The Montreal Canadiens are California dreaming this week — three stops in Los Angeles, Anaheim and starting Tuesday night in San Jose.

The first game of the trip was a nightmare defensively as the Sharks were able to create plenty of space on offence to outscore Montreal 7-5.

Wilde Horses

Two rookies provided excitement on offence for the Canadiens. Oliver Kapanen counted his 19th goal of the season. It’s a remarkable total for a rookie for whom not much offence was expected. Kapanen is behind only the great Matthew Schaefer, who has has 20 tallies, for rookie goals.

That Ivan Demidov is not the leading rookie goal scorer on Montreal is a surprise to everyone. Demidov has been struggling, with only two goals in his last 21 games. This is with the bonus of power-play time as well. Demidov finally got the goal he needed with a slap shot with the extra man.

Demidov has been working hard on his one-timer. He took a Lane Hutson pass for his 13th of the season to cut San Jose’s lead to 5-3. It appeared to be just a cosmetic goal at the time, but only 18 seconds later, the Canadiens continued the comeback attempt.

Alex Newhook has at least a point in all three games since he returned from the fractured ankle — two assists in the first two games, and then two goals in the third game. The first on Tuesday night came on a strong shot to the top corner from 15 feet, the second on a shot from the corner that Newhook banked in.

It’s remarkable that Newhook has come back from a serious injury and suffered no rust at all. He’s flying the same way he did before. Newhook has eight goals in 20 games this season. That’s a 32-goal season, if he were able to keep that pace and his health.

More importantly, for the Canadiens, it completed a three-goal third-period comeback to tie the wild game at five. Credit to the players who could have easily mailed it in down three in the third.

The mountain to climb was a bit too high in the end, but fighting to the end is important. It shows belief. Montreal had pressure in the Sharks’ zone for the final three minutes with the goalie pulled, but they couldn’t find the magic equalizer.

Wilde Goats 

Phillip Danault centring Josh Anderson and Brendan Gallagher is supposed to be the defensive line on the Canadiens. They are supposed to be able to neutralize the other team’s top players. Danault was brought specifically to shore up that defensive difficulty down the middle.

And while Danault has been outstanding on faceoffs, hovering at around 58 per cent since coming from the Los Angeles Kings, his ability to key a defensive revival is not going according to plan. In fact, the big positive surprise has actually been Danault’s offence.

In 24 games, with his goal in the second period, Danault has four goals and 10 points with Montreal. He didn’t score a single time in 30 games with the Kings. He’s actually been fairly effective offensively, considering he has mostly defensive zone starts.

The bigger issue is that the line gets hemmed in their own zone too much. On Michael Misa’s game-tying goal in the second period, it was Danault who tried to clear the puck forward into the high slot, instead of into the corner.

Since the return from the Olympic break, the Danault line’s Corsi was 46 per cent against the Islanders, 13 per cent against the Capitals.

Only one line has been worse and that’s the Kapanen line. Demidov is looking human many shifts, and Juraj Slafkovsky is trying to do too much since his impressive effort in Milan.h

There are some nagging concerns percolating presently on the Canadiens. There’s no reason to sound any alarms, but head coach Martin St. Louis is probably a bit nervous about his club’s defence. Anaheim on Friday night will be interesting. St. Louis will want to see a tighter club, more focused on details.

He will also want to see better goaltending. It was a rough one for Jakub Dobes, who let in a very soft one from Macklin Celebrini through the legs. Dobes finished the night with a .778 save percentage and a goals saved above expected of minus-3.55. Those are absolutely horrific numbers.

Wilde Cards

It was the final game for the Canadiens before the trading deadline. The players at the top of the roster, secure in their standing, would enjoy getting a bit more help for a playoff run. The players on the cusp of the minors don’t want to see more bodies arrive to steal their jobs. For each player, the trading deadline is a different deal.

Trending Now

• Carney reaffirms Canada’s support for strikes on Iran ‘with regret’

• Gold often soars during crises. Not this time — so what’s going on?

Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield would love to see an ultra-talented winger added to the club. Jayden Struble is not interested in another defender coming to town.

The most important thing to a player is ice time. After he’s locked that in, the next is linemates or defensive partners. Contrary to popular belief, a player doesn’t actively worry about health. He knows he has no control over the whims of the moment during contact. He goes all out. He hopes for the best.

The question players hate the most as deadline day approaches is about a rumour that a player could be arriving. It’s a minefield with no right answer. They should just answer “next question.”

The biggest Canadiens rumour this trading deadline feels more farce than truth. Not that Robert Thomas isn’t on the trading block, but that it would take four assets to get him.

General managers float rumours to see how they land. Reporters are their messengers. A GM loves to see his best-case scenario make the rounds. He’s trying to establish a high price for his player.

Every year, reporters carry that water for general managers. That’s the system. The miracle is so much ink and respect is given to rumours proven incorrect 99 per cent of the time.

Word is that the St. Louis Blues want Michael Hage, a top prospect, and two first-round draft choices for Thomas. This is far too much and the GM knows it. Montreal’s GM knows it too. Hage is a star in the making with seven years of mostly low-priced cost control. That matters in the salary cap world.

Thomas has six goals in 52 playoff games. That’s the type of production that screams Elias Pettersson. If Hage got six goals in 52 playoff games, you would want him shipped to Siberia, not demand four prime assets for him.

If Canadiens GM Kent Hughes bit on a trade offer such as this, the massive amount of respect that he has accrued through his four short years guiding this rebuild into the stratosphere would come crashing to earth.

It says here that Hughes acquires a right-shot defender with a big-body profile before Friday — like a Brandon Carlo or Luke Schenn — and that Thomas goes for much less than four prime assets.

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

&copy 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.