THE Buffalo swords arrived in Montreal on Tuesday evening, after a streak of 10 consecutive defeats. For the Canadians, it was almost an unwinnable night. A victory was expected, so anything less than a bombardment would not be welcomed.
Knowing this, Montreal did just that. They bombed the hapless Sabers 6-1.
Wild horses
The Canadians started the game with authority. The Canadians had nine shots before the fifth minute. It took ten minutes before Buffalo got a shot, and they were already down by two. It was Montreal’s best start to the season.
They opened the scoring just 19 seconds later when Joel Armia scored on a rebound. It was an interesting decision to start Jake Evans’ line to open the game, but it was a good call from the head coach as they came roaring out of the gate and took the lead.
Montreal didn’t stop either. In attempting to kill a penalty, the Sabers overloaded a zone with catastrophic results. Nick Suzuki passed it to the left side where Patrik Laine shot so fast he was in and out before anyone was within 25 feet of him.
The first half also featured another classic moment. It was another occasion where an NHL giant couldn’t believe what was happening to him against Lane Hutson. Tage Thompson is one of the strongest players in the league. Hutson is nine inches shorter and gives up 60 pounds to Thompson.
Hutson not only won a battle for the puck on the open ice, but he did it so cleanly that he was awarded a penalty on the play. Thompson won’t assume this will be an easy battle against the recruit.
It was Juraj Slafkovsky’s excellence in the second half. Real intelligence for his third goal of the season. He saw that the goalkeeper had lost the near post and was out of position, so Slafkovsky shot behind his back and inside. That’s a bit of the meaning of hockey.
The evening was a long list of highlights, but the best had yet to come to anyone’s attention. In the second period, Laine did it again. It was another unstoppable blow. He seemed to be in the net before he was on his stick. Top corner for his second goal of the evening.
A minute and 10 seconds later, Laine did it again. It was a repeat of the first two goals – a slap shot from the left side from 20 feet and, once again, it was completely unstoppable. Laine’s shot doesn’t look like a ball in common hockey parlance, but like a real ball.
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Laine has six goals in seven games. While Laine sat on the bench, fans completed their favorite trilogy in the cathedral: a standing ovation, hundreds of hats raining down and chants of “ole” and “Laine.”
Fans enjoyed this special moment. They know they have just witnessed the best shot in the world. It was hard not to think about what could have happened this season if the Canadiens had been able to rely on that shot all season.
Wild goats
The Canadians were so strong in this one that there are no goats. Everything was moving. In the first period, they limited the Sabers to three shots. This set the tone for the competition.
This one was a coach’s dream.
Wilde Cards
Reconstructions take time. Let the sad story of the Buffalo Sabers be a wake-up call to Canadians about the patience needed to do things right.
The Sabers will miss the playoffs for a 14th consecutive season next April. The Canadiens are in the third season of their reconstruction and impatience is already growing in Montreal among the media and fans.
Getting impatient would be the worst thing that could happen. Impatience leads to layoffs and layoffs lead to someone new trying to put their personal stamp on the changes. Since the Sabers last made the playoffs, they have had eight coaches and four general managers. This instability has led to stupidity.
Popular opinion is that the Sabers haven’t acquired enough good players. The truth is they got rid of their best players.
They had Ryan O’Reilly, who won a Cup in St. Louis. They had Jack Eichel, who won a cup in Vegas. They had Sam Reinhart, who won a Cup in Florida. Not only did they win, but they were one of the main reasons they won.
In net, Vezina beat Linus Ullmark, who they also gave up too early. Just looking at who the Sabers were rooting against, it’s easy to see that they actually had the foundation for success.
Everyone is looking for the magic formula for successful reconstruction. There may not be a 100% foolproof to-do list, but there is a foolproof list of don’ts. The Sabers hit their target every time.
Don’t fire coaches and general managers every two or three years because, as is human nature, the new guy wants to start over. In fact, he’s hired to do it again. That’s what he does. And the cycle reverses and starts again.
What mistakes could the Canadiens make like the Sabres?
Get impatient with general manager Kent Hughes and fire him. That would be so stupid. Hughes has only two of his draft picks in three years as manager of the senior team. Firing Martin St. Louis as head coach would be a disaster. This would greatly disrupt stability and culture.
Giving up on Kirby Dach would be a horrible idea. On the one hand, because its stock is so low that there would be no returns. Also, because its stock was once so high. We need to give him time to recover from the operation.
In fact, giving up on a young player is always a bad idea. This is the main reason the Sabers are inept. The worst idea is always to abandon a young player only to see him break through 80 games later elsewhere.
Patience. Preach it to the mountain tops. Let the draft picks happen. Let the players mature. Let management ideas flourish. It’s hard to imagine this for another three years in Montreal, but impatience would encourage the tragedy that is Buffalo.
Next season, the Sabers will try to end their playoff drought before year 15.
Brian Wilde, a Montreal-based sports writer, brings you The Call of the Wilde on globalnews.ca after each Canadiens game.
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