Battle for jobs on Canadiens’ blue-line heats up
MONTREAL While Shea Weber, Andrei Markov and Alexei Emelin have been busy with the World Cup of Hockey, there has been a heated battle for the other spots in the Montreal Canadiens’ defensive corps.
Nathan Beaulieu and Greg Pateryn have stood out in the team’s two most recent pre-season outings, each logging more than 25 minutes a game.
But free-agent Zach Redmond and rookie Mikhail Sergachev turned in strong performances in Thursday’s 4-3 overtime loss to the Ottawa Senators and they’ll be looking to repeat that effort on the weekend.
The Canadiens play in Ottawa Saturday afternoon (3 p.m., RDS, TSN 690 Radio) and in Toronto Sunday (7 p.m., Sportsnet One, RDS, TSN 690 Radio) and it will be the final opportunity for players on the bubble to show what they can do. Coach Michel Therrien will make a major cut after Sunday’s game and you can expect to see something resembling the opening-night roster in the final two pre-season games, Tuesday against the Boston Bruins in Quebec City and Thursday against the Maple Leafs at the Bell Centre.
Redmond signed a two-year, one-way contract as a free agent in the off-season. The conventional wisdom is that the 28-year-old veteran with 104 NHL games on his resume was added as insurance against the inevitable injuries, but he has scored a goal in each of his two exhibition appearances and has shown a willingness to get physical. He had five shots on goal Thursday night and a game-high eight hits.
Therrien said he was pleased with Redmond’s play after a slow start and the defenceman agreed with that assessment.
“Goals are always nice, but wins would be a lot nicer,” said Redmond. “For me, it was a slow start. We got down early and I wasn’t as sharp as I should have been. The second and third (periods), I played better and there are a lot of good things to take out of it.”
Sergachev presents a dilemma for the Canadiens’ brass. Physically, he’s ready to play in the NHL but this is an organization that brings players along slowly. The Canadiens must decide whether he can benefit from another season of junior hockey with the Windsor Spitfires and they’ll probably look at him in at least two more pre-season games before making a decision.
Sergachev played nearly 20 minutes and looked comfortable at both ends of the ice. He unloaded two slapshots during a first-period power play, but he also displayed a more subtle approach when used a wrist shot during a second-period power play. That one was tipped by Brendan Gallagher for the Canadiens’ second goal.
“I was so nervous my hands were shaking for the first 10 minutes,” said the Russian, who was the Canadiens’ first-round draft pick (ninth overall) in June.
“I got some confidence in the first period after I got some hits.”
Sergachev did admit to being tired at the end of the game and he noted that the pace was a lot quicker than junior hockey.
“Everybody was flying out there,” he said.
Markov and Emelin, who were playing with Russia at the World Cup, are expected to see their first pre-season action this weekend.
Weber and Carey Price helped Canada win the eight-team tournament and they will probably join their teammates for practice on Monday. Price is expected to start Thursday’s game against Toronto and that’s all the preparation he’ll need after playing all six games in the World Cup and allowing only eight goals. Weber will probably play the final two pre-season games because Therrien needs to put together some defensive pairings. That’s been difficult with three of his top defencemen missing from camp.
Goals are always nice, but wins would be a lot nicer.