Now that the shine from their hot start to the season has faded, the Montreal Canadiens are facing an uphill battle.
The main issue facing the team is their lack of players who can control the flow of the game on a nightly basis.
Beyond the first line, the rest of the forwards tend to fall below 50 percent when it comes to shot control, high-danger scoring chances, and expected goals at 5v5.
This was somewhat easy to anticipate, as the team numbers haven’t changed much from October to November, however, the first line is now going through a relatively difficult stretch.
All things considered, Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, and Juraj Slafkovsky are doing quite well, but they’re no longer among the top 10 dominant lines in the NHL, and consequently, have exposed a clear flaw in Montreal’s current roster construction.
Montreal Canadiens 5v5 Statistics
To get a better idea of the situation, we’ll take a look at their expected goals for percentage (xGF%), which is a metric that uses key information, such as shot location, shot type, and more, to project the share of goals a certain player is expected to control in the future.
It’s not surprising to see Slafkovsky, Caufield, and Suzuki at the top of the list, but you’d be hard-pressed to argue the rest of the team is in an encouraging situation.
Beyond the first line, only four players have managed to control over 45 percent of the expected goals, whereas five players are sitting below 45 percent.
Simply put, from a sustainability standpoint, the Canadiens are a one-line team at 5v5, and opponents are starting to clue-in, focusing most of their defensive efforts to mitigate the first line’s offensive prowess.
It’s a discrepancy that cannot be ignored, especially if the team hopes to not only qualify for the playoffs, but also avoid having to grind their troops into dust just to clinch the final wildcard spot, as was the case in 2024-25.
All Montreal Canadiens statistics are 5v5, via Natural Stat Trick.
