Hutson all logging over 23 minutes. In Denver, Suzuki was down to 18:43. Caufield played 17:05 while all other forwards were between 10:35 and 16:32 (that 16:32 was for Kapanen, while Florian was 10:35. The top four defencemen all played 21:46 and 23:10, with Arber and Engstrom in the 13-minute range. There have been a lot of games where the rookies get barely any play in the third period, but with so many games crammed together, that's not a realistic approach.

Not a stellar game for Dobes but the Avalanche is really capitalizing on the Habs' defensive errors.

I thought he was leaning into Anderson ... anyway, it's water under the bridge now, the goal stands and the Habs killed the Avalanche power play.

Four goals against, very evenly distributed: every single forward is -1 at the moment. The top line was the latest one, really not covering the Avs forwards on the play.

Based on the replay during the intermission it sure looked like he Landeskog had his skate in Dobes's pad.

Yes ... but shouldn't have started with a three-on-two, either. Veleno didn't seem to read the developing play. Let's see what the second period looks like.