Brendan Gallagher was a healthy scratch on Saturday night for the first time in his career. Head coach Martin St. Louis said it was a difficult decision to sit Gallagher for the contest against the San Jose Sharks. Alexandre Texier drew in after an impressive game in Ottawa on Wednesday.

St. Louis is a student of the game. He is constantly reading and adapting as he learns more about the science of his craft. One concept he believes in is “load management.” St. Louis believes that the best Gallagher for the playoffs is a rested Gallagher.

Texier and the rest of the Montreal Canadiens lost to the San Jose Sharks 4-2.

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There were two games against the Sharks. The one where Macklin Celebrini was on the ice, and the one where he wasn’t. When Celebrini was resting for his next shift, the Canadiens dominated.

Leading the charge was the Phillip Danault line that suddenly looked like world beaters with Texier on it. They didn’t defend for a single second in the first period. They finished with an Expected Goals of 100 per cent in the first and ended the game with an impressive 64 share. It was tough to sit Gallagher, but it was wise.

The new third line with Kirby Dach, Jake Evans and Zachary Bolduc was also flying. Dach looks much more comfortable without the pressure of being on the first line, the easier match-ups and less ice time. Minor details can often make a huge difference to a player.

 

 

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The game revolved around Celebrini. If a Canadiens player didn’t have to face him, he had a pretty good night. If a player was assigned to stop him, it was a rough one. Celebrini with Will Smith and Collin Graf had an 80 per cent Expected Goals share.

On defence, Kaiden Guhle got the assignment last week in California and it was too much for him. At the Bell Centre, the Canadiens tried their most experienced pair to see if they could contain the phenom. They could not. Mike Matheson and Noah Dobson were caved in by the tenacity and talent of Celebrini. The pair had a 19 share.

Celebrini was a one man wrecking ball. The head coach also tried his most experienced forward line for containment as well. Nick Suzuki’s line had a 43 per cent share. However, they did finish equal in terms of goals for and against, so that’s a good bottom line.

Cole Caufield was feeling better after struggling with the flu this week. He counted a career high in goals with his 38th of the season. Nick Suzuki also counted his 22nd of the season, ripping a shot to the top corner. That was the upside. The downside is that Celebrini humbled Suzuki and his mates in a manner that even Connor McDavid or Nathan MacKinnon were unable to this season.

Celebrini was the story. He had seven points in the two head-to-head games in the last two weeks. He was unstoppable. Rarely do you see one player able to take over a game with so much power, but the Canadiens had no answer to stop the newest superstar in the NHL.

It’s difficult to remember a player levelling up this significantly in the NHL in his second season. Celebrini went from 63 points in his rookie season to a top-five forward in the entire league. It’s nearly unheard of.

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Former general manager and now scout Craig Button is one of the most respected evaluators in the game. He recently released a top 50 prospects in hockey, and he clearly believes in the Canadiens pipeline.

Button says that he had five Canadiens prospects in his top 50, but that number dropped to four with the graduation of Jacob Fowler into the NHL on Wednesday in Ottawa. Still, four in the top 50 is an extraordinary number in a 30 team league. Fowler was ranked as Button’s number three prospect before he was removed from the list.

That left the top Canadiens prospect as Michael Hage, who moved to sixth overall. It’s another coup for the outstanding scouting staff, led by Nick Bobrov, which has continued to find diamonds in the rough in its short time together. Hage was taken 21st.

Hage was the best forward at the recent World Junior Hockey championships. He is one of the best collegians in the game for the Michigan Wolverines, the number one team in the country. Hage is expected to join the Canadiens this season, after his college hockey concludes.

The second Canadiens player is Alexander Zharovsky, at 20th overall. This is a coup as well for the scouting staff as he was drafted in the second round. Zharovsky is trying to eclipse the highest point total for a rookie in KHL history, which is 49 and held by Ivan Demidov. He has 38 points, so far this season with 12 more games to go. Zharovsky is unlikely to eclipse Demidov, but still, it’s been a massive season for the Russian.

Next up is David Reinbacher as the 28th best prospect overall. This is actually excellent news reflecting the much improved play recently of Reinbacher in Laval. He has levelled up in the last month. Reinbacher’s learning curve was halted due to two massive injuries, but he is now figuring it out.

The final Canadiens prospect in the top 50 is Bryce Pickford at 38 overall. Again, an absolute theft from Bobrov and his staff. Pickford was taken at 81st overall as an overage player. No one gave him a chance to amount to anything. Instead, Pickford is having one of the greatest WHL seasons in history.

Pickford has 44 goals and is only five goals behind Ron Shudra for the highest total ever for a blue liner in a WHL season. Pickford will have to have a scintillating finish as the Medicine Hat Tigers have only three games left this campaign. Pickford is tied with Cameron Schmidt for the league lead in goals. Schmidt is a forward.

Pickford has been signed on a three-year entry-level deal already, and will join the Laval Rocket likely when his season ends in Alberta.

The top three prospects for Button this year are Tij Iginla, Anton Frondell and Porter Martone. Usually, about 35 to 40 prospects per year become regulars in the NHL.

 

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

 

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