Rookies helping to make Canadiens tougher

A year after having the rookie of the year in the lineup, the Montreal Canadiens might even have a better group this season.

MONTREAL – A year after having the rookie of the year in the lineup, the Montreal Canadiens might even have a better group this season.

Led by Oliver Kapanen, who scored the opening goal — his rookie-leading fourth of the season — in Monday’s 4-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres, and Ivan Demidov who is tied for the league lead for rookie points, the Canadiens have more points from rookies (nine) than any other team in the NHL this season.

A third rookie, goaltender Jakub Dobes, made 29 saves to move to 3-0. Dobes, who is in his first full season in the NHL, now has a .939 save percentage and 1.63 goals against average.

Kapanen, Demidov, and Dobes all received some playoff experience last season and have taken their opportunity to step up for the Canadiens through the team’s first seven games. While Demidov was expected to produce offensively, Kapanen has been a pleasant surprise.

“His intelligence always puts him in the right place on both sides of the ice,” said Canadiens head coach Martin St. Louis. “He understands that he plays with Demidov who will do this thing but he’s always in the right place. His offensive touch will continue to improve as he gets used to the speed of the game.”

One of the Achilles heels of the Canadiens last season was that they often relied on the line of Cole Caufield, Nick Suzuki and Juraj Slafkovsky to score. Having the line of Demidov, Kapanen, and Alex Newhook contributing could change the way people may have to play against them.

“It helps us a lot,” said Canadiens defender Lane Hutson, no stranger to strong rookie seasons as last year’s Calder Trophy winner. “The depth throughout the lineup, we have a lot of guys who step up and it’s different every night. So to have that luxury of guys who can score and create opportunities it’s pretty special.”

Dobes was named the game’s third star, and said it was the first time he earned the honour at the Bell Centre, and now has 10 wins in 18 career regular-season starts. He also had the crowd of 20,962 chant his name a couple of times in the third period.