Call of the Wilde: San Jose Sharks comeback to beat the Montreal Canadiens in overtime

With only one regulation win in their first eight games, it’s been a difficult journey for the Montreal Canadiens so far this season. The record is good, thanks to overtime wins, but the overall tenor of the season so far hasn’t been what was hoped for.

The San Jose Sharks visit was a chance to improve on that, especially for Jakub Dobes who has surprisingly struggled in the net.  However, it was the same script that has played out all season long: Montreal gets out to the big lead, but can’t hold on to win it easily.

It was yet another overtime game with the San Jose Sharks winning 4-3.

Wilde Horses 

The head coaches decided to match strength against strength. Hockey lovers were the winners. It was Macklin Celebrini’s line against Nick Suzuki’s line; the defending Selke winner against a future winner for sure.

Both lines have been outstanding this season. Heading into the contest, they both had an Expected Goals share of 65 per cent for the season.

It was advantage Suzuki in the first period as they hemmed in Celebrini often. The opening goal was Suzuki’s as he took a pass from Juraj Slafkovsky and drilled a shot into the top corner glove side.

In the second period, the Suzuki line dominated. Firstly, Juraj Slafkovsky scored the best goal of his career. He faced Darnell Nurse on the rush one-on-one. Slafkovsky chipped it past Nurse with just enough force for it to not arrive at the net, then he danced around Nurse, and slid it in behind the fallen Alex Nedeljkovic.

The Suzuki line added another in the middle frame. Suzuki won the puck behind the net, then fed Cole Caufield who potted his sixth goal of the season to the far side. There was a bit of anxiety over Caufield’s start, but he now has six in nine, and no one will complain about that.

There was also a bit of anxiety over the first games of Adam Engstrom. He’s been a star in the American Hockey League, but the starts in the NHL were not quality so far. That is until this one when Engstrom played his best as a Canadiens defender by a large margin.

His partnership with Arber Xhekaj was so solid that Arber finally got relied upon to play more minutes than his usual. Xhekaj seems to be finally getting comfortable, and this could be the season he solidifies his standing as a regular.

There were many strong performances. Alexandre Carrier is playing the best hockey of his career to start the season. His partnership with Kaiden Guhle is strong. The Canadiens have lacked a shutdown pair for many years, but this might be the start of it right now.

Olliver Kapanen is showing why he had a strong rookie season. The points aren’t coming, but it’s one heady play after another. He quietly does so much right. His return has improved the fourth line tremendously.

Phillip Danault had another strong contest. When he came over from Los Angeles he looked slow, maybe even out of shape. He wasn’t right. This season, Danault has upped his game from that start by a large margin. Danault has a large hockey brain. He’s always on the smart side of the puck. He deserved a goal, but he rang a 15-footer off the crossbar.

Wilde Goats 

It’s been unusual to watch this team go from terrible at possession the last two seasons, yet winning games, to excellent at possession this season, but it not translating into easy wins.

It was total dominance from the Canadiens early, but they couldn’t count, then one mistake, and suddenly they were trailing. Jake Evans felt the pressure from Will Smith, so he tried a dangerous pass. It was intercepted by Celebrini. He made it look easy on the breakaway against Dobes.

It was the first big test for Dobes on the night. It’s unfair to say he failed it. It was a tremendous shot. As the evening wore on, some anxiety crept back into his game. He began to overplay shots, overshooting his target when he moved laterally.

On the second goal, Noah Dobson showed, once again, a weakness playing a two-on-one properly. After a Hutson giveaway, Dobson put himself right in the middle of the two Sharks attackers.  He needs to take the pass away and allow the shot.

Hutson was hustling back well, the shooter would have been rushed, if all he had was shot.  It’s a college hockey lesson, and he shouldn’t be struggling with it as such a high-quality talent.

Don’t try to do too much. Just do what is right.

Dobes definitely did what was wrong in overtime. He stuck his arm out when the Canadiens had the puck clearly interfering with the Sharks player. It was a valid penalty, and the Sharks scored on the power play to steal one in Montreal.

In the end, it was another forgettable night for Dobes.

Wilde Cards 

Over the course of NHL draft history, a player taken in the seventh round has only a two per cent chance of making the league. For every 98 players taken, only two will have an NHL career. Since 2017, only Dustin Wolf has cracked the NHL as a regular with Devon Levi on the verge.

That’s it. That’s all.

Enter Luke Middlestadt.

The 197th player taken out of the University Of Minnesota in the seventh round has a real chance to defy the long odds to arrive in the NHL. The start for Middlestadt as a professional is shocking. He’s not just surviving at the American Hockey Level in his first six games, he is excelling.

Middlestadt might just be the best player in the league this season. Middlestadt leads the league in scoring as a defenceman with four goals and nine assists for 13 points. It’s a big number, but the point of being a defenceman is knowing how to defend.

That’s where the real excitement starts. Middlestadt is known as a defensive specialist more than a points-per-game defender. In 2023, he was named to the Frozen Four All-Tournament team. He also won bronze for the United States at the World Junior Championships.

He’s has succeeded at the highest levels, yet fell so far in the draft, he almost didn’t get drafted at all. The reason is the usual. It’s the same reason that Lane Hutson fell to 62nd overall, only to win the rookie of the year award in the NHL. Middlestadt is small.

However, he isn’t that small at 5′ 11′. He certainly doesn’t play small. He plays intelligently. His decision making is outstanding. Out of all defenders trying to crack the Canadiens line-up at training camp, it was Middlestadt who stood out; not Adam Engstrom, nor David Reinbacher.

Eventually, the Canadiens will try Middlestadt in the NHL to see if he can handle his lack of size the same way that Hutson does allowing him to shine at decision making.

The feeling here is that he can be an NHL player. He handled his first training camp so easily. It was seamless. His start in the AHL is just as seamless. He isn’t finding anything difficult at all. That’s usually the pathway to the NHL.

Brian Wilde, a Montreal-based sportswriter, brings you Call of the Wilde on globalnews.ca after each Canadiens game.