canadiens Showcase Depth, Faceoff Struggles in Season Opener
Montreal, QC - October 8, 2025 – The Montreal Canadiens‘ season opener against the Toronto Maple Leafs revealed a commitment to balanced forward lines and a developing offensive spark, but also highlighted a persistent issue with defensive-zone faceoffs. Despite a 4-3 overtime loss, the game offered key insights into how the Canadiens intend to play this season.
Defensively, the pairings of Justin Barron and Kaiden Guhle, alongside Alexandre Carrier and Johnathan Kovacevic, were utilized. A notable forward line combination of Jake Evans and Josh Anderson was paired with Alex Newhook and Oliver Kapanen,a pairing revealed during Monday’s practice. kapanen scored his first NHL goal, tying the game in the first period after capitalizing on a Maple Leafs turnover.
“Both really smart players, I think that helps reading plays,” Evans said before the game. “They both have good sticks and both have good speed, so those are three good things to penalty kill and kill plays and frustrate opponents.”
However, faceoffs proved problematic. Kirby Dach and Newhook combined to win only one of seven defensive-zone draws. Dach finished at three-for-14 while Newhook was two-for-nine. the Maple Leafs scored two goals while Dach was on the ice, though he did not take the faceoffs on either play, with Bolduc stepping in on his weak side. Montreal won only 39 percent of their faceoffs despite maintaining significant possession time.
Coach St. Louis emphasized the difficulty of establishing fixed line combinations beyond the top unit of Suzuki, Caufield, and Slafkovský, a sentiment reflected in the ice time distribution. Newhook lead forward ice time after the top line with 15:15, while Dach saw the least at 11:49 – a significant reduction from last season’s playoff game where Demidov played 18:21 and Kapanen 7:10.
The Canadiens appear to be prioritizing depth, with a reduced gap in ice time between forwards, a strategy they stated they would pursue this season. While the approach didn’t result in a win in the opener, the team believes it will yield positive results over the course of the season.
