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Stu Cowan: Canadiens' Jake Allen to play 'stabilizer' role this season

Holding the fort behind young and inexperienced defenceman is going to be a regular occurrence this season for the veteran goaltender.

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Stu Cowan  •  Montreal Gazette
Montreal Canadiens goaltender Jake Allen stops New Jersey Devils' Nico Hischier during first period in Montreal on Sept. 26, 2022.
Montreal Canadiens goaltender Jake Allen stops New Jersey Devils' Nico Hischier during first period in Montreal on Sept. 26, 2022. Photo by Graham Hughes /The Canadian Press

TORONTO — Jake Allen had a fantastic start to the preseason Monday night at the Bell Centre.

The Canadiens goalie stopped all 18 shots he faced in the 29:17 he played before being replaced by Cayden Primeau, who allowed two goals on 13 shots in a 2-1 loss to the New Jersey Devils.

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Five of the six defencemen playing in front of Allen were between 20 and 22 years old and combined those five — Jordan Harris (10), Justin Barron (7), Mattias Norlinder (6), Kaiden Guhle (0) and Gianni Fairbrother (0) — have 23 games of NHL experience.

The only veteran in the lineup was 28-year-old Mike Matheson, acquired from Pittsburgh in an off-season trade that sent Jeff Petry to the Penguins.

Playing behind young and inexperienced defenceman is going to be a regular occurrence this season for Allen, but the 32-year-old veteran isn’t worried.

“I have no concerns about it,” Allen said after the game as the Canadiens’ locker room was opened to the media for the first time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. “You need experience to grow and if that’s what it’s going to take for these guys to get experience to grow into better players and better people, then it is what it is. My job is to be back there to be a stabilizer for them. To be a leader and trying to help them in different avenues of their game, on the ice, off the ice. That’s sort of my job.”

Allen has the perfect personality to fill that role and it’s a reason why Canadiens management has started talks with the goalie about a contract extension as it appears likely that Carey Price’s career is over because of a knee injury. Allen is in the final season of his two-year deal with a salary-cap hit of US$2.875 million.

“It really has no affect on me personally,” Allen said about the young defencemen. “It’s a great opportunity for them. I’m excited for a lot of these young guys to have these chances here because opportunities for young guys in the league are sometimes hard to get. Sometimes that’s the hardest thing to have is an opportunity. Some people go their whole career and don’t get one. So these guys have a great chance in front of them.”

Barron, Harris and Guhle are the three young defencemen with the best shot at making the team, joining veterans Matheson, David Savard and Chris Wideman, while Joel Edmundson remains sidelined for an undetermined period with a back injury.

Barron was paired with Matheson against the Devils, while Guhle and Harris — both left-hand shots — played together with Harris on the right side.

“I know that Jordan can play the right side and we’re just evaluating,” head coach Martin St. Louis said. “We have a lack of righties. Most likely going to need a guy to play the right side. He uses his feet really well and he’s used to being on that side so we’re going to keep evaluating.”

The Canadiens still have seven more preseason games, including Wednesday in Toronto against the Maple Leafs (7 p.m., SN1, RDS, TSN 690 Radio, 98.5 FM), and St. Louis is looking to gather as much information as possible before making decisions that will be best for the team and the development of the young defencemen. There’s also the possibility of picking up another veteran on waivers or through a trade.

Guhle almost made the Canadiens last year out of training camp and it would be a surprise if he doesn’t start this season in the NHL.

“Kaiden is a warrior,” Allen said. “I’ve seen him (on TV) at the world juniors and things like that. He’s blocking shots, he’s battling in front of the net. I knew he had that in his game, but I didn’t really understand how much and you could see it out there. He’s just confident and poised. Comes to the rink every day with the right attitude, him and Jordan, and I think that’s huge, especially at such a young age.

“I think they’re very mature people to begin with,” Allen added. “I think that translates a lot into their game.”

Matheson was 22 when he played his first full NHL season with Florida after being selected in the first round (23rd overall) at the 2012 NHL draft and went through growing pains before being traded to Pittsburgh two years ago.

What’s the best piece of advice he has for the young Canadiens defencemen?

“I’d say looking back on my first couple of years I wanted to be great so badly and I put a lot of pressure on myself,” Matheson said. “Just to take it easy on yourself a little bit. I don’t know them all super well and maybe some of them are better at that than I was at that age. But take it easy and realize that you’re here for a reason and enjoy the fact that you’re 20 years old and playing in the NHL.

“It’s pretty cool.”

scowan@postmedia.com

twitter.com/StuCowan1

  1. Montreal Canadiens forward Cole Caufield (22) celebrates with teammates, including defenceman Mike Matheson (8) and forward Joshua Roy (97) after scoring a goal against the New Jersey Devils during the first period at the Bell Centre in Montreal on Sept. 26, 2022.

    Stu Cowan: Nervous, exciting Canadiens debut for Mike Matheson

  2. Montreal Canadiens Owen Beck (62) leads the pack as Mitchell Stephens (13) and Otto Leskinen (47) fall behind during an inter-squad scrimmage game in Montreal, on Sunday, Sept. 25, 2022.

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  3. Canadiens goaltender Cayden Primeau follows the play as centre Lucas Condotta avoids a collision between right-wing Filip Mesar (48) and Alex Green (67) during a scrimmage on Sunday.

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