Following their third non-game day practice of the week, the Montreal Canadiens remain grounded despite their current two-game winning streak – their second such streak of the 2024-25 season. As they prepare to face the Vegas Golden Knights at the Bell Centre on Saturday night, the team is emphasizing a game-by-game approach.
Speaking to reporters after practice, captain Nick Suzuki stated that the team is not looking ahead to securing a third consecutive victory, a feat Montreal did not achieve during the entire 2023-24 campaign.
Suzuki acknowledged that the Canadiens have been playing strong hockey recently, with performances that have been good enough to earn them wins. His assessment aligns with the team’s recent turnaround, going 3-1 in their last four games after enduring a challenging six-game losing streak.
Center Kirby Dach also addressed the media, continuing to field questions about his slow start to the season. Through 19 games, the former third overall pick has recorded just one goal and eight points. Since joining the Canadiens ahead of the 2022-23 season after recovering from a significant knee injury, Dach has amassed 48 points in 79 games. The pressure of playing in Montreal, coupled with overcoming such a severe injury, presents a formidable challenge for the young forward. While it’s still early in the season, reaching 30 or 40 points would be a step in the right direction for Dach, even if considered underwhelming given his potential.
In other news from the morning practice, the Canadiens forwards participated in another faceoff clinic led by Marc Bureau. The former NHL player was brought in two weeks prior to assist the team’s young centers in improving their faceoff performance, an area where Montreal currently ranks 26th in the league with a 47.7% win rate. Notably, no Canadiens player with over 200 faceoffs taken has a winning percentage, with Jake Evans leading the team (137-143) at 48.9%. However, Christian Dvorak is nearing the 200-draw mark with a team-leading 51.4% win rate (92-87) among players with more than 25 faceoffs.
The Canadiens will have a few days of rest before their Saturday night matchup against the Vegas Golden Knights. The Golden Knights will be playing their third game in four nights, having lost to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday and facing the Ottawa Senators on Thursday, giving Montreal a potential advantage as the fresher team. Last season, Vegas swept the season series against Montreal, winning each game by a single goal.